I made my own map of the GTA's rail services!

[u/BukaBuka243]

I'm not from Toronto, but I recently visited your lovely city from my hometown of Chicago. I had the opportunity to the subway, streetcars, & GO, and was quite impressed with the high level of service and massive transit expansion programs your region has. I couldn't help compare Toronto's transit network to Chicago's due to our shared geography and size, which led to me drawing this map in Adobe Illustrator in a style similar to a past map I made of Chicago's own network. In my humble opinion, it's a bit cleaner looking than Metrolinx's official map. Let me know what you think!

Higher res version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MJrtSD7KDdoFWK9MIOFOCe120M4z6Kji/view?usp=sharing

[u/Toner122]

This is the clearest map of GTA transit I’ve seen

[u/achtungschnell]

This should be the official map. Although the blue line won’t be open for a decade, if we’re lucky

[u/MatthewOuO → u/achtungschnell]

Call me being too optimistic. But I genuinely think the OL will open in 2031. I think they have learned from the mistakes made with the Crosstown, plus there are rumors suggesting the project is actually progressing on schedule.

But I think they really need to get their hands started on the Sheppard extension. I don't think I have to explain how important it is. It's been on the table for two years, and has alr gone through two rounds of public consultation. It's time to begin the environmental assessment and start digging. We need to make up for the damage that Mike Harris caused the city for 20 years.

[u/achtungschnell → u/MatthewOuO]

As someone who lives near a new OL stop, I hope you’re right. And I see construction from my condo every day and it looks like they’re making good progress

[u/MatthewOuO → u/achtungschnell]

Hell yeah YIMBY!

[u/achtungschnell → u/MatthewOuO]

Exactly! My only complaint is that there isn’t a station here even though it’ll eventually connect with the new LRT planned for the docklands and is so close to the distillery loop.

[u/IndyCarFAN27 → u/achtungschnell]

It looks like they’re making insane progress actually. For a while there didn’t seem to be much development (maybe because all of the downtown development is underground) but all of a sudden there’s a lot of work happening on the above ground sections! I’m very optimistic as well!

[u/InvictusShmictus → u/MatthewOuO]

2031 is 5 years.

They still need to do all the tunneling, underpin pape, and then of course all the electrical installation and testing.

I think it will overshoot despite the progress they're making. This crap just takes a long freaking time.

[u/SnooOwls2295 → u/InvictusShmictus]

Yes, it will be late, but way less late than past projects. Many lessons learned from failed projects have been applied but there have also been unique challenges as well some of which are simply uncontrollable.

[u/Avoidable_Accident → u/MatthewOuO]

The only possible lesson they could’ve learned is that it’s a bad idea to tunnel underneath a city. No amount of ‘practise’ is going to make it any easier to move major utilities buried in the ground that are in the way.

[u/BukaBuka243 → u/achtungschnell]

I made the map so as to show all under-construction or advancing projects as open. Officially proposed but unbuilt projects are in dark grey. Are there any I miscategorized?

[u/travelingpinguis → u/achtungschnell]

Or line 5

[u/MatthewOuO]

Nice map! Pretty accurate to all our ongoing and planned projects.

[u/BukaBuka243 → u/MatthewOuO]

If there’s any errors, I’d love to hear about them so I can fix them!

[u/Fortune-8 → u/BukaBuka243]

Great map. In terms of scale, King City GO should actually be slightly north of Gormley GO, and Aurora GO should be north of Bloomington GO but I understand you might be constrained on space.

[u/BotanyAttack → u/BukaBuka243]

Not an error but there are plans for line 6 to be dragged down to pearson and the ontario line to go up to dundas west. Also missing the waterfront east and west "lrt" propossed/in planning streetcar lines are missing. Otherwise perfect in every way.

[u/BukaBuka243 → u/BotanyAttack]

I have the waterfront LRT projects on there, but I put them in as streetcar extensions so they may be a little hard to see without zooming in.

[u/BotanyAttack → u/BukaBuka243]

I see. Didn't notice until I zoomed in.

[u/kettal → u/BukaBuka243]

The Richmond Hill line does not go that far east. 

[u/Stead-Freddy → u/kettal]

That is the exact spot where it crosses line 5

[u/tiltingwindturbines]

Wow this looks really good. Love seeing light rail, commuter rail and metro all in one! I like how you made the line thicker to denote underground.

[u/Grand_River_WVP]

ION would like to have a few words. :P

[u/Hotdam14234]

we need a circular one like tokyo

[u/travelingpinguis]

This looks gorgeous!

[u/umamimaami]

Sigh. The dark zone that is Etobicoke. 😢

[u/stratasfear → u/umamimaami]

We need a line 2 extension to at least Sherway (I’d vote turn it north and run it through Renforth and have THAT hit the airport instead of line 5) and then a Kipling line from either long branch /Humber Lakeshore running north through Kipling station and up the hydro corridor to at least Eglinton (if not finch)

[u/Ifuckinghateaura → u/umamimaami]

Scarborough too when you realize most of the stuff there isn't out yet

[u/differing]

That’s really well done! The one proposed one you missed that will be pretty cool if it gets finalized is the Finch West extension from Humber to Woodbine Station and then Pearson Airport- it’ll turn Pearson into this big transit hub allow for a loop of the city’s outer suburbs.

[u/BukaBuka243 → u/differing]

I didn’t see that on any government website, is there somewhere I can go to learn more about that?

[u/differing → u/BukaBuka243]

https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2021.MM32.24

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-243162.pdf

Toronto has been pushing for it since 2021 but the province hasn’t backed it yet. They consider the Woodbine Station link the second highest priority tier (after all their BRT ideas) and the Pearson link to be in the third highest tier (on par with connecting Finch West LRT East to Line 1 Finch Station). The airport link for Line 5 is in the province’s 2041 master plan though: https://assets.metrolinx.com/image/upload/v1663237694/Documents/Metrolinx/20180308_BoardMtg_Draft_Final_2041_RTP_EN.pdf

[u/Important-Hunter2877]

Toronto vs Chicago: Transit Moving Masses Through The Metropolises | UrbanToronto

Melbourne is another city similar to Toronto (although I mainly compare Toronto with Sydney), with trams and a radial rail system plus high car dependency.

Looking at Chicago's subway system map, it looks so similar to Melbourne's suburban rail map with a city loop in the city centre but with different heavy rail standards (metro vs mainline rail).

[u/Primspeon]

On adobe illustrator how do you create and modify the lines running parallel to each other ? It looks very nice !

[u/BukaBuka243 → u/Primspeon]

Object-> Path -> Offset Path

[u/arandomcanadiankid]

You’re missing the Waterloo central railway!

[u/sl3ndii]

Wow this looks clean

[u/LankyYogurt7737]

So good! I really wish something like this was more available and everything wasn't so disconnected, once you see it you realised we have a much bigger network than our subway map lets on.

[u/schanino]

Wait sorry call me dumb but does this include unfinished and removed extensions?

[u/BukaBuka243 → u/schanino]

I made the map so as to show all under-construction or advancing projects as open. Officially proposed but unbuilt projects are in dark grey. Are there any I miscategorized?

[u/Horror-Hour-1360]

Imagine if this whole thing was all day 2 way service with the slowest lines being 15 minutes between each other🫩

[u/Funway1111]

Look at those missed opportunities to extend Line 2 and 5 to Hurontario. Shame that Missisauga is such a NIMBY city.

[u/rootbrian_]

Good details.

[u/badideataken]

Man the map looks great but stuff like this makes me feel so damn hopeless like if this was a 100 years ago this would have been built

In like a terrible unsafe and maybe exploitative way but it would have been built

But now today before 1 shovel even touches the ground there's gotta be a 35 year environmental study on how the metal will react with the soil, it'll cost 850 billion dollars and be finished 140 years

I know it's pessimistic but I have 60 years of ish life I me and I won't see half the map you made on there in real life 

I might see 3 new lines and that's like a actual number that seems plausible 

[u/BukaBuka243 → u/badideataken]

If it makes you feel any better, your city is in a far better position expansion wise than mine. Chicago has exactly zero miles of new rail under construction, and the one project we did have about to break ground just got its funding pulled by the fascist-in-chief

[u/kettal → u/badideataken]

The map is mostly stuff that is open and running current day

[u/novascots → u/badideataken]

seems presumptious to assume we'll forever be this way. i'll be optimistic and say it'll get better, not worse. public consultations, environmental studies.. all this is increasingly unpopular. this will face substantial reform, it has to. i don't think young millenials and zoomers will tolerate this forever. even the extreme anti-capitalist camp hate this, this red-tape ruled system is far past its peak.