05-05-2018, 09:25 AM
No, they don’t need to run in pairs.
Subways and metros will often operate in pairs (“married”) because there are some savings to be had by only having an operator cab at one end of a vehicle. If you want each vehicle to be operated on it’s own, you need a cab at both ends... which is expensive and wastes space.
The concept with Toronto’s new subway vehicles is just two cabs for 6, permanently coupled cars... at some point they realized operationally they didn’t actually need the flexibility to add or subtract vehicles in increments even of two. They never run anything other than 6 cars*, so their latest order was for trains of 6 cars permanently coupled.
* - Shepard line has its own special 4-car TR consists.
Subways and metros will often operate in pairs (“married”) because there are some savings to be had by only having an operator cab at one end of a vehicle. If you want each vehicle to be operated on it’s own, you need a cab at both ends... which is expensive and wastes space.
The concept with Toronto’s new subway vehicles is just two cabs for 6, permanently coupled cars... at some point they realized operationally they didn’t actually need the flexibility to add or subtract vehicles in increments even of two. They never run anything other than 6 cars*, so their latest order was for trains of 6 cars permanently coupled.
* - Shepard line has its own special 4-car TR consists.