(10-31-2016, 05:38 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: If they really wanted to minimize property impact the station could have a single track and a single platform, and for that matter the last short distance of the line could be a single line. With a maximum frequency of one vehicle every 7 minutes, the last 3 minutes’ travel of the line could be single track. I’d probably take the double track closer than that to the end in order to avoid problems with increasing frequency but the station itself could certainly be much narrower than what they are building.
Yeah, I hear you... In all my travels though, it's always a double-track platform with a crossover either before or after the station platforms. It's actually very common to have platforms on the outside, just like ours - but in my experience that's usually on automated systems, where the train disembarks on one platform, moves through the crossover, then alights on the other platform:
Montreal's metro functions like this on all the lines, too.
In Toronto, as you mention, the subway trains typically sit for a cycle at the terminus stations, which gives the drivers a break. So Train A arrives on Platform 1, Train B arrives on Platform 2, then train A leaves and train C arrives on Platform 1, train B leaves, and train D arrives on platform 2, etc... I could very much imagine that's what will happen with our system, too. Or, perhaps it'll be like the Scarborough rt at McCowan, where one platform will remain boarded up for 30 years waiting for an extension that will never come.
I kind of like what they do at Broadbeach on G:Link (and I bring up G:Link a lot, because many of the same system partners in the consortium building our system built that system). Have a look: Broadbeach Station
I can only think of two that I have done that have what you suggest (with the single track toward the ends), and that's the new Canada Line in Vancouver, and New Shuttle North of Tokyo. Actually when I rode the Canada Line I was shocked at the configuration; I immediately understood why they did it, but thought it was really poor future planing because an expansion would be that much harder to push through.
The last few stops on New Shuttle are all on a single-track portion of the line, and the scheduling is done such that the trains meet up at the stations which have switches and two tracks, so it all works out. It just limits the theoretical minimum headway between trains.