Entry 26 - A Subway Called Chirpy (5E130)
Hiya everyone! Somehow the mayor managed to survive elections and remain major, and that may have to do with...a new metro line!
Today we're going to the Eastern areas of Glenvale - the towns of Baxford, Brook Hill, and Canal City. You've probably never heard of them because I've never featured them yet - but there's a LOT of people there, and some of the loveliest areas in town.
For instance, take Canal City. Its name is derived from the canals that crisscross what used to be an industrial area that was dismantled starting in the 70s. The canals were essentially a massive port which became obsolete when the Port of Glenvale opened with its giant industrial wards.
The area gentrified, and warehouses were replaced by condos and lovely little shops and even office space...but also low-wealth housing projects. All surrounded by pre-existing suburbia.
Today Canal City boasts one of Glenvale's highest land values. In fact, there are motions in City Hall to expand on the canal system to connect with more parts of town. That is, with a lot of locks, as Glenvale is definitely not all flat land.
Today, however, canals are contained to the neighborhood - but far more efficient and modern mass transit now links Canal City to the CBD.
Gone is the slow 6 to Brook Hill - the future of commuting for Eastern Glenvale is on rails! ..okay maybe not high speed rails, as this train is actually coming from the nearby depot and will soon run a service on the East Coast Main Line.
The new metro line - dubbed Line B - begins in Brook Hill, about 5 km from the CBD. A shuttle bus goes to the nearby Glenvale Regional Airport - but we'll talk about airports in a different entry. Trains here are bound for Convention Center at least until the next expansion - so let's follow the line!
The route is operated by ten Lint 41 double units, all painted in Chirper's color scheme. Why so? Well, Chirper Inc. actually funded about thirty percent of the line's construction. Unlike the first metro line, these trains are not fully driverless at all. The major stated that the benefits of automation were not worth the loss of potential job creation. Not everyone agrees.
The tracks weave around housing projects and runs parallel to the A45 road (which, as with all A roads, is a federal highway). This highway was refurbished a few years ago, and this interchange links with the main avenue leading to the Regional Airport.
The next station is Canal City - Nakamura St. That station was built in Akaviri style, but it's actually a relatively small station serving the upper parts of Canal City - mostly poorer housing districts.
Just one minute later, metro trains pull into Canal City - Woodley Street. This is the bigger station serving Canal City and is also built in Akaviri style. The upper level of the station houses the operation center for Line B, as the tracks leading to the depot branch out just east of the station.
Mind the gap! A train pulls into Woodley Street station during morning rush hour. The station acts as a bus hub, and passengers are funnelled from local buses into the metro system from here. Bus and metro tickets are separate but regular commuters can use their MetroCard across the entirety of the bus and metro network, and even city taxis!
The train leaves the station, then turns southwards to cross the A45 roadway.
The roadway is one of the most modern roadways in Glenvale, though so far it only stretches as far as Meadowfair. Later it is slated to meet up with the freeways - but local groups oppose any destruction caused by building the roadway further into town.
Parallel to the A45 city officials laid out a cycle path, so that cyclists can safely go straight from their homes into the suburbs into the outer downtown area.
The next station is North Baxford, about 7 minutes away from Brook Hill. It is designed in the same style as the terminus at Brook Hill, though with more shops around. Baxford is still a very suburban area though.
The train line weaves westwards again, towards downtown, and passes the Baxford University Hospital.
Finally the route reaches the outer parts of the downtown core. Thirteen minutes in, and you're already at Westbrook Square station, on the outer edge of Meadowfair.
This station is, in fact, the first elevated station we call at - and also the shortest. It just about accommodates the typical 2-unit (4-car) set!
From now on, the line enters the city itself - on elevated rails!
The line races along Downey Avenue, but not quite. The line was built in the middle of the block column to minimize disruptions to the businesses and buildings along the busy avenue. In fact there was very little demolition as the viaduct is built on an earlier landscaped slope that was mostly not built up anyway. The trains are barely visible from Downey Avenue or the adjacent parallel street.
Sixteen minutes in the trip and we arrive at Meadowfair station, though it technically is actually located on the border with the Orchard Park district.
The tracks then squeeze between two buildings on either side of the station, before turning at a 45 degree angle over Downey Avenue (in the background).
The tracks need to keep parallel to the avenue but on the other side of it to cross the M1 freeway artery.
Finally the line crosses over the freeway. The road is already sunken quite deep (about 15 meters) but the train tracks need to be even higher to reach the next elevated station.
Finally, twenty minutes into the trip, the train stops in the first CBD station, Bloomdew Circle. The station name itself is an artefact of road construction that was eventually shelved, as the intersection was initially slated to become a roundabout. That did not happen. Most elevated stations in the CBD are built to the same design, with a station and small parking lot and elevator AND stairs access to the platforms.
Just like in Meadowfair, the train line runs behind the buildings along the avenue, once again hidden from view - it also helps mitigate noise pollution, or so the city council claims.
Finally, we reach Union Station and the city bus terminal at Union Square / Concord Plaza. This is also where we meet up with Metro Line A, and a new exit to the underground station was built in the lobby of the elevated stop. It also helps transfers to the bus terminal or mainline station as people can transfer through underground passageways and the underground station lobby instead of crossing the busy road.
The area of Concord Square itself was reduced by a third to make way for the station building.
Initially, that station was supposed to be the terminus for Line B - but a last-minute change prompted more construction westwards, especially as the land ahead is all parking spaces or plazas.
Instead the tracks carry on downwards, slowly at first over the road, then slightly steeper...
Finally, past the road the line dives down entirely underground - though just below street level. In the tunnel, a small but steep spur line connects Metro Line B to Metro Line A, which runs parallel to it but at a greater depth (about 4 m lower) on the other side of the avenue.
Metro Line B eventually emerges at its current terminus : Convention Center station. It is a sunken station, though not entirely underground, and is also a transfer point for Metro Line A.
The station is only sunken and not completely underground because the Line A tracks, after exiting their own underground station, cross the Line B tracks just a few meters below them. It would have been far too costly and difficult to rebuild the entire area, as opposed to building this sunken station.
In time, there are plans to stretch the B line underground towards Burbank and the South Beach area, though for now the tracks and tunnel end here.
And so trains reverse here and go all the way back to Brook Hill.
With this new subway line, Glenvale and its urban area are better connected, though at the minor cost of a 1 percent rise in commercial and industrial taxes. At least taxpayers aren't moaning as much this time.
Here's an updated bus and subway map for downtown Glenvale. Line B is shown from Westbrook Square to Convention Center - the suburban areas of Brook Hill, Canal CIty and Baxford are still not shown on the main bus map.
However, here's the full subway network map, showing every station on the network along with two planned expansions, such as Line B extending to Burbank and the Line A city loop - though the city loop is not even funded yet, so very unlikely to meet the deadline at all. Interestingly there is no Chirpy logo on the map, though there is a free wifi service on the entire network to everyone with a Chirper handle! #CoolOrWhat?
And finally, a stylised map of the Glenvale metro area - it's actually not very developed, maybe 2.000.000 inhabitants max, but there you go!
That's it for today! I'm going to take a break from Glenvale so next entry we're going in the Euro/Dunmer part of Cathnoquey, to visit a completely new town! Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to your feedback! 
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