Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility
Bombardier Flexity Freedom LRV on the car-wash track
General information
LocationIndustry Street, Mount Dennis,
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°41′25″N 79°29′16″W / 43.69028°N 79.48778°W / 43.69028; -79.48778
Owned byMetrolinx
Operated byMetrolinx plans to contract with a third party to operate the maintenance facility
Line(s)Line 5 Eglinton
Construction
Structure typeFlexity Freedom vehicle maintenance and storage facility
Other information
StatusOpen
History
OpenedOctober 2018 (2018-10) (facility)
Opening2024 (line)[1]

The Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility is a rail yard and vehicle service centre for Line 5 Eglinton of the Toronto subway. The facility is located near the line's western terminus at Mount Dennis station, on lands formerly occupied by Kodak's Toronto campus.[2][3][4][5][6]

The Eglinton line uses Flexity Freedom vehicles on 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge and is not connected to the Toronto streetcar system, which uses 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in (1,495 mm) Toronto gauge.

The facility was substantially complete in October 2018,[7] and was ready for the delivery of the first Flexity Freedom vehicle on January 8, 2019. Five more were delivered by February 2019.[8]

Grounds

The facility's footprint is 23 hectares (57 acres).[9] The facility will initially service 76 Bombardier Flexity Freedom vehicles but has capacity for 135 vehicles to handle any expansion of Line 5 Eglinton.[10] According to Metrolinx, the site's ultimate capacity could be 162 Flexity Freedom vehicles.[11]

Structures within the MSF will include:[12]

  • Vehicle cleaning & inspection facility with a train wash, cleaning bay, and an automated vehicle inspection system[7]
  • Vehicle cleaning staff building
  • Operations company building
  • Maintenance building to perform all major repairs[7]
  • Bridge over the CN/CP rail corridor allowing staff and service vehicles to access the MSF from the west
  • Backup power facility[13]
  • Radio mast with a height of 40 metres (130 ft)[14]

The October 2015 design for the facility incorporated two artificial ponds, and green tracks, so its landscaping would better integrate with the adjacent parkland in the Black Creek valley.[15] The facility will have a "green roof".

The EMSF has a radio mast for a central radio system to communicate with staff along the line such as dispatchers, operators and maintenance personnel. Three other stations will also have radio masts. The masts at the EMSF and Kennedy station will be 40 metres (130 ft) tall; Forest Hill and Laird stations will have shorter roof-mounted masts that rise 15 metres (49 ft) from ground level.[14]

Operations

Automatic train control (ATC) is used to move trains within the facility without a driver on board. ATC moves trains automatically around the facility for cleaning, inspection and storage, and will deliver trains from the yard to a hand-over area where drivers take control to move trains onto the mainline tracks.[16]

A backup power facility is being constructed adjacent to the CN/CP rail corridor at the northwest corner of the Eglinton facility. In the event of a widespread power outage, the new facility will provide Line 5 trains with up to 4 hours of electrical power. The facility will use lithium-ion batteries, which will be charged overnight in order to reduce peak-period power demands and operating costs. The batteries will have a capacity of 10 MW / 30 MWh, equivalent to what is needed to power 8000 homes for a year. The roof of the facility will have about 250 solar panels to generate 90 kW DC of electricity.[13] In addition to providing emergency power, the battery power would be used daily during peak hours to avoid Ontario Hydro's peak hour surcharge.[17][18]

History

Eglinton MSF building under construction in October 2017 near Industry Street and Bertrel Road

The site was chosen because it was a sufficiently large "brownfield" immediately adjacent to one terminus of the line.[19][20] At first, Metrolinx was not open to input from neighbouring residents, but in May 2013, they announced that they would organize a mechanism for taking feedback.[21]

In 2013, Metrolinx announced that the facility would not be operated by the TTC, and they would contract with a private company to operate it instead.[21]

Originally, the backup power facility was to have a natural gas–fired generator to power Line 5 in order to avoid peak demand times on the provincial power grid and to handle a power outage. The facility would have saved about 40 per cent on the price of electricity and would have been 25 metres (82 ft) wide, 62 metres (203 ft) long and 9 metres (30 ft) tall.[9] Some local residents and environmental activists were critical of Metrolinx's plan to use a backup generator powered by fossil fuel.[22][23] Thus, on March 28, 2017, the province announced that the facility would use a system of batteries instead of a natural gas generator and that the battery system's operating costs would not be greater than the operating cost of a gas backup power system.[17][24][18]

By October 2018, the Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility was substantially complete[7] and on January 8, 2019, received delivery of the first Flexity Freedom vehicle.[8]

In April 2021, an LRV made the first test of automatic train control within the EMSF grounds. In the same month, testing on the communication system between Keelesdale station and the EMSF was completed.[25]

References

  1. ↑ Spurr, Ben (17 February 2020). "Eglinton Crosstown faces another setback, delayed until 2022 | The Star". Toronto Star. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  2. ↑ Lorinc, John (2012-11-23). "Down (but not out) Mount Dennis area pins hopes on Metrolinx". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-03-28. A sprawling storage and maintenance facility for the light-rail vehicles will be built on the Kodak site within a few years.
  3. ↑ Gupta, Rahul (2012-12-12). "Meeting to provide details on LRT station in Mount Dennis". York Guardian. Archived from the original on 2012-12-22. The Mount Dennis underground stop at Weston Road would serve as the line's western terminus point, said Metrolinx spokesperson Jamie Robinson on Friday, Dec. 7.
  4. ↑ Munro, Steve (2010-02-17). "Eglinton LRT: Trouble Brewing in Mt. Dennis (Update 2)". Archived from the original on 2015-03-04. Some speakers addressed the use of the Kodak lands for the proposed carhouse, and asked that alternative schemes be considered. Part of this relates to a proposed "big box" development on the land. However, Council approved the acquisition of this property, by expropriation if necessary, in December.
  5. ↑ Murray, Roy (2012-07-09). "Feedback on maintenance yard needed". Weston Web. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27.
  6. ↑ Kalinowski, Tess (2010-02-16). "Residents ask TTC for LRT tunnel through Mount Dennis". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-10-03. In addition to the $4.6 billion the province has committed to the Eglinton LRT, the centrepiece of Toronto's Transit City plan, the TTC also wants to build a carhouse on the old Kodak lands in Mount Dennis.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Eglinton Crosstown Update". Metrolinx. January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Bombardier delivers first LRV for Eglinton Crosstown, on track for TTC streetcar delivery". CityNews. January 8, 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  9. 1 2 Kalinowski, Tess (2016-01-09). "Crosstown gas-fired power plant has Mount Dennis residents fired up: The electrical substation would be a backup facility, but the community wants Metrolinx to use greener technology". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2016-01-16. The community doesn't object to putting a hydro plant on the old Kodak lands, where the light rail vehicle maintenance and storage facility is to be built. It just wants the province to look at greener technology, said Simon Chamberlain, of the Mount Dennis Community Association.
  10. ↑ Spurr, Ben (2018-08-29). "Eglinton Crosstown taking shape, despite legal tussle". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  11. ↑ "Keele Street to Jane Section and Black Creek Maintenance & Storage Facility Environmental Project Report Addendum Online Consultation". thecrosstown.ca. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-07-25. Ultimate storage yard capacity of 162 vehicles;
  12. ↑ "Pulling back the curtain on the MSF". Metrolinx. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  13. 1 2 "New green energy facility is powering up the Eglinton Crosstown LRT". Metrolinx. July 31, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  14. 1 2 "Can you hear me now? Radio mast pops up for Crosstown's communications". Metrolinx. August 14, 2020. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  15. ↑ Novakovic, Stefan (2015-10-07). "Plans Revealed for Mount Dennis Crosstown LRT Facility". Urban Toronto. Archived from the original on 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2016-07-24. Although the building's purpose will be mechanical and quasi-industrial, care has been taken to minimize its impact on the surrounding area, much of which is dominated by greenery and park space.
  16. ↑ "How will the Eglinton Crosstown LRT's automatic train control work? We break down every major element in an infographic". Metrolinx. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  17. 1 2 Spurr, Ben (2017-03-28). "Metrolinx scraps Eglinton Crosstown gas plant for 'innovative' battery solution". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2017-03-29. Under the new plan, the battery energy storage facility would be connected to the existing hydro grid and be charged during off-peak periods when energy is cheap, such as overnight.
  18. 1 2 D'Andrea, Aaron (2017-03-28). "Metrolinx planning to build battery backup system for Crosstown LRT: Battery backup system to replace plans for natural gas plant". Inside Toronto. Retrieved 2017-03-29. Del Duca couldn't comment on how much the system would cost to build, but added the battery will charge during off-peak hours when hydro prices are cheaper, and distribute power throughout the day.
  19. ↑ Thompson, John (2016-03-08). "Eglinton Crosstown under way, underground". Railway Age. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-07-24. This includes the maintenance and storage facility on the former Kodak Canada property, just east of Weston Road, which has been an abandoned brownfield for more than a decade.
  20. ↑ Winsa, Patty (2013-05-06). "Weston-Mount Dennis residents look to Metrolinx to create jobs when it builds Crosstown LRT". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2016-07-24. The massive 23-hectare industrial "brownfield", empty since the film manufacturer closed in 2005, will get a second chance when it's redeveloped as the maintenance and storage facility for vehicles on the new LRT line.
  21. 1 2 Winsa, Patty (2013-05-08). "Weston Mount Dennis residents will have input into Crosstown LRT storage site". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-07-28. "The fact that they put in this huge facility has a devastating kind of impact. Kodak used to be one of the major suppliers in York. They provided around 3,000 jobs," said local councillor Frank Di Giorgio. "Now all of a sudden you get a huge maintenance facility there and maybe 500 jobs.
  22. ↑ Murray, Roy (2016-01-15). "Kodak Lands Generator – the issues and a solution". Westonweb.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2016-07-24. There was dismay when Metrolinx announced that the site was to be a storage yard for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. More recently further disappointment was the response to the surprise announcement that an electrical generating station would be built on the lands.
  23. ↑ Rainford, Lisa (2016-07-23). "Mount Dennis residents call for renewable energy to provide backup electricity for Eglinton Crosstown LRT". Inside Toronto. Archived from the original on 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2016-07-23. Metrolinx's initial proposal for a gas-powered backup facility, an 18-megawatt generator as part of its maintenance and storage facility on the former Kodak lands, concerned local residents prompting them to sign a petition circulated by the Mount Dennis Community Association (MDCA).
  24. ↑ Howells, Laura (2017-03-28). "'This is a dream': Residents welcome Metrolinx decision to cancel gas plant in Mount Dennis: Residents concerned about potential pollution pleased with new battery-powered system". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-03-29. The minister said the new system will decrease emissions, reduce costs and increase the line's reliability. He said the new battery-powered system will be capable of providing electricity to the LRT for up to four hours during an outage.
  25. ↑ "Crosstown light rail vehicle runs using automatic operating system for first time". Metrolinx. April 13, 2021. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
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