GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[smallspy]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's just reannouncing the extra two peak trips alongside the new layover facility grand opening. Cynical, slightly.

Part of the announcement will be the expected starting date of the two additional trains from Kitchener - October, IIRC.

There is, however, also a rumour that there will be at least one "counter-peak" run to/from Kitchener added to the schedule at the same time.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[nfitz]

There is, however, also a rumour that there will be at least one "counter-peak" run to/from Kitchener added to the schedule at the same time.

That would be great! Pretty soon the service might be as good as it was in the 1980s!

 

[TOareaFan]

Part of the announcement will be the expected starting date of the two additional trains from Kitchener - October, IIRC.

There is, however, also a rumour that there will be at least one "counter-peak" run to/from Kitchener added to the schedule at the same time.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

be nice if part of it was also...."some/all of the existing trains will now have 12 cars".

 

[mdrejhon]

Part of the announcement will be the expected starting date of the two additional trains from Kitchener - October, IIRC.

There is, however, also a rumour that there will be at least one "counter-peak" run to/from Kitchener added to the schedule at the same time.

I'd have found this useful back in 2012-2013!

So the announcement is probably:
- More Kitchener GO trains
- All-day 2-way hourly Brampton now extended thru evening
- Possible a counter-peak run to Kitchener

This sounds like roughly the correct order of magnitude of "bigness" to the news.

 

[TOareaFan]

Announcement on 5:20 train on KW line "construction finally completed at Bloor, all doors will be opening at Bloor"

 

[mdrejhon]

Announcement on 5:20 train on KW line "construction finally completed at Bloor, all doors will be opening at Bloor"

Very prescient:
The doors of the Bloor-Danforth subway opened almost exactly 50 years ago!

 

[Duck]

What is meant by "counter-peak"? Is that meaning a mid-day trip? Or a Toronto-Kitchener-Toronto run (instead of the current Kitchener-Toronto-Kitchener run)?

 

[DKsan]

What is meant by "counter-peak"? Is that meaning a mid-day trip? Or a Toronto-Kitchener-Toronto run (instead of the current Kitchener-Toronto-Kitchener run)?

The last. A train that runs in rush hour counter to the "normal" direction.

 

[TOareaFan]

Announcement on 5:20 train on KW line "construction finally completed at Bloor, all doors will be opening at Bloor"

Does make the train in in the morning a bit boring though....the game of "what car am i in" bingo no longer occurs.

 

[crs1026]

There is, however, also a rumour that there will be at least one "counter-peak" run to/from Kitchener added to the schedule at the same time.

The first announcement might be to let a contract to install passing sidings or a section of double track between Georgetown and Kitchener to enable this. The route has been EA'd so this is likely shovel ready.

Right now, the inbound GO trains occupy this line between 05:49 to 06:48, and 07:10 to 08:09. There's no room to run a westbound in between these.

There is just enough time to run a westbound before VIA 84 reaches Kitchener, at 09:18. But there are two eastbound freights, 432 and 580, that need to occupy the line in the same timeframe. So coordination with GEXR would be necessary, and if anything falls down on its schedule, it becomes a cluster.

ML really needs to get moving on that additional track.

- Paul

 

[reaperexpress]

So the announcement is probably:
- More Kitchener GO trains
- All-day 2-way hourly Brampton now extended thru evening
- Possible a counter-peak run to Kitchener

Don't hold your breath on the counter-peak run - the Metrolinx-owned railway from Kitchener to Georgetown is still single-tracked with no active passing sidings. The last eastbound GO train out of Kitchener arrives in Georgetown at 8:09. A westbound train timed perfectly to meet there would get to Kitchener at 9:07, with just enough time to clear the 9:18 eastbound VIA train. But that schedule has no padding, so GO would never actually run it. And more to the point, chances are that one of the two new eastbound morning trains will slot in between the 7:10 and 9:18 eastbound departures from Kitchener, making a counter-peak run physically impossible unless passing sidings are re-installed along the line.

EDIT: Sorry, I should have refreshed the page before posting. It seems crs1026 posted pretty much the exact same thing...

 

[nfitz]

One question is, how much work is it to reactivate the passing tracks at Acton and Guelph stations. Though I thought the passing tracks just east of the Hanlon (Highway 6) and at Shantz Station were still active.

It's unfortunate that it hasn't been maintained what VIA Rail used to do in the late 1980s, where they did run reverse peak service, with the evening trains passing each other in Guelph.

 

[crs1026]

One question is, how much work is it to reactivate the passing tracks at Acton and Guelph stations. Though I thought the passing tracks just east of the Hanlon (Highway 6) and at Shantz Station were still active.

I haven't been out lately to see what's in the weeds, but Breslau was reworked for the grain terminal, and other old sidings were either single-ended or torn out altogether.

Replacing what was there isn't extraordinarily expensive, although one would want to rebuild the track from the ground up, as was done on the Belleville and Smiths Falls Subs. The old sidings weren't wired as such when the new CTC went in, so one might be spending money to tear out and move signals that only just were put up.

I wonder whether it makes sense to rebuild in kind, versus just go ahead and put in some double track, similar to the Newmarket and Uxbridge lines. In particular - would want to rebuild Guelph in kind, versus going ahead and dealing with the slow stretch west of the depot. That might make a good infrastructure project. Better to do that now, before train frequency has gone upwards - otherwise, like West Toronto, we might be cancelling service for a year or more to get the construction done.

- Paul

 

[royalrivers]

Vernile cautioned that full two-way, all-day service could be up to seven years away, but said the government’s plans also include an “interim solution” allowing people to travel between the two cities “faster and more frequently.”

I don't think a reverse train trip will be one of them. VIA Rail was already looking into that anyway. I believe she was talking about faster train trips from Kitchener to Toronto and TO to KW via Express trip skipping a bunch of stations. As well, possibly more bus connections from Kitchener now that the bus storage facility is there.

With the Evening/Weekend Train service to Brampton, I would also expect there would be an announcement of bus connections to/from Guelph (like there is now with the Daytime service) and the possibility of an Express bus to KW from Bramalea.

Cambridge's GO Bus plan (announced in the budget) is to connect to Milton train.

As for the sidings, that was supposed to be done with the CTC install

 

[Duck]

The last. A train that runs in rush hour counter to the "normal" direction.

LOL, rude! That implies that KW exists solely as a bedroom community to Toronto. I take offence to that!