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Duck
Guest
Yeah, and Kitchener's station is <5 minute walk from Thalmic.
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Kitchener to Toronto train service & the tech sector
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
crs1026
Senior Member
For that workforce demographic, a quiet wifi equipped coach with table seats might be a really productive office, at least for part of the day...
- Paul
- Paul
nfitz
Superstar
44 minute ride from Brampton station and a 5-minute walk? That's pretty sweet for some people!
BMO
Senior Member
A lot these startup companies might just get a small van to pick-up employees from the train station at certain times. Or maybe a shuttle service pooled between a few companies could do the job. I think the hassle is really just getting to Waterloo on the 401 during peak hours.
nfitz
Superstar
Half the time the hassle is just getting to Winston Churchill and 401; after that it's normally clear sailing.
picard102
Senior Member
The max I'd commute is 45-60 mins. Which I would imagine is difficult the further out you get from Union station.
mdrejhon
Senior Member
This could be possible with high speed GO trains.
I'm observing a Long March towards this.
-- Georgetown Corridor project
-- LRT & densification in Kitchener-Waterloo
-- Electrification will begin in this corridor and potentially creep outwards to Kitchener
-- Progress forward on the Ontario high speed EA study.
At this pace, we could have high speed GO trains by 2030s-2040s. Just like France's commuter TGVs. They use them like GO trains over there.
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Duck
Guest
Don't forget; driving in KW right now on 401 is horrible. The stretch between 8 and Franklin is being expanded from 3 to 5 lanes. I sit in that for a good 10-15 minutes every day on my commute between Kitchener and Cambridge. So add a bit of time for that, too!
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Any updates on better scheduled train service Union to Kitchener? Surely now that Google is open in Kitchener there must be pressure to better connect Toronto to KW?
I travel to Baden several times a month, and it would be great to grab a 6:30am train, arrive at Kitchener by 7:45, then Uber to Baden. So.... much better than the 401. Sometimes it's taking me 2.5 hours to get home.
I travel to Baden several times a month, and it would be great to grab a 6:30am train, arrive at Kitchener by 7:45, then Uber to Baden. So.... much better than the 401. Sometimes it's taking me 2.5 hours to get home.
crs1026
Senior Member
We're talking years, and more years, before we will see that. I hope it happens, it is already overdue - but so far it's all promises and sweet-nothing in the way of shovels in the ground.
- Paul
Admiral Beez
Superstar
I agree it's years away, but it's not such a massive project. VIA already has the trains, track and stations. The project would thus entail installing double tracks between Oakville and London (needed in order to clear CN freight train traffic). AIUI, that's all that's needed.
This article, updated in June 2015, describes the need to double the track to make mroe frequent Kitchener traffic possible, http://transit.toronto.on.ca/regional/2102.shtml
mpd618
Active Member
No updates. The GO Transit facility on Shirley Ave is under construction with the train portion completed this year - to enable an additional 2 "peak direction" trains from Kitchener to Toronto in the morning and back in the afternoon. As of only a few months ago the rail line is finally signalized - it was dark territory before that.
There is a lot of pressure from the KW tech sector and from local politicians for two-way GO service, so it is is definitely on the radar of the province, but what specifically they're doing about it is not clear. Here's the latest quotes from MPP Daiene Vernile about better GO service between Kitchener and Toronto.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
My understanding is that they are hitting a lot of issues with the CN owned part of the corridor.
TOareaFan
Superstar
How does that impact service to KW?
crs1026
Senior Member
Although far from a perfect solution, GO could probably get every-two-hour service going to Kitchener by fall of 2017, if they started now. The key requirements would be some added passing siding capacity west of Georgetown. The medium term improvements would have to be: a pocket track at Mount Pleasant (allowing the hourly GO trains to leave the main line), third track from Mount Pleasant to Georgetown, and some double tracking to Kitchener (there is already an EA for this, IIRC). To reach full 2WAD, triple tracking through Brampton and a flyunder west of Brampton would be needed.
- Paul
- Paul