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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Quick questions for GO historians regarding Kitchener service:

When did GO expand bus service to Kitchener?

From a 2001 map posted on Transit Toronto, there is no bus service at the time, and I believe weekday train service started in 2011, so bus service had to have launched sometime between this period.

Thanks!
 
Looks like more service is coming. Tweeted out here.


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Undead said:
The built form has absolutely nothing to do with good neighborly ties, community camaraderie, etc.

This one of the most persistent Canadian myths, along with the "kids need a backyard to be raised properly."

The number one factor, as always, is people giving a sh*t. Without that, everything falls apart.

Come on, how much community bonding is there in the typical post war suburban subdivision? Little to none and in fact people move to these areas to have  more distance from neighbors.

When I used to rent, my building saw an influx of newly arrived Filipino folks. They were very communal with each other. Didn't matter that they lived in a large apartment building.
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I'm certainly not a sociologist, but I think there are generational dynamics at work. Growing up in post war suburbia in the 50s and 60s, the neighbourhood was our playground. Most mom's were stay-at-home and there was more of a collective sense to looking after the kids. We played on the streets or in local parks and there were nearby stand-alone of small strip mall stores to haunt.

You are right that if people don't want a community, they won't get one. If they simply want a place to lay their head between jobs and maybe grow equity for the next move, then you will get a crappy neighbourhood. We are now in a subdivision of 2+acre lots a know all sorts of people (mostly revolving around walking dogs). Pre-Covid, we had community picnics at the end of a cul-de-sac and even lawn concerts, but it takes the right type of people to get that rolling.
 
Undead said:
The built form has absolutely nothing to do with good neighborly ties, community camaraderie, etc.

This one of the most persistent Canadian myths, along with the "kids need a backyard to be raised properly."

The number one factor, as always, is people giving a sh*t. Without that, everything falls apart.

Come on, how much community bonding is there in the typical post war suburban subdivision? Little to none and in fact people move to these areas to have  more distance from neighbors.

When I used to rent, my building saw an influx of newly arrived Filipino folks. They were very communal with each other. Didn't matter that they lived in a large apartment building.
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I've lived in a condo and townhouse and I'd hate to raise kids in either. I don't really care about community bonding since that's what school and clubs/activites are for when it comes to kids.

The 1 nice thing about the townhouse was that I had backyard to let the dog out, but almost all newer ones are stacked and don't even have a backyard!

The condo issues were tons of rules and your monthly maintenance fees (which applies to both types of dwellings) I find in a lot of new-ish buildings that elevators are often a problem. By the time you find a 3 bedroom unit you're likely going to be spending the same every month after you factor in the maintences fees since they're based on sqft.

If you want the grandparents to come over and look after your kids overnight, they're stuck sleeping on the couch.
 
Trip planner schedules have been updated on the GO website, everything that was mentioned in that Tweet on the Lakeshore West came true.
 
Northern Light said:
Was going to ask @smallspy if he had heard details, as I haven't had any contact w/sources ahead of this one {besides they were wrong the last two times! LOL)
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The last I had heard, they were still planning on waiting until early into the New Year to introduce the planned fall improvements, in order to give Alstom time to stabilize the staffing situation.

I guess they feel confident with how things are looking at this time to start rolling some of them out incrementally.

Dan
 
ShonTron said:
If the enhanced weekday Kitchener Line service to Bramalea includes Route 30 buses meeting all trains, then that’s a pretty good improvement.
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Mulling through the Trip Planner now, I see new counter-peak trains in the morning (I'm using Union to Bramalea). There are now runs at 7:34am and 8:04am by train, but then a 90M gap to 9:34am, service remains hourly during the mid-day.

Counter-peak Bramalea to Union has a 90M gap 3:55pm, then 5:24pm and resumes hourly.

Looking through a subsequent Sunday, no weekend service for the K-W corridor yet (by rail) still bus only.
 
Allandale25 said:
Looks like more service is coming. Tweeted out here.


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I'm fairly disappointed they aren't even considering extending some of the kitchener express trains to Mt. Pleasant. There are some trains (6:45) that are full by that station. You could get trains below the 1.5 hr mark if they did so, even more if they sped things up through georgetown.
I'm assuming we can't anticipate weekend service for at least half a decade? The tunnel is done, there is no construction for the new woodbine station...
 
Streety McCarface said:
I'm fairly disappointed they aren't even considering extending some of the kitchener express trains to Mt. Pleasant. There are some trains (6:45) that are full by that station. You could get trains below the 1.5 hr mark if they did so, even more if they sped things up through georgetown.
I'm assuming we can't anticipate weekend service for at least half a decade? The tunnel is done, there is no construction for the new woodbine station...
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From Monday, the 16:19 and 16:49 trains are scheduled to make the run in 1h 39m
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crazy to think really. That's a 25 minute improvement on what Kitchener trains were running a few short years ago.

I'll note that LSW trains are still running a few minutes faster than they were pre-pandemic as well - Aldershot - Union is running 53 minutes express and 66 minutes local vs. 57 minutes express and 70 minutes local pre-pandemic.
 
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urbancog said:
From Monday, the 16:19 and 16:49 trains are scheduled to make the run in 1h 39m
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I have been watching VIA’s moving maps fairly regularly the last couple weeks. Yeah, it’s VIA, not GO, but the physical limitations to service to Kitchener are identical.

Basically, train 87 runs at track speed all the way to Kitchener - no slow orders or restrictions. Top speeds of 70 mph, only one speed restriction through the curves at Acton.. Arrival at both Guelph and Kitchener is early by as much as 8 minutes. That’s a statement about how well ML has improved that section of the line.

However, VIA is back to 25-30 mph all the way from Kitchener to west of New Hamburg, and then 50-60 mph with a couple of slow orders to Stratford. And then 30 mph to London.

I suspect there won’t be improvements for GO service west of Bramalea until more track gets added. I would hope that ML has a plan to get all the way to 4 tracks from Halwest to Silver, with flyover. But I suspect it will be only 3 tracks for a decade or more, in which case sharing with CN will remain a matter for negotiation. But we really need a sense of urgency about the Halwest-Silver improvements.

- Paul
 
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