GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[drum118]

Nov 27
Hamilton:
The folks in Hamilton should be on the watch to see the new 3rd track bridge being install starting some time this week. Everything is ready for it to happen, as the piers and backfill in place.

Oakville:
1/3 of the main floor is pour and up to 3/4 or more will be in place by the end of Dec.

Burlington:
Elevators are still the same as my last trip.

Glazing going up for customer service area.

The end of the roof still needs to be boarded up, but roof channels being install to support the metal roof. Glazing in place, but not seal. No new concrete sidewalk for the east end has been pour, other than the new parking area is ready for paving. Bus loop 100% pour.

Unless there is a major push to clean up the bus loop area, not going to open in Jan and will be a spring date opening alone with the completion of the station.

Torbram Rd.
Very little has taken place for the Kitchener line underpass since the beginning of the year. Tracks have been moved to allow the building of the underpass. To make things worse, the 4 track bridge and part of the south underpass is built for the CN Corridor line. 3 tracks are in place with the provision of a 4th track to the north.

 

[dowlingm]

Torbram Rd.
Very little has taken place for the Kitchener line underpass since the beginning of the year. Tracks have been moved to allow the building of the underpass. To make things worse, the 4 track bridge and part of the south underpass is built for the CN Corridor line. 3 tracks are in place with the provision of a 4th track to the north.

I was on the 14 Torbram north from Malton GO a couple of times in the last month. About three weeks ago the bus was diverted around the works. Last week, no diversion. That lines up with the construction notice on Transit Toronto: http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2016/10/29-torbram_ro.shtml

 

[Allandale25]

Nov 27
Hamilton:
The folks in Hamilton should be on the watch to see the new 3rd track bridge being install starting some time this week. Everything is ready for it to happen, as the piers and backfill in place.

Good picture here of some of the track work near the West Harbour Station.

 

[Amare]

Burlington GO is the biggest joke of a project i've seen in the past 10 years. No doubt, that condo right beside it will be completed before this project is officially "complete".

 

[rbt]

Burlington GO is the biggest joke of a project i've seen in the past 10 years.

Agreed BUT I really like the taps in the new washroom. No-touch but they have temperature control (hold hands left for warmer, to the right for colder); neat stuff.

 

[crs1026]

Oops. Turns out some of the things we've been expressing skepticism about have been looked at by the A-G.

http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arreports/en16/v1_309en16.pdf

- Paul

 

[Megaton327]

Oops. Turns out some of the things we've been expressing skepticism about have been looked at by the A-G.

http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arreports/en16/v1_309en16.pdf

- Paul

Good lord...could someone please tell me this report is satire?!?

 

[lead82]

If only it was satire. Sadly our government is great at paying people big money and getting little value out of it. It's the same at all levels of government.

 

[mdrejhon]

This is a depressing read for a transit advocate.

While on the surface this isn't nearly as scandal as things like gas plants and eHealth, the cost overruns that occur is more fodder that potentially derails the Big Move in the next election.

I am heartened that some projects such as Burlington GO station has sped up, after the timing of new Contractor peedormance monitoring has been deployed.

Many Recommendations are already under way, but what will the 2018 election bring? A simple reprimand or a death sentence? Or somewhere in between? (Semi-rheoretical questions for deep thought.)

 

[mdrejhon]

On a better note...

On a bigger-than-usual-return-for-value among Metrolinx-funded CN corridor projects, this does indeed have immense return as it is germane to GO's expansion into Hamilton and Niagara:

As part of the ongoing Hamilton Rail Junction expansion towards all-day 2-way GO service to Hamilton:

The third track Desjardins Canal rail bridge girders have now been fully installed just this week:

Without this, reliable all-day 2-way service is not possible due to the freight contention.

With this, there is a triple track corridor all the way from Aldershot to West Harbour, with more opportunities for a GO train to cross tracks to opposite side of the corridor, before AND after a 160-car freight train at any random point along the corridor between West Harbour and Aldershot, as there are crossovers at multiple points several kilometers/miles apart over multiple blocks.

With proper coordination with CN, this can eliminate the majroity of Hamilton GO delays by freight trains, at no freight delay to CN nor delay to a GO train, if centrally-controlled correctly.

I suspect half hourly to Hamilton in theory is eventually gradually possible, as this is not even in the 2011 Niagara ESR -- this bridge was not even mentioned as a pre-requisite for hourly service.

Regardless, even at lower frequencies, this bridge will also make it easier to send more trains to the new Lewis yard in Grimsby instead of Willowbrook, enhancing the morning start of Hamilton/Niagara train service.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

On a better note...

On a bigger-than-usual-return-for-value among Metrolinx-funded CN corridor projects, this does indeed have immense return as it is germane to GO's expansion into Hamilton and Niagara:

As part of the ongoing Hamilton Rail Junction expansion towards all-day 2-way GO service to Hamilton:

The third track Desjardins Canal rail bridge girders have now been fully installed just this week:

View attachment 93290

View attachment 93292

View attachment 93291

Without this, reliable all-day 2-way service is not possible.

With this, there is a triple track corridor all the way from Aldershot to West Harbour, with more opportunities for a GO train to cross tracks to opposite side of the corridor, before AND after a 160-car freight train at any random point along the corridor between West Harbour and Aldershot, as there are crossovers at multiple points several kilometers/miles apart over multiple blocks.

With proper coordination with CN, this can eliminate the majroity of Hamilton GO delays by freight trains, at no freight delay to CN nor delay to a GO train, if centrally-controlled correctly.

I suspect half hourly to Hamilton in theory is eventually gradually possible, as this is not even in the 2011 Niagara ESR -- this bridge was not even mentioned as a pre-requisite for hourly service.

Regardless, even at lower frequencies, this bridge could also make it easier to send more trains to the new Lewis yard in Grimsby instead of Willowbrook, enhancing the morning start of Hamilton/Niagara train service.

Awesome to see the bridge in! Thanks for the update. Would I be correct to assume that we will see track installed shortly?

 

[mdrejhon]

Awesome to see the bridge in! Thanks for the update. Would I be correct to assume that we will see track installed shortly?

Yes. There is a major multiyear tracking project beginning in 2017 to triple-track all the way to Lewis Yard by 2019 based on what I understand. This (sigh) finally also solves www.raisethehammer.org/article/2720
...Though I am uncertain whether they will finish the West Harbour section / bridge prerequisites on time for the first Niagara Seasonal in May 2017.

Part of the West Harbour (Remaining trackwork near West Harbour) and Stoney Creek ($200M) funding pots. I may be wrong, but I deduced this by the number of planned kilometers of track -- the planned trackage kilometers exactly matches a full triple track to Lewis Yard.

This permits one mostly-GO-dedicated track, for flexible use of the new Lewis railyard in Grimsby.

 

[smallspy]

With this, there is a triple track corridor all the way from Aldershot to West Harbour, ....

This is not a true statement.

The line is currently 3 mainline tracks from Aldershot to Bayview, 2 mainline tracks from Bayview to Hamilton Junction, and 1 mainline track to Hamilton (between James and John streets), where the second track becomes a mainline track again.

What this project is doing is installing a second mainline track along the section from Hamilton Junction to Hamilton. There will be a section of 3 mainline tracks from Hamilton to Confederation.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[crs1026]

To split this hair even more finely - GO really only has claim to one track from Burlington to Bayview. The current construction will extend this track from Bayview to Hamilton. Thanks to the new bridge, and a new set of crossovers at Bayview, the new track will connect directly to the existing Track 3 at Bayview.

With judicious sharing of the existing CN main line, especially from Bayview to Hamilton, hourly and even half-hourly 2-way service from Toronto to Hamilton is possible.

- Paul

 

[drum118]

With the bridge in place, relocation of tracks and switches is the next big work for this area, as well connecting the new block signal mast towers..

Depending on the timetable, extending the station tracks east to the 2 main lines will follow the 3rd track work. Still got a lot of track work at the west end of the station to do.

Getting hourly service to Hamilton will happen first until the ridership justify going 30 minutes. Even when NF service starts, it will be hourly.

Nov 5