GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[reaperexpress]

I think this means there's no need for a 2nd platform at Georgetown GO. Hourly trains can pass on the 2-track grade separation, and at Acton, Guelph, & Shantz. Roughly equal distances apart.
But there'll be no "slack" in the system, one late train will disrupt the service.

For hourly service you need passing tracks precisely 30 minutes apart. Currently the travel time is 29 minutes from Guelph to Georgetown so for the grade separation to work as a passing location the travel time would need to be reduced by about 5 minutes between Guelph and the grade separation. They can definitely save a few minutes by resolving the yard slow zone in Georgetown but that still leaves another couple minutes to be found.

 

[smallspy]

It doesn't. I'm familiar with the "wooshing" sound a lot of these higher speed, electric trains make as they fly by.

Just wondering why in England, people will live right beside a busy mainline, and the noise from the trains passing by doesn't seem to bother them. But here in Ontario we have to erect massive, sun blocking, noise walls inorder to appease the folks who live right beside the tracks.

As has been pointed out further up this thread, in England the trains have been running there for many, many years at similar frequencies. Where they are improving the frequencies they are only increasing incrementally. But don't kid yourself either, there are numerous places where they have greatly increased the services on the lines and have put up massive sound walls. Look up the works for Thameslink and the Elizabeth line, for instance.

In most cases here, the planned frequencies are exponentially higher than they were when the people moved in.

Dan

 

[SaugeenJunction]

They don't mention all stop so it's possible, there's some express configuration for UP?

With electrification and EMUs the future UP “GO Line” can stop at all existing stops, plus Woodbine, St. Clair-Old Weston, King-Liberty, and Spadina-Front all while dropping the total travel time down back to 25 mins.

 

[smallspy]

With electrification and EMUs the future UP “GO Line” can stop at all existing stops, plus Woodbine, St. Clair-Old Weston, King-Liberty, and Spadina-Front all while dropping the total travel time down back to 25 mins.

No, they can't.

An EMU is going to accelerate at basically the same rate as a DMU. At low speeds traction is the limiting problem, not power. Any self-propelled unit will have a great advantage over loco-hauled stock here, but the power that is being fed to the vehicle is irrelevant.

Above about 40mph, yes an EMU will accelerate faster than a DMU. But how much of the time of the UPX is above 40mph? Not very much.....

Dan

 

[reaperexpress]

No, they can't.

An EMU is going to accelerate at basically the same rate as a DMU. At low speeds traction is the limiting problem, not power. Any self-propelled unit will have a great advantage over loco-hauled stock here, but the power that is being fed to the vehicle is irrelevant.

You are definitely correct that we would not make back 5 stops worth of time by switching to EMU, and that it is theoretically possible to build a DMU that accelerates as quickly as an EMU at low speeds. However the DMU scenario is not a theoretical DMU, it is the Nippon Sharyo DMUs the original 25-minute schedule was based on. Those diesel-mechanical units accelerate very slowly because the engine is rarely at the optimal rpm, they need to pause while changing gears, and at the time there was a 10 mph speed restriction at platforms.

Based on my measurements, UP Express trains used to take about 70-80 seconds to reach 100 km/h.

Some of the 10 mph restrictions have recently been lifted so I'm planning to take some new measurements over the holidays to see how much acceleration has improved.

Above about 40mph, yes an EMU will accelerate faster than a DMU. But how much of the time of the UPX is above 40mph? Not very much.....

European EMUs typically take about 30-40 seconds to reach 100 km/h. They only take 24 seconds to reach 40 mph (64 km/h) so with similar EMUs the UPX would spend nearly all of its moving time above 40 mph.

 

[Metroscapes]

You are definitely correct that we would not make back 5 stops worth of time by switching to EMU, and that it is theoretically possible to build a DMU that accelerates as quickly as an EMU at low speeds. However the DMU scenario is not a theoretical DMU, it is the Nippon Sharyo DMUs the original 25-minute schedule was based on. Those diesel-mechanical units accelerate very slowly because the engine is rarely at the optimal rpm, they need to pause while changing gears, and at the time there was a 10 mph speed restriction at platforms.

Based on my measurements, UP Express trains used to take about 70-80 seconds to reach 100 km/h.

Some of the 10 mph restrictions have recently been lifted so I'm planning to take some new measurements over the holidays to see how much acceleration has improved.

European EMUs typically take about 30-40 seconds to reach 100 km/h. They only take 24 seconds to reach 40 mph (64 km/h) so with similar EMUs the UPX would spend nearly all of its moving time above 40 mph.

I'm indifferent to the EMU discussion because, well, throw it in a general 'mismanaged garbage' bin, but anyway...

Some napkin math. Let's take @reaperexpress ' measurement of 80s to accelerate to full speed, 50% of the time to decellerate (would be cool for you to measure that too), and assuming 1 minute of dwell time:

• Total station stop time: 80 + 60 + 40 = 180s = 3 min
• Acceleration: ½at² = ½*(Δv/Δt)*t² = ½*(27.78/80)*80² = 1,111 m
• Decceleration: ½at² = ½*(Δv/Δt)*t² = ½*(27.78/40)*40² = 556 m
• Total travel time @ 100km/h = (1111+556) / 27.78 = 60 s = 1 min
• Total time lost per stop = 3-1 = 2 minutes

That jives well with previous Kitchener Line schedules that showed express trains to Bramalea (skipping 4 stations) was 8 minutes faster than local runs (or 2 minutes per station). That suggests adding Mt Dennis as a stop added 2 minutes, and a couple spot checks with the December 20 schedule lines up with that as well.

How this lines up so well considering that's scheduling how beefier GO trains? Maybe I'm overestimating dwell time.

Anyway, I had originally done all of this to suggest UPX trains not making any stops between Union and Pearson should be able to do it in 21 minutes (20 if you can shave that minute elsewhere). Pre-GTS, the airport shuttle was nicknamed "Blue-22", suggesting it'd be done in 22 minutes. Great to see we're heading for 29.

I'm just ranting here but also needed an excuse to do some math and see how it checks out with real world measurements and schedules.

 

[dowlingm]

It doesn't. I'm familiar with the "wooshing" sound a lot of these higher speed, electric trains make as they fly by.

Just wondering why in England, people will live right beside a busy mainline, and the noise from the trains passing by doesn't seem to bother them. But here in Ontario we have to erect massive, sun blocking, noise walls inorder to appease the folks who live right beside the tracks.

HS2 was doomed to be a mess before it began, say insiders

"There's a fundamental problem in the UK with the cost of building anything," says one insider. Then there are questions about the planning system

www.bbc.com

As politicians set about trying to get approval to make HS2 run straight and fast, they came across another obstacle.

Much of the route cut through rural constituencies, represented mostly by Conservative MPs, who made it clear to then-Prime Minister David Cameron that their approval for the project would require serious negotiation and compromise.

Ministers picked something unusual to make it happen: a hybrid bill, only the third of its kind enacted since 1992.

These allow MPs to vote on whether a piece of infrastructure should go ahead, but those directly affected are given the right to petition against it and ask for details to be changed.

Councils, businesses and individuals made their case in front of a government committee asking for everything from noise barriers to financial compensation for communities losing green space. Last-minute negotiations often took place in the corridors outside.

The approach meant the bill was flexible - but critics have argued it was also needlessly complex and expensive.

 

[SubHuman]

25 Nov 2025
Kitchener Line
looking south, from Dundas St W bridge

looking north from Dundas St W bridge

Barrie Line, looking south from Dundas St W bridge

- but like a few weeks ago, there's no sign of anything happening along the stretch of track north of Dundas St W up to where the Bloor-Lansdowne GO station is being built.

 

[Space Gary]

View attachment 698735

What's the work that's happening here for? I saw it when I rode the Barrie line a few weeks ago and was wondering what was going on

 

[smallspy]

What's the work that's happening here for? I saw it when I rode the Barrie line a few weeks ago and was wondering what was going on

Track bed for the second main track.

Dan

 

[crs1026]

The ribbon rail laid out alongside the Kitchener line is definitely encouraging, as is the close to final grading and compacting. There's no longer any jersey barriers along that stretch - the track closest to the grading is not in service so I imagine the separation allows "green zone" work without it.

The shot of the Barrie line shows sewer pipes and a trenching tool, plus a piling rig, which implies some excavation and utility work before the subgrade is ready. There were excavations happening in that stretch up to Bloor when I rode a week or two back.

One other note that the photos don't capture - the construction access to the Kitchener line has been built across the CPKC Mactier Sub. There's actually a lot of cooperation required and flagging needed on CPKC to allow the contractors to access the St Clair station site. Those who maintain that the freight railways are always oppositional should take note. Cooperation and coordination does happen when it suits all concerned.

- Paul

 

[DSCToronto]

Well, here's a familiar name Congratulations @JasonParis


Following a contest launched earlier this year — which saw more than 900 submissions and over 1,000 votes cast — two Ontario Line tunnel boring machines (TBMs) received new names: Libby and Corkie.

The TBMs, which arrived in Canada at the Port of Oshawa in June, will work alongside each other to dig about six kilometres of twin tunnels beneath the city’s downtown core.

Toronto resident Jason Paris submitted the winning names as a tribute to two of the vibrant communities the Ontario Line subway will serve in the city: Liberty Village and Corktown.
SEE: https://www.metrolinx.com/en/discov...hine+article&utm_id=1052444&sfmc_id=121318981

 

[Allandale25]

Well, here's a familiar name Congratulations @JasonParis


Following a contest launched earlier this year — which saw more than 900 submissions and over 1,000 votes cast — two Ontario Line tunnel boring machines (TBMs) received new names: Libby and Corkie.

The TBMs, which arrived in Canada at the Port of Oshawa in June, will work alongside each other to dig about six kilometres of twin tunnels beneath the city’s downtown core.

Toronto resident Jason Paris submitted the winning names as a tribute to two of the vibrant communities the Ontario Line subway will serve in the city: Liberty Village and Corktown.
SEE: https://www.metrolinx.com/en/discov...hine+article&utm_id=1052444&sfmc_id=121318981

UT gets action. Congrats, @JasonParis

 

[Bojaxs]

Those who maintain that the freight railways are always oppositional should take note. Cooperation and coordination does happen when it suits all concerned.

Freight is down. CN and CPKC have a lot of locomotives stored away in their yards.

So in that sense, you could say they're being more cooperative.

Metrolinx needs to take advantage of this moment and do as much work with the Class 1's before freight movement picks up again and the Class 1's go back to being stingy.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

No, they can't.

An EMU is going to accelerate at basically the same rate as a DMU. At low speeds traction is the limiting problem, not power. Any self-propelled unit will have a great advantage over loco-hauled stock here, but the power that is being fed to the vehicle is irrelevant.

Above about 40mph, yes an EMU will accelerate faster than a DMU. But how much of the time of the UPX is above 40mph? Not very much.....

Dan

I have seen documents which suggest otherwise….