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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

AlvinofDiaspar said:
And of course, you have these causes of delays (bolded and underlined for emphasis):
AoD
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I have wondered about this one. I recall there was a time where a train overshooting the platform required a spotter walk all the way to the back of the train to stand there and radio back to the front "Yes, it is indeed safe to move back 5 feet." which took about 10 minutes. Usually the GO staff member would get back on the train at the back car and then walk back to the front while the train took off for the next station.

However, in recent times a train that has overshoot a platform has taken only about 30 seconds to reverse and correctly line up. Is there a specific distance from where they need a spotter to reverse? Can they back up 5 feet, but not 50 feet? Did they change the rules? Are engineers breaking/bending the rules reversing trains without a spotter to stay on time?
 
Jonny5 said:
Also I am not impressed with the air conditioning on the new cab cars or any renovated car with the new green seats. It seems to now barely keep the temperature under 25. Walk from one of those cars into one of the ancient cars that still has the orange walls and it's like walking into a refrigerator.
Click to expand...

Really? I was on a train and tried one of the new cab cars again recently (didn't like them the first time since the seat cushions and headrests are incredibly hard compared to any of the others, and this confirmed that for me--plus the headrests are lower than in the 2700/2800s so my head doesn't get supported) and it was MUCH colder than any of the other cars I tried. I didn't go into any of the super-old ones but the adjacent cars were a 2500 and a 2700-2800, and the cab car was definitely way colder per any given floor...though of course the lower levels and middle levels are much cooler than the top within any given car. I was actually really impressed with the AC and would start taking the cab cars from now on if not for the terrible seats.
 
Jonny5 said:
I have wondered about this one. I recall there was a time where a train overshooting the platform required a spotter walk all the way to the back of the train to stand there and radio back to the front "Yes, it is indeed safe to move back 5 feet." which took about 10 minutes. Usually the GO staff member would get back on the train at the back car and then walk back to the front while the train took off for the next station.

However, in recent times a train that has overshoot a platform has taken only about 30 seconds to reverse and correctly line up. Is there a specific distance from where they need a spotter to reverse? Can they back up 5 feet, but not 50 feet? Did they change the rules? Are engineers breaking/bending the rules reversing trains without a spotter to stay on time?
Click to expand...

The rules haven't really change much over the years, still need someone back there. Every time a train needs to reverse there must be a rules qualified employee 'in position to observe the track' to be reversed upon. In most cases the conductor will have to walk back to the tail end of the train(or close enough to it) to see the track. And if the distance to reverse is more than 300ft in that case the person needs to go all the way back to the exact spot required to reverse. But occasionally a crew gets lucky with having another crew deadheading. They've done some very weird things to the some of the jobs to accommodate the new schedules(such as the new quick turn arounds at Oshawa which saves them 1/2 hr of crew time every 5 hours) and because they have almost entirely cancelled our taxi service - we have to either take the train or drive ourselves to all the different yards & terminals. More crews than ever are deadheading as part of the job at the back of train and no longer just to and from Mimico-Union but over the entire Lakeshore line and in these case they're in position to help out immediately. Otherwise its a rule violation but pretty much no one is doing that these days because they download the video after every overshoot now.
 
I've certainly watched two very long waits at Union for the overshot train to reverse in recent weeks.
 
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nfitz said:
I've certainly watched two very long waits at Union for the overshot train to reverse.
Click to expand...

I've also seem one quickly jump back and forth a few times by about half a car length before getting it in the right spot.
 
Megaton327 said:
Really? I was on a train and tried one of the new cab cars again recently (didn't like them the first time since the seat cushions and headrests are incredibly hard compared to any of the others, and this confirmed that for me--plus the headrests are lower than in the 2700/2800s so my head doesn't get supported) and it was MUCH colder than any of the other cars I tried. I didn't go into any of the super-old ones but the adjacent cars were a 2500 and a 2700-2800, and the cab car was definitely way colder per any given floor...though of course the lower levels and middle levels are much cooler than the top within any given car. I was actually really impressed with the AC and would start taking the cab cars from now on if not for the terrible seats.
Click to expand...
My experience seems to be they keep misadjusting the A/C in the new cabs. Or it gets too cold and they turn off A/C then it gets hot again. But when running full tilt, the new cabs does feel as delightfully refrigerated as the old burnt-orange-wall coaches.

It seems thermostats are at different touchiness on different coaches?
 
vegeta_skyline said:
The rules haven't really change much over the years, still need someone back there. Every time a train needs to reverse there must be a rules qualified employee 'in position to observe the track' to be reversed upon. In most cases the conductor will have to walk back to the tail end of the train(or close enough to it) to see the track. And if the distance to reverse is more than 300ft in that case the person needs to go all the way back to the exact spot required to reverse. But occasionally a crew gets lucky with having another crew deadheading. They've done some very weird things to the some of the jobs to accommodate the new schedules(such as the new quick turn arounds at Oshawa which saves them 1/2 hr of crew time every 5 hours) and because they have almost entirely cancelled our taxi service - we have to either take the train or drive ourselves to all the different yards & terminals. More crews than ever are deadheading as part of the job at the back of train and no longer just to and from Mimico-Union but over the entire Lakeshore line and in these case they're in position to help out immediately. Otherwise its a rule violation but pretty much no one is doing that these days because they download the video after every overshoot now.
Click to expand...
I have occasionally seen surplus/deadheading crew sitting in the opposite end cab. I guess thaf explain more rapid backing-ups in these cases.
 
rbt said:
"Looking critically" has now become a "Full investigation".

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/go-transit-train-delays-overcrowding-1.3689844
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Pfftt - so what was the intention before? Doing a half (baked) investigation? They should stop playing Scrabble with weasel words and demonstrate the steps taken (additional resources and staff - why not before?) and ultimately results. Throwing out "oh I am a rider too" (and the unspoken I feel your pain) is empathic manipulation.

AoD
 
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Can anyone tell me why if coaches are arriving from BBD, new locomotives from Wabtec, more track is in place, Georgetown south is complete and on and on in terms of layover yards and other improvements, the service can't be "expanded".

Fartin' around a train here and a train there... There are some very dramatic pictures of people squashed on LSW train these days.

Why all the bullshit and secrecy over when new service starts? In my business, we make a plan, we announce it and we hit the target. Why is it such a "secret" what the next improvements are?

Why is it such a secret when Gormley GO station opens?

Why is is such a secret when Burlington GO construction will be finished?

For all the ciriticism levelled at the TTC, they say such and such and intersection will be closed from X to Y, they do track work and then it's back to normal. Seems like the better way to me.
 
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