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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

crs1026 said:
The track is a lesser cost. It’s the cost of new bridges and grade separation that is a single up feont cost. Those have to be built with the additional trackage roughed in, even if the second track isn’t laid immediately. The Weston line is a good example of that. Apart from the 401 tunnel, the amount being spent to add the fourth track is not that great, because all the bridges and interlockings were built for four tracks during the GTS project.

Besides, adding only one track to the Milton line would not enable frequent two way service. Similar to Barrie and Unionville, there might be a way to offer a minimal hourly 2 way service with only one track and some passing sidings...but a full two way service is what’s ultimately desired.

- Paul
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Understood, 3 grade separations, and another track between West Humber and the USRC is needed as well. This is all at least 2.5 billion now, if not more. Guess 2041 it is. @drum118
 
CBC News Kitchener-Waterloo article on a Kitchener Line question that was raised in Question Period today here. Comments by the Minister:

The government will be making an announcement "that I think you'll be happy with," Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek said in response to Fife.
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Re. Woodbine racetrack station.

In typical GTA fashion we have here two agencies who can't get their own plans set out let alone sit down with a second agency and plan for something mutually beneficial.

Everything Woodbine station does (park and ride, ease of access for go routes on hwys 27, 50, and 427) would be done by the intermodal transit hub planned by the GTAA and would be done better. However since the GTAA has been vague on it's plans for the transit hub (will it be a glorified passenger processing terminal, or will it also seek to serve the employment surrounding the airport; and will it seek to be a destination in and of itself with hotel, office space, and maybe even new convention facilities). So far all we have is a fancy "artist's rendition" with buses, LRT's and some trains but no sense of how or where the connections will occur.

Ideally GO and the GTAA would come together and push for a rail tunnel that would pass under the transit hub, instead each agency continues to plod along with their own half baked ides.

Re. Etobicoke North. It very much is a forgotten orphan in the region's transit system. The TTC barely acknowledges it's existence, even by TTC to GO station connection standards. I've also never understood why there wasn't service from this station to the airport via Belfield/409. It is 7 km to the airport from EN vs 6 km from Malton (per google maps driving directions). For all the talk about a shuttle between Malton and the airport the difference is not that significant for a service from EN..
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
Re. Woodbine racetrack station.



Ideally GO and the GTAA would come together and push for a rail tunnel that would pass under the transit hub, instead each agency continues to plod along with their own half baked ides.
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Or if the transit hub was built into a huge building one of the agencies already owned that is already adjacent to the rail line....maybe there would be less need for the tunnel.....and then that building was connected to the airport....well that sounds like planning and cost efficient stuff. ;)
 
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Is GO changing the UI on their buses? Similar to their new website, better looking UI for less information (and you can’t even scroll!).
81365399-5760-43EB-ACD3-9B5083DEB614.jpeg

The arrow does not move and show the live location though :confused:.

Edit:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1072641516466827266
 
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There are photos on Twitter and Facebook tonight of changes to CTC signalling just placed in service in the Mount Joy area on the Stouffville GO line. The changes establish a "home signal" at the south end of the Mount Joy platform, which is consistent with what was done elsewhere eg Aurora to allow trains to turn back from that location.

I don't recall seeing any official announcement from ML that mid-day trains were being extended to Mount Joy, but that would make an awful lot of sense and would likely increase ridership significantly by eliminating the bus ride to Unionville.

There isn't much hope for increased headways until the Agincourt and Milliken stations are rebuilt - currently only one track and one platform, even when the second track is added there's no way to stop in both directions on more than an hourly basis without a platform for the second track, and underground tunnels to connect..

I'm actually missing the Del Duca days when these things were promised, and re-promised, and photo-opp'ed ad nauseum, long before they happened. Well, maybe not that much. Anyways, here's hoping that service change isn't far away.

- Paul
 
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crs1026 said:
There are photos on Twitter and Facebook tonight of changes to CTC signalling just placed in service in the Mount Joy area on the Stouffville GO line. The changes establish a "home signal" at the south end of the Mount Joy platform, which is consistent with what was done elsewhere eg Aurora to allow trains to turn back from that location.

I don't recall seeing any official announcement from ML that mid-day trains were being extended to Mount Joy, but that would make an awful lot of sense and would likely increase ridership significantly by eliminating the bus ride to Unionville.

There isn't much hope for increased headways until the Agincourt and Milliken stations are rebuilt - currently only one track and one platform, even when the second track is added there's no way to stop in both directions on more than an hourly basis without a platform for the second track, and underground tunnels to connect..

I'm actually missing the Del Duca days when these things were promised, and re-promised, and photo-opp'ed ad nauseum, long before they happened. Well, maybe not that much. Anyways, here's hoping that service change isn't far away.

- Paul
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Great news! I assume this could also be in support of weekend service?
 
Grimsby actually appears to have a surprisingly strong condo market - so they may be able to build a much more robust amount of transit around the greenfield location than they would by trying to retrofit it into the downtown.
 
DonValleyRainbow said:
Well, I don't really know if that hurts or helps any case to move Grimsby GO from its proposed location back to a more downtown setting. Would being in the downtown setting outweigh cheap developable land in the sprawl?
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Depends on your goal. If you are trying to make Grimsby a destination, then sure, a central location is preferable. But if the higher priority is to make Grimsby a commuter stop, considering the huge number of people who currently drive to Aldershot, or to work in Hamilton or the GTA, (thereby adding traffic to the QEW at peak) you want a location with lots of parkable land that keeps commuters out of the centre of town.

Ideally you would create a first/last mile solution for commuters and waive the parking, but Grimsby is hardly the place to start with that. Building some effective local transit that links the GO station to the central part of town is probably more realistic for now.

- Paul
 
DonValleyRainbow said:
Well, I don't really know if that hurts or helps any case to move Grimsby GO from its proposed location back to a more downtown setting. Would being in the downtown setting outweigh cheap developable land in the sprawl?
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The trouble with the downtown Grimsby Station is that it is tiny. The platform is barely three cars' length. When the VIA/Amtrak train comes through, if anyone is getting on or off, they do so from a single door. It's certainly possible to extend the platform, and parking can be squeezed in around it (on the north side of the tracks, there's a minor hydro corridor), but that's not really GO Transit's thing. They like big stations with lots of parking. (It's amazing that they allowed a minimal, downtown-ish station at Acton).

But I believe that Metrolinx owns the Casablanca site, and it fits in to their suburban station strategy. Casablanca is not a horrible place for a station (there are worse stations in GO's network, including its two newest on the Richmond Hill line), but if it's going to be out there, it needs local transit access to it.

I'm also skeptical of the ridership of GO Trains out towards Niagara Falls. It's still faster to drive from Grimsby to Burlington and take the GO from there. Commuters would be better off with a one-shot bus to Burlington from the park and ride already there. The slow orders through Hamilton slow things down, as does the many stops as far as Oakville or Clarkson. It'd have to run on a different stopping pattern from GO local and express trains. Regional rail makes more sense. There might be some commuter traffic headed to Hamilton, but it's not a big office node, and West Harbour isn't well connected to HSR buses to McMaster (the A-line does at least link it to Mohawk).
 
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