Terminal Link | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Operational | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Greater Toronto Airports Authority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Toronto Pearson International Airport, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini |
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Stations | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | People mover | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | Greater Toronto Airports Authority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rolling stock | DCC Cable Liner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Daily ridership | 17,000 (2012) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | July 6, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 1.5 km (0.9 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of tracks | 2 parallel shuttles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Character | Elevated | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | Automated guideway transit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | 36 mm (1.4 in) Cable Propelled Transit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating speed | 43.2 km/h (26.84 mph) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Terminal Link, formerly known as Link Train, is an automated people mover (APM) at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. [1] [2] The wheelchair-accessible train runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is completely free-of-charge to ride. In 2012, it transported 17,000 passengers daily, 60 to 70% of whom were airport staff. [3]
The original proposal for an automated people mover system at Pearson Airport was submitted in May 2002.[ citation needed ] Six months later, on November 15, 2002, a CA$55-million contract was signed with DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car GmbH of Wolfurt, Austria, followed by four years of construction, and the system opened to the public on July 6, 2006. The service initially operated alongside its predecessor, the Link shuttle bus system.
The system cost $150 million. [4]
The Terminal Link uses a pair of Cable Liner trains, [1] [2] each composed of seven permanently-coupled cars. They use a cable-hauled, drive and tension system. Each train has capacity for 175 passengers with baggage (25 per car: 17 standing, 8 seated) or 2,500 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd). [5]
The two trains, plus a small work car, cost a total of CA$56 million when delivered. [2] They were refurbished in 2013, and received a new paint scheme, new seats, and a seventh car (they were originally delivered and used as six-car trains). [6]
The two fully elevated lines, running side-by-side, are 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) long, and have a one-way travel time of four minutes. [3] They serve three stations:
Both lines operate independently in shuttle mode with a total capacity of up to 2,180 pphpd. [2] The trains run on rubber tires on a smooth steel surface and all propulsion is provided by the cable. The absence of onboard motors, braking systems and gearboxes eliminates excessive noise, oil spills from the trains, and dust from brakes. [3] Doppelmayr asserts that a cable-driven APM is the most environmentally responsible solution for transportation in high density applications. [7]
Length | 1,473 metres (4,833 ft) |
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Configuration | Dual track shuttle with two trains operating independently |
Operating Speed | 43.2 kilometres per hour (26.8 mph) |
Headway | 250 s |
Dwell Time | 36 s |
Guideway | Elevated steel tube truss |
System Capacity | 2,500 pphpd |
Stations | 3 |
Trains | Two 7-car trains |
Train Capacity | 25 passengers/vehicle, 175 passengers/train |
On March 30, 2009, the Link Train was put out of service for extensive maintenance due to engineering design flaws. During this time, service was replaced by an inter-terminal shuttle bus contracted to Penetang-Midland Coach Lines.[ citation needed ] Normal service resumed in July 2009. [3]
On March 16, 2013, the Link Train was shut down for approximately eight months during construction of the Union Pearson Express. The trains were refurbished during this time and received a seventh car, new seats, and a new paint scheme. [8]
The Union Pearson Express airport rail link service between Pearson Airport and Union Station in Downtown Toronto opened on June 6, 2015, in time for the 2015 Pan American Games. [3] It directly serves Terminal 1, with a connection to Terminal 3 via the Terminal Link.
A number of public transport bus services in the GTA have a stop on the lower level of Terminal 1; these include the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), MiWay, Brampton Transit, and GO Transit. The TTC has an additional stop on the lower level at Terminal 3, served after departing Terminal 1. At Viscount station, connections to MiWay and Brampton Transit's Züm can be made.
As originally proposed, Line 5 Eglinton was to connect Pearson Airport with Scarborough by 2018 as part of the Transit City plan. [9] [10] However, when the four Transit City lines were found to be $2.4 billion over their funding envelope in January 2010, parts of the network were deferred, including the western section of the Eglinton LRT.[ citation needed ] A future extension could eventually reach the airport, completing the line as envisioned. As of 2020 planning for the western extension is underway and Metrolinx hopes to complete the line by 2030–31. [11]
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks.
An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more driverless vehicles along its length. The vehicles are often rubber tired or steel wheeled, but other traction systems including air cushion, suspended monorail and maglev have been implemented. The guideway provides both physical support, like a road, as well as the guidance. An automated line can be cheaper to run than a conventional line, due to the shorter trains and stations.
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Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. The airport is named in honour of Lester B. Pearson, who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Canada (1963–1968) and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his humanitarian work in peacekeeping.
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Terminal 1 station, or Pearson station, is a railway and people-mover station at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the eastern terminus of the inter-terminal Terminal Link, and the western terminus of the Union Pearson Express.
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Renforth, referred to during planning as Renforth Gateway, is a bus station on the border of the cities of Mississauga and Toronto, in Ontario, Canada. Located at Eglinton Avenue and Renforth Drive, it is the eastern terminus of the Mississauga Transitway and is close to the interchange between Highway 401 and Highway 427.
Innovia APM is a rubber-tired automated people mover system (APM) currently manufactured and marketed by Alstom as part of its Innovia series of fully automated transportation systems. The technology was introduced in 1963 by Westinghouse and has been improved over three generations: the Innovia APM 100, Innovia APM 200, and the latest model, the Innovia APM 300. The license to use the technology has also passed hands several times, from Westinghouse to AEG in 1988, to Adtranz in 1996, to Bombardier Transportation in 2001, and most recently to Alstom in 2021.
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Propelled on a continuous loop of 36mm hydraulic cable, the LINK system is actually two driverless trains that operate side by side on an elevated guideway, shuttling back and forth on a 1.5-km, three-stop route in about four minutes.
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