GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[T3G]

When GO buses divert to get around traffic, is that at the discretion of the driver or does the instruction come from further high up?

Because whatever it is, the system needs rethinking. Every so often I'll get a driver who uses Lake Shore entering Toronto to avoid traffic on the Gardiner, and even less frequently than that a driver on the westbound 27 who gets around the congestion on the 401 by using the 400/407, but most of them dutifully drive through the prescribed routing. It's awful. There is no better way to realize how little your time is worth as a transit rider than to have to sit in bumper to bumper traffic on the Gardiner and seeing Lake Shore clipping along at a fair pace.

I remain hugely thankful to everyone who complained about the 21 and saw its through routing to Union station restored in lieu of the transfer at the Lakeshore West stations. Because it doesn't matter how much slower and more terrible service is, as long as you don't have to move for any reason whatsoever. No bus only lanes, no movement on improving passenger service on freight corridors, and when someone comes up with an idea to make the journey halfway tolerable they change it back. The inmates are running the asylum here.

 

[sixrings]

When GO buses divert to get around traffic, is that at the discretion of the driver or does the instruction come from further high up?

Because whatever it is, the system needs rethinking. Every so often I'll get a driver who uses Lake Shore entering Toronto to avoid traffic on the Gardiner, and even less frequently than that a driver on the westbound 27 who gets around the congestion on the 401 by using the 400/407, but most of them dutifully drive through the prescribed routing. It's awful. There is no better way to realize how little your time is worth as a transit rider than to have to sit in bumper to bumper traffic on the Gardiner and seeing Lake Shore clipping along at a fair pace.

I remain hugely thankful to everyone who complained about the 21 and saw its through routing to Union station restored in lieu of the transfer at the Lakeshore West stations. Because it doesn't matter how much slower and more terrible service is, as long as you don't have to move for any reason whatsoever. No bus only lanes, no movement on improving passenger service on freight corridors, and when someone comes up with an idea to make the journey halfway tolerable they change it back. The inmates are running the asylum here.

Every time people complain about being in traffic on transit I’m always confused how people hated the idea of TC and thought a LRT in its own lane wasn’t a massive improvement for just the dedicated lane alone.

 

[smallspy]

When GO buses divert to get around traffic, is that at the discretion of the driver or does the instruction come from further high up?

A little bit of both.

The driver does have some discretion to take alternate routes provided that they don't miss any stops and that their vehicle allows them to. The double-deckers have some route restrictions that don't allow some alternates, for instance.

But the central office will also provide detours if they see congestion developing on a route and can get the vehicles around it.

Dan

 

[reaperexpress]

One thing that must be said about the 15 minute service on Lakeshore East, though, is that their insistence on interlining Lakeshore trips means that service is being capped on Lakeshore West even though they have no construction going on there that would preclude it. If there can't be 15 minute LSE service, it would be nice if they at least divorced it from LSW.

Do we actually know that insistence on interlining is actually the reason though? They've de-interlined them in the past for construction schedule adjustments, and sometimes run special Union-Ex shuttles during special events. It seems equally likely that the 15-minute Oakville-Union local service is just missing due to limited crew availability.

 

[crs1026]

It seems equally likely that the 15-minute Oakville-Union local service is just missing due to limited crew availability.

Quite likely that this, and not ridership, is the barrier.

This is another thing ML is unwilling to talk about (or claims it's no longer their responsibility).

Fire and police departments have no problem sharing their staffing plans - usually during the municipal budgeting process.

I see nothing confidential in this that could not be disclosed publicly. But, ML....

- Paul

 

[drum118]

Quite likely that this, and not ridership, is the barrier.

This is another thing ML is unwilling to talk about (or claims it's no longer their responsibility).

Fire and police departments have no problem sharing their staffing plans - usually during the municipal budgeting process.

I see nothing confidential in this that could not be disclosed publicly. But, ML....

- Paul

It is also time to change how engineers are train and qualify like Europe, not like it is today. The only area in Europe where engineers need longer training is on HSR trains.

Given the fact ML trains run more on their line than CN and CP, the 2 years plus timeframe is too long to train engineers.

ML does not like things to be published by them for thing that should be public knowledge in the first place, as it will show how badly they operate, let alone are run.

 

[crs1026]

It is also time to change how engineers are train and qualify like Europe, not like it is today. The only area in Europe where engineers need longer training is on HSR trains.

Given the fact ML trains run more on their line than CN and CP, the 2 years plus timeframe is too long to train engineers.

I'm not opposed to this, but I think the problem may be simple math rather than too high a training standard.

Hypothetically - If you have a 100 qualified loco operators today, each working 200 shifts a year, and the graduation requirement is for a trainee to co-pilot with a qualified operator for 200 shifts, then the most number of trainees you can qualify in a year is 100. And that assumes that every qualified operator is willing to mentor a trainee every shift (some aren't), and no qualified operator or trainee ever misses a shift or attrits out altogether.

I have a suspicion that the growth in labour requirements in the service plan has never really aligned with the hiring and training infrastructure and throughput.... so even if training were proceeding full bore, there will be a shortfall of crews and that will prevent service improvements from being implemented. It's especially easy for this to happen if you are watching your pennies, as trainee labour has to be paid while training but generates no ridership or revenue.

Just a hunch, but at one point in my career I did just this math for a labour force with similar or longer training prereq's, and this smells like that kind of logjam.

- Paul

PS - In my line of work, we had to submit data to our regulator in open hearings to demonstrate that we had sufficient trainees in the pipeline to fill all safety-critical roles to match needs over the next 3-5 years. That included provision for attrition in current staff, plus training failures, plus attrition among trainees who needed multiple years to attain qualification. This is why this doesn't strike me as all that big a secret. The staffing plan is normal due diligence for a Board, and should be reported to the ML Board annually in the public portion of the meeting.

 

[Jonny5]

When GO buses divert to get around traffic, is that at the discretion of the driver or does the instruction come from further high up?

Because whatever it is, the system needs rethinking. Every so often I'll get a driver who uses Lake Shore entering Toronto to avoid traffic on the Gardiner, and even less frequently than that a driver on the westbound 27 who gets around the congestion on the 401 by using the 400/407, but most of them dutifully drive through the prescribed routing. It's awful. There is no better way to realize how little your time is worth as a transit rider than to have to sit in bumper to bumper traffic on the Gardiner and seeing Lake Shore clipping along at a fair pace.

I remain hugely thankful to everyone who complained about the 21 and saw its through routing to Union station restored in lieu of the transfer at the Lakeshore West stations. Because it doesn't matter how much slower and more terrible service is, as long as you don't have to move for any reason whatsoever. No bus only lanes, no movement on improving passenger service on freight corridors, and when someone comes up with an idea to make the journey halfway tolerable they change it back. The inmates are running the asylum here.

There was a long period from somewhere around 2005 to 2015 where at rush hours the Hamilton-Toronto "QEW Express" would never use the QEW at all on the trip to Toronto.
It would always by default detour via the 407, 401, and 427 to get to the Gardiner.

Hamilton-bound they might do the same, though they sometimes went as far as the edge of Oakville and north on the 403 to get to the 407 there.

 

[not_taylor]

April service changes:

April GO service changes to include new Kitchener Line trips

GO Transit schedule adjustments start April 5.

www.metrolinx.com

• More train service is coming to the Kitchener GO Line, including more express options between Kitchener GO and Union Station, and six new trips between Malton/Bramalea GO and Union Station.
• GO Explore bus services return with new routes and locations serving attractions across the region like Canada’s Wonderland, Toronto Zoo, Toronto Premium Outlets, and connecting the Waterloo region with GO Bus service to Niagara Falls.
• Similar to past years, service will be temporarily reduced for the season for some GO buses that serve post-secondary institutions.

 

[Northern Light]

April service changes:

April GO service changes to include new Kitchener Line trips

GO Transit schedule adjustments start April 5.

www.metrolinx.com

• More train service is coming to the Kitchener GO Line, including more express options between Kitchener GO and Union Station, and six new trips between Malton/Bramalea GO and Union Station.
• GO Explore bus services return with new routes and locations serving attractions across the region like Canada’s Wonderland, Toronto Zoo, Toronto Premium Outlets, and connecting the Waterloo region with GO Bus service to Niagara Falls.
• Similar to past years, service will be temporarily reduced for the season for some GO buses that serve post-secondary institutions.

Just a smidge more detail:

***

The new schedules will go live on next Wednesday, March 19th, 2025.

 

[reaperexpress]

Just a smidge more detail:

View attachment 636785

***

View attachment 636786

The new schedules will go live on next Wednesday, March 19th, 2025.

I like the sound of route 17B to Burlington. If they also ran it on weekdays they could remove Aldershot from the current Route 17 so people can get to McMaster and Hamilton Centre in a less ridiculous amount of time.

Cutting Aldershot would save about 10-15 minutes per direction, which saves 20-30 minutes round trip. With a shorter round trip they can run a higher frequency with the same buses.

 

[APTA-2048]

I liked the food trailers they had at Scarborough GO and Pickering GO last year. I wonder how that program went and if there is incentive for more.

Looks like a food trailer has been dropped at Rouge Hill. Appears to be coffee and snacks from South Asia. Glad to see they’re still doing these.

 

[SkylineHorizons]

One year ago today, we came dangerously close to witnessing the most catastrophic accident in GO Transit history—an incident that has never really been publically acknowledged by Metrolinx. Instead, it was swiftly swept under the rug, with passengers being told their trains were simply delayed due to a ‘signal issue’ when in reality, two GO trains nearly collided head-on.

The Transport Safety Board of Canada is currently conducting an investigation on this incident, here is their brief on the incident;

Rail transportation safety investigation R24T0064 - Transportation Safety Board of Canada

The occurrenceOn 14 March 2024, GO Transit commuter train 1028 (GO 1028), was departing Aldershot station in Burlington, Ontario, heading east when it passed a stop signal. Consequently, it ran through the crossover switch and entered the main track at Mile 34.4 of the Canadian National Railway...

www.tsb.gc.ca

"On 14 March 2024, GO Transit commuter train 1028 (GO 1028), was departing Aldershot station in Burlington, Ontario, heading east when it passed a stop signal. Consequently, it ran through the crossover switch and entered the main track at Mile 34.4 of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) Oakville Subdivision.

At the same time, from the opposite direction, another GO Transit commuter train (GO 1775) was approaching the Aldershot station on the main track. The crew of GO 1775 saw headlights ahead and, when they realized that GO 1028 was on their track, they made an emergency application of the air brakes, stopping their train within six car lengths (approximately 450 feet) of GO 1028.

Both trains had passengers on board. There was no derailment, and no injuries were reported. The TSB is investigating."

What the TSB brief doesn't say is that the two trains had a combined 232 people on board! 227 passengers along with 5 crew members.

Here is the Alstom brief on the incident, which emphasizes how dangerous the situation was:

https://imgur.com/a/c3Pea8C

"During the late afternoon on Thursday, March 14th, a GO train crew advised that they went past the stop signal 344 at Waterdown East and ran through the switch at mile 34.34 Oakville Subdivision traveling approximately 13-14 mph with 110 passengers onboard. ENGR stated that he heard a snap while running through dual control switch, observed oncoming head lights and came to a controlled stop approximately 11 coaches past the stop signal. CNDR made an emergency broadcast and went flagging. The ENGR proceeded to make an emergency broadcast to the RTC.

Simultaneously, a westbound GO train crew observed headlights on approach while traveling at approximately 55 mph with 117 passengers onboard and contacted the opposing movement to dim their headlights. Once the westbound trip realized that the opposing movement was on their track, they placed the train into emergency east of Waterdown East and stopped approximately three coach lengths from the opposing movement.

The event had high risk potential for catastrophic consequences."


Truth be told, we were incredibly lucky that there was no collision. Normally, a westbound train approaching Aldershot would be traveling at a higher rate of speed, approximately 65 mph. However, this particular train had a trainee operating it, and he was running at a slower speed. At 65 mph, their train would not have been able to stop in time.

This incident highlights serious deficiencies within the GO train network and exposes a troubling lack of transparency within MX. PTC would address many of these issues, yet very little progress has been made in implementing it. Worse still, rather than openly acknowledging the severity of the incident, it was downplayed and essentially concealed from the public. Furthermore, one of the employees on the train that passed the stop signal without authority had a known medical condition that may have interfered with his ability to operate—yet he was still allowed to continue in such a critical role. This raises serious concerns about their hiring practices and ability to retain qualified staff. The fact that he was allowed to remain on duty even after the issue became apparent—prior to this incident—can almost certainly be attributed to chronic understaffing and a growing exodus of experienced personnel driven by low morale, high stress levels, and overall dissatisfaction with the company and agency.

Without immediate action to modernize safety systems, enforce stricter operational standards, and commit to greater transparency, we may not be as fortunate next time.

 

[Bordercollie]

One year ago today, we came dangerously close to witnessing the most catastrophic accident in GO Transit history—an incident that has never really been publically acknowledged by Metrolinx. Instead, it was swiftly swept under the rug, with passengers being told their trains were simply delayed due to a ‘signal issue’ when in reality, two GO trains nearly collided head-on.

The Transport Safety Board of Canada is currently conducting an investigation on this incident, here is their brief on the incident;

Rail transportation safety investigation R24T0064 - Transportation Safety Board of Canada

The occurrenceOn 14 March 2024, GO Transit commuter train 1028 (GO 1028), was departing Aldershot station in Burlington, Ontario, heading east when it passed a stop signal. Consequently, it ran through the crossover switch and entered the main track at Mile 34.4 of the Canadian National Railway...

www.tsb.gc.ca

"On 14 March 2024, GO Transit commuter train 1028 (GO 1028), was departing Aldershot station in Burlington, Ontario, heading east when it passed a stop signal. Consequently, it ran through the crossover switch and entered the main track at Mile 34.4 of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) Oakville Subdivision.

At the same time, from the opposite direction, another GO Transit commuter train (GO 1775) was approaching the Aldershot station on the main track. The crew of GO 1775 saw headlights ahead and, when they realized that GO 1028 was on their track, they made an emergency application of the air brakes, stopping their train within six car lengths (approximately 450 feet) of GO 1028.

Both trains had passengers on board. There was no derailment, and no injuries were reported. The TSB is investigating."

What the TSB brief doesn't say is that the two trains had a combined 232 people on board! 227 passengers along with 5 crew members.

Here is the Alstom brief on the incident, which emphasizes how dangerous the situation was:

https://imgur.com/a/c3Pea8C

"During the late afternoon on Thursday, March 14th, a GO train crew advised that they went past the stop signal 344 at Waterdown East and ran through the switch at mile 34.34 Oakville Subdivision traveling approximately 13-14 mph with 110 passengers onboard. ENGR stated that he heard a snap while running through dual control switch, observed oncoming head lights and came to a controlled stop approximately 11 coaches past the stop signal. CNDR made an emergency broadcast and went flagging. The ENGR proceeded to make an emergency broadcast to the RTC.

Simultaneously, a westbound GO train crew observed headlights on approach while traveling at approximately 55 mph with 117 passengers onboard and contacted the opposing movement to dim their headlights. Once the westbound trip realized that the opposing movement was on their track, they placed the train into emergency east of Waterdown East and stopped approximately three coach lengths from the opposing movement.

The event had high risk potential for catastrophic consequences."


Truth be told, we were incredibly lucky that there was no collision. Normally, a westbound train approaching Aldershot would be traveling at a higher rate of speed, approximately 65 mph. However, this particular train had a trainee operating it, and he was running at a slower speed. At 65 mph, their train would not have been able to stop in time.

This incident highlights serious deficiencies within the GO train network and exposes a troubling lack of transparency within MX. PTC would address many of these issues, yet very little progress has been made in implementing it. Worse still, rather than openly acknowledging the severity of the incident, it was downplayed and essentially concealed from the public. Furthermore, one of the employees on the train that passed the stop signal without authority had a known medical condition that may have interfered with his ability to operate—yet he was still allowed to continue in such a critical role. This raises serious concerns about their hiring practices and ability to retain qualified staff. Not only was this individual not properly vetted initially, but he was also allowed to remain on duty even after the issue became apparent—prior to this incident—likely due to chronic understaffing and a growing exodus of experienced personnel caused by low morale and high levels of stress.

Without immediate action to modernize safety systems, enforce stricter operational standards, and commit to greater transparency, we may not be as fortunate next time.

What was the medical condition? How did both crew miss the red light?

 

[crs1026]

^To add a bit of context, the rules that govern accident investigations and the criteria for classing an investigation as Class X can be found here.

The list of active investigations - which is about as much as the public is told about what goes on - is here.

Some general statistics on incidents and links to other pages with data are here.

- Paul