nfitz
Superstar
Hopefully this includes at least a handful of reverse-peak runs on the other 3 (heck 5) lines - even if they do have to sit somewhere for 5-10 minutes.
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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
smallspy
Senior Member
It looks like a significant number of scheduled deadheads will be converted to revenue service, yes. They will continue to be run as expresses however.
Dan
Toronto, Ont.
crs1026
Senior Member
Hopefully this is a sign that ML/Bombardier are getting ahead of the curve on crewing too. If the new trains are just existing equipment moves, maybe not....but if GO is going to expand as predicted the training needs to be happening now.
For those who are already on a foam-filled Google-based shopping spree for new equipment for RER, this is a cautionary tale. There is already more than enough bilevel equipment on hand to run 2WAD on all lines. I'm sure we will see new purchases - those late seventies bilevels won't last for ever, and some bilevels will start attriting from the fleet. And EMU's will run cheaper. But this may be evolutionary rather than overnight. If the most recent bilevels last as long as the first ones......
- Paul
Allandale25
Senior Member
Great to hear. Is there any sense that GO has been given a more generous operating subsidy to do this, or were they able to re-work the numbers on their existing subsidy to make this work? I realize it's probably hard to know but great to see GO took another look at their existing capacity and made whatever changes they needed to in order to make this work.
Does it also mean they are getting better at training crews or is it still a challenge to find enough qualified people?
innsertnamehere
Superstar
putting deadheads into revenue service costs very little, if anything. The trips are already being made, it's just a matter of allowing passengers on.
As Smallspy said, a lot of them will likely be awkward trips that run express for most of the route to ensure they continue to meet existing schedules.
As Smallspy said, a lot of them will likely be awkward trips that run express for most of the route to ensure they continue to meet existing schedules.
TOareaFan
Superstar
Curious, how many deadhead trips are there in a day? (roughly, not looking for you to spend too much time counting them).
Allandale25
Senior Member
Good question. And, if there's time to answer, do we roughly already know what they travel? Someone was mentioning that they are likely to become express services?
nfitz
Superstar
Well it's something. And if it get's you to the edge of the Metropolis to catch a bus, avoiding the reverse-peak 416 traffic, better yet.
smallspy
Senior Member
To be honest, I haven't seen anything about the budgetting about any of this, so I don't honestly know. But considering that the Government has been quite content to regularly hand GO/Metrolinx blank cheques for the past 10 years or so, it wouldn't suprise me if this is just going to get rolled into a higher subsidy.
It is always going to be a challenge, but it seems like they've gotten on top of things over the past couple of months. No doubt that vegeta_skyline can give a more detailed update than I can.
Depends - what number are you looking for, trips deadheading out to start their day, trips deadheading for a second run, or moves to/from storage?
Dan
Toronto, Ont.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
^trips that could potentially be turned into revenue service. I imagine most moves to/from storage don't qualify, as they could only stop at Exhibition / Mimico. Unless they are planning to really jump frequency on that short stretch.
denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
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I would!
hw621
Senior Member
Sitting at Kennedy Station now and just witnessed a southbound train of Stouffville GO. The train was almost empty, with less than 10 people stepping off to connect with the subway. While it's nice to add more services, which benefits myself, does the ridership really justify the costs?
steveintoronto
Superstar
Was it a ten or twelve car train? That's where the abject waste comes, albeit it might be dictated by logistics since RER stock isn't here yet, and might not be for a decade. I see same on the Barrie line, soutbound trains in succession with apparently no-one on board, at least on the weekend.
hw621
Senior Member
Didn't count most likely a 12 train set...
steveintoronto
Superstar
This is going to be a tough one to reconcile. It's obviously good to be running mid-day service, but this is where 'old school and 'new school' (well, by Cdn standards, and lesser, US ones without waivers) clash. With stock without 'automatic couplers' and most preferably being EMUs, dropping down the number of cars to what is needed per expected demand is difficult. If they don't run the intervals they are during off-peak, the demand will never materialize. "Build it, and they will come" (with caveats)
I don't see a solution save for having 'spare sets' made up of shorter consists to run in off-peak. At the end of the day, it might be simpler to run peak-length trains virtually empty until a more flexible system is approved and available. As it stands under present regs and technology, optimizing train length after leaving the yard is involved and labour/time consuming.
I'm sure we'll be hearing more on this from Verster.