GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[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

 

[not_taylor]

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.

View attachment 636791

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.

I think the issue with removing Aldershot from the route is that the busiest portions of the route are McMaster - Aldershot and Guelph - Aldershot (from what I've observed riding the 17). Lots of latent demand for travel between Guelph and Halton and McMaster to Burlington/Oakville that this route unintentionally partially fulfilled. The only way they could get away with removing Aldershot from 17 is boosting 15A service or making 17B run year-round.

 

[crs1026]

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.

To take this a little further, the most recent data I can find on occurrences on Canadian railways is here.

The incident described would be classed as “Movement exceeds limits of authority” The table states there were 161 such incidents in 2023 across Canada..

Metrolinx is required to have a Safety Management System, and would doubtless be keeping data on its own occurrences. I’m not sure how much of this data could be obtained by an FOI request, but perhaps some might be discoverable.

The problem of course is complicated by the fact that a contractor, and not ML proper, is reaponsible for staffing and operation. And while I’m not conversant with the specifics, the regulatory oversight of GO safety management may fall partly at the federal and partly at the provincial level.

The cautionary tale here is that once Onxpress assumes operation, ML and the provincial government are comfortably firewalled from any real accountability for safety on the GO network. It remains to be seen whether their operation will be any more transparent.

It would be interesting to know how many of those 161 (2023) incidents happened on GO transit, and whether that number is trending up or down. From what one hears on the grapevine, the number is not zero.

- Paul

 

[generalcanada]

Ive always thought blowing past a stop signal is an immediate firing right? like if a bus blew a red light?

 

[ShonTron]

The 17B is a very interesting route that could be a test for both permanent weekend service between Waterloo and Burlington/Hamilton and a year-round express service, skipping Guelph.

It’s a pleasant surprise to see for 2025.

 

[reaperexpress]

I think the issue with removing Aldershot from the route is that the busiest portions of the route are McMaster - Aldershot and Guelph - Aldershot (from what I've observed riding the 17).

So what you're saying is that the most popular part of the route is the part that connects two places in a reasonable amount of time?

Lots of latent demand for travel between Guelph and Halton and McMaster to Burlington/Oakville that this route unintentionally partially fulfilled. The only way they could get away with removing Aldershot from 17 is boosting 15A service or making 17B run year-round.

I disagree that it's the responsibility of a Hamilton to Guelph/KW route to ferry people from McMaster to Burlington. Boosting Route 15 is a far more logical way to do that.

From Guelph to Halton, routes 29, 33 and 48 provide competitive alternatives. For Guelph to Hamilton Centre there are no viable alternatives so the 30 minutes spent driving in circles cannot be escaped.

Remember that time spent detouring route 17 is money that could be otherwise spent on other routes.

 

[reaperexpress]

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.

PTC is the United States' system for providing Automatic Train Protection (ATP). Metrolinx is not implementing it because they are implementing ETCS, which is the European ATP standard.

The key is that OnExpress needs to be able to implement standard ETCS without modifying it to conform to a bunch of arbitrary conditions demanded by Metrolinx and/or Transport Canada.

 

[crs1026]

Ive always thought blowing past a stop signal is an immediate firing right? like if a bus blew a red light?

That’s a gross oversimplification. Many factors affect how much disciplinary action, if any, is taken.

We haven’t heard all sides of the story - that’s what investigations are for. It’s a serious situation, but we should not rush to judgement.

The bigger point is, some form of ATP, be it PTC or ETCS or equivalent would have made a big difference in this instance.

- Paul

 

[Bordercollie]

PTC is the United States' system for providing Automatic Train Protection (ATP). Metrolinx is not implementing it because they are implementing ETCS, which is the European ATP standard.

The key is that OnExpress needs to be able to implement standard ETCS without modifying it to conform to a bunch of arbitrary conditions demanded by Metrolinx and/or Transport Canada.

So the maple leaf and freight locomotives won't be in the same system? Makes no sense..

 

[smallspy]

Ive always thought blowing past a stop signal is an immediate firing right? like if a bus blew a red light?

It depends on the situation.

There have been a number of occasions where a signal dropped immediately in front of a train as it was proceeding at speed. How is that the operator's fault?

Dan

 

[generalcanada]

That’s a gross oversimplification. Many factors affect how much disciplinary action, if any, is taken.

We haven’t heard all sides of the story - that’s what investigations are for. It’s a serious situation, but we should not rush to judgement.

The bigger point is, some form of ATP, be it PTC or ETCS or equivalent would have made a big difference in this instance.

- Paul

It depends on the situation.

There have been a number of occasions where a signal dropped immediately in front of a train as it was proceeding at speed. How is that the operator's fault?

Dan

Of course it depends on the situation, but even with bus services, half the time theres barely any excuse for running a full-red light.
Thats what makes the job so hard.

TTC driver who ran a red light says she couldn’t have stopped safely - Toronto | Globalnews.ca

The TTC driver who was fired after running a red light on Eglinton Avenue said she didn’t realize the light changed red and couldn’t stop in time - so she drove through.

globalnews.ca

 

[lenaitch]

That’s a gross oversimplification. Many factors affect how much disciplinary action, if any, is taken.

We haven’t heard all sides of the story - that’s what investigations are for. It’s a serious situation, but we should not rush to judgement.

The bigger point is, some form of ATP, be it PTC or ETCS or equivalent would have made a big difference in this instance.

- Paul

And any disciplinary or other sanction action will not come from the TSB - that is outside of its mandate and authority.

 

[Metroscapes]

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

...

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.

And any disciplinary or other sanction action will not come from the TSB - that is outside of its mandate and authority.

Thanks for posting Skyline, I hadn't known about this. To be clear, the TSB investigation is ongoing. Anyone who's read a TSB report knows how amazingly thorough it is in determining all factors in an incident, big and small. And while they don't assign fault or point fingers, they do lay out what they believe were the primary and secondary causes, and will make recommendations to Transport Canada. I wouldn't expect any action until that investigation is complete, and when it is, TSB publishes the full report online.

Many will recall the collision at Union Station in 1997. That led to changes that made front-end operation by the engineer mandatory, and improved accessibility of emergency brakes.

The 17B is a very interesting route that could be a test for both permanent weekend service between Waterloo and Burlington/Hamilton and a year-round express service, skipping Guelph.

It’s a pleasant surprise to see for 2025.

The part that surprises me is that it will apparently stop at Kitchener GO. That, to me, is a great inherent flaw of the 17 right now. But it doesn't solve a key problem if the 17B isn't stopping in downtown Guelph. How hard is it to directly connect two medium-sized downtowns that are 30 minutes away from each other?!

 

[Willybru21]

For the past 3 years, around this time there’s been big service improvements to the Kitchener Line:

Spring 2023 saw the introduction of weekend service.
Spring 2024 saw the introduction of all day 30 minute service between Union and Bramalea.
Spring 2025 brings rush hour service improvements.

I can’t wait to see what the future brings!

 

[sixrings]

For the past 3 years, around this time there’s been big service improvements to the Kitchener Line:

Spring 2023 saw the introduction of weekend service.
Spring 2024 saw the introduction of all day 30 minute service between Union and Bramalea.
Spring 2025 brings rush hour service improvements.

I can’t wait to see what the future brings!

Same. Can’t wait to see how Kitchener with a population of 282000 and 106kms away from union gets more frequent and all day service before Mississauga with a population of 770000 and 26kms away from union. Makes total sense.