Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle
I think it's fair to bring up, but certainly not something that can't be handled. Outside of the obvious, well that's what the NE/W folks have to do currently, and I won't pretend to know the facts, but I'd actually assume the NW/S line is by far the busier of the two lines for the city, mostly based on the area served by the south portion of the line.
So even though it's simply just a reverse of what happens today, if they move to the West Village I think it now becomes a bigger issue as it impacts more people traveling to the games. But as I mentioned, I doubt it's actually an issue. I won't pretend to know exactly how it would get accomplished, but for special events like the game, pretty sure the infrastructure could support some "special" trains that arrive at the platform at the end of a game or concert that deviate from the usual route. Said another way, I'm sure for special events, at the very least they could create a W/S train or trains to service the platform that would not require a transfer.
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The NW/South Red Line is indeed the busiest line in the city, especially the south leg by a substantial margin, although not nearly double as the poster above says.
From Sunalta Station, it would be possible to have specially-run eastbound trains that come online at Sunalta and go south, in addition to the ones that would go northeast, as normal.
It's very unlikely that there will be trains headed directly to the northwest from Sunalta Station. This would require stopping at 8th Street West or 7th Street with a short turn (driver gets out and goes to the other end to head back in the opposite direction) and a switch over.
This was done for the first several years after the northeast line opened in 1985. Trains would board at the "C-track" platform (the third platform to the east of the main platforms) at Stampede Station, then head to Olympic Plaza Station, where the train would stop, short turn, and head to the northeast. This practice stopped sometime in the 2000s. Not sure the exact reasons, but I think it disrupted service too much to have the trains sit at a platform and switch tracks at a non-terminus station.
For northwest-bound riders, I could see a few buses possibly being deployed from the arena and stadium that would go up Crowchild with a stop or two along the way and connect to Brentwood Station, or perhaps as far as Crowfoot with a stop at Dalhousie as well. Otherwise, there would be a transfer at 8th/7th Street Stations downtown.
By the time the new arena and stadium are open, it will be serviced by 4 car trains at the end of games.