News   Nov 26, 2024
United BLDG Gets Height Bump While Rising Behind Heritage Walls
 690     1 
News   Nov 26, 2024
UrbanToronto at The Buildings Show: The Challenges of Supertalls
 646     0 
News   Nov 26, 2024
Three Towers Up to 44 Storeys Proposed Near Bloor and Hwy 427
 1.2K     0 

GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

Allandale25 said:
From a friend: "The south main is supposed to connect to the centre main at the ‘Norval’ crossovers.
Click to expand...

I google maps'd Norval to see where this might be, and discovered that the satellite picture catches a plane in mid-flight: https://goo.gl/maps/oGMyE4FoKmr Haven't seen that before! Didn't spot any crossovers in the area, but look at all that triple-track friendly infrastructure between Mt Pleasant and Georgetown GO!

Edit to add: Which was commented on here already:

alexanderglista said:
Interesting photos I came across in a transit group I am in on Facebook.

They are of a GEXR freight train crossing the Credit River outside of Georgetown on the CN Halton Sub. The bridge seems to have a new-looking extra span (but no bridge yet) added, allowing 3 tracks to be accommodated. Upon further investigation on Google Maps, the line between Georgetown GO and Mount Pleasant GO seems to have all of its signal masts capable of supporting 3 tracks, and there is a grade seperation occurring the Creditview Road, that evidently opened in late 2017. No Google streetview yet, but some panning docs seem to either indicate that it accommodates at least three spans, or could accommodate more spans in the future.
Click to expand...
 
KevinT said:
I google maps'd Norval to see where this might be, and discovered that the satellite picture catches a plane in mid-flight: https://goo.gl/maps/oGMyE4FoKmr Haven't seen that before! Didn't spot any crossovers in the area, but look at all that triple-track friendly infrastructure between Mt Pleasant and Georgetown GO!

Edit to add: Which was commented on here already:
Click to expand...

The use of the name "Norval" to indicate the location of that plant is, perhaps, a bit misleading.

The plant named Norval is at mile 19.0. Mount Pleasant Station is at 18.3.

That said, yes, the ultimate plan for that stretch of line is 3 tracks from Georgetown to Brampton. And like the Weston Sub, a lot of the rough-ins for the signalling of that third track are already complete as well.

Dan
 
Here's the original track proposal, from the original EA for the Kitchener Line - probably much changed by now. Note the date. We've been studying for ten years now.

- Paul

175585
 
innsertnamehere said:
Phase 1 has happened at least in that plan.
Click to expand...

Weeeeeelllllll.......Yes and no. The second mainline was built across the bridge over the Credit River, and the southern-most of the GO station tracks on the north side of Georgetown is now a run-through track and is almost mainline quality. There is also a third track from the station to Silver.

But the track configuration at Silver is different than what was shown in those drawings, and they have never built the new platform between the existing north main track and the run-through track at Georgetown. The configuration of Silver in the drawing above would have allowed for up to 4 trains to pass through Silver at once - the north and south mains of the Halton Sub, one on the new track heading directly to Georgetown Station, and one stashed in the 2 mile stretch of the original track of the Guelph Sub that would have also remained.

Dan
 
smallspy said:
Weeeeeelllllll.......Yes and no. The second mainline was built across the bridge over the Credit River, and the southern-most of the GO station tracks on the north side of Georgetown is now a run-through track and is almost mainline quality. There is also a third track from the station to Silver.

But the track configuration at Silver is different than what was shown in those drawings, and they have never built the new platform between the existing north main track and the run-through track at Georgetown. The configuration of Silver in the drawing above would have allowed for up to 4 trains to pass through Silver at once - the north and south mains of the Halton Sub, one on the new track heading directly to Georgetown Station, and one stashed in the 2 mile stretch of the original track of the Guelph Sub that would have also remained.

Dan
Click to expand...

In addition to the second mainline over the Credit River Bridge, the spans were expanded to accommodate a 3rd bridge deck/track. Some pretty forward-thinking planning for once.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Phase 1 has happened at least in that plan.
Click to expand...
smallspy said:
Weeeeeelllllll.......Yes and no. The second mainline was built across the bridge over the Credit River, and the southern-most of the GO station tracks on the north side of Georgetown is now a run-through track and is almost mainline quality. There is also a third track from the station to Silver.

But the track configuration at Silver is different than what was shown in those drawings, and they have never built the new platform between the existing north main track and the run-through track at Georgetown. The configuration of Silver in the drawing above would have allowed for up to 4 trains to pass through Silver at once - the north and south mains of the Halton Sub, one on the new track heading directly to Georgetown Station, and one stashed in the 2 mile stretch of the original track of the Guelph Sub that would have also remained.

Dan
Click to expand...

Was about to jump in on the platform piece. It would replace a track that used to be there.

175598


I would also add that the runthrough track and Silver seem to be far from mainline speeds. See my post from the service thread:

DonValleyRainbow said:
Took my annual Guelph trip for 2019, this time I took VIA back the same night instead of GO the next morning. Some differences from my post last year:
  • Not so slow in Guelph, but certainly still some slower spots through Acton and Rockwood. At times I wasn't sure if the train was superelevated or the track had an unnecessary lean.
  • Silver is very strange. On the GO westbound, it went super slow just like last year. However, taking the VIA back, we flew through Silver at whatever the limited speed for the switch was. So I'm not exactly clear what is restricting the GO to a slower speed westbound than a VIA train eastbound (at least through Silver; grinding in and out of the GO platform is what it is).
  • We had a couple conflicts with another GO train terminating at Bramalea. The line (and the trains themselves) seem very congested. Then there was a hiccup with the doors at Bramalea too, but somethign to do with the platform construction I think.
Click to expand...
 
Ontario Announces New GO Station at Woodbine
Province partners with business to address transit needs and save taxpayers money
March 6, 2019 10:00 A.M.
Ministry of Transportation

TORONTO —Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation, along with Kinga Surma, MPP for Etobicoke Centre and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, and Phil Verster, President and CEO of Metrolinx, announced our government's plan to build a new GO station at Woodbine at no cost to taxpayers.

The Ontario Government and Metrolinx are partnering with Woodbine Entertainment to build the station along Highway 27, on the Kitchener GO rail line.
"Our government is putting Ontario's transit users and taxpayers first by delivering a modern GO station at Woodbine," said Minister Yurek. "We are moving quickly to address transit needs and get relief to people who rely on the GO network."

As part of Ontario's broader strategy to deliver more transit solutions in the GTHA, the province is pursuing a transit-oriented development approach to the delivery of transit infrastructure to reduce the cost to taxpayers.
Woodbine Entertainment has development plans that will bring new jobs, housing and entertainment opportunities to the area around the station.
"The new station is terrific news for everyone in Etobicoke and the surrounding area," said PA Surma. "Our government came into office with a clear mandate to help people and this will better connect Etobicoke residents to the GO line."
"A new GO station at Woodbine will offer opportunities to live and work near a major employer and entertainment destination, as well as better access to the local community and jobs in this employment mega zone," said Phil Verster, President and CEO of Metrolinx. "This is a wonderful announcement for our customers. We look forward to working with Woodbine Entertainment on this exciting venture."

"This is an exciting day for Woodbine Entertainment and the entire community," said Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment. "Bringing mass transit to the Woodbine property is a big part of a larger vision to develop and unlock the value of our land to create new revenue streams that will help grow and sustain the horse racing industry for decades, attract millions of visitors to our site annually, and serve the surrounding community. It will be a major commercial and employment hub that will include mixed-use residential, commercial space, sports and recreations facilities, parks and public space."

QUICK FACTS
  • The new GO station at Woodbine will also feature fully accessible and barrier-free facilities, and direct road, bicycle, and sidewalk access.
Additional Resources
 
^ Just scanning through the Business Case. There are many references to a UP stop there too. (Some twenty plus mentions of it)

Anyone able to confirm if this is in the latest plan?

Addendum, as I read further in the BC, it contradicts earlier reference:
3.3.2 Scenario Benefits and Impacts Highway 27–Woodbine station is different from the other stations that were analyzed in the 12 PDBCs since it is a replacement for the existing Etobicoke North station. This means that the new station does not delay upstream riders that travel through the station; Kitchener corridor trains that would have previously stopped at Etobicoke North would now stop at Highway 27–Woodbine and the modelling has assumed that express trains from Kitchener and Pearson Airport (Union Pearson Express) would not stop at either station location. However, the station relocation does impact GO riders that would prefer to use the original Etobicoke North station location, which may be in closer proximity to their origin or destination or connecting transit. As visually summarized by Figure 3-7, examining travel time savings, delays, and modal shifts is the focal point of the technical analysis that supports the Financial and Economic case for a station relocation.
Click to expand...

And further still:
Appendix C: Future Service Considerations The quantitative analysis conducted as part of this IBC has assumed that the station is only served by Kitchener corridor GO trains. The analysis also only considered the existing and in-delivery regional rail and rapid transit projects identified in Map 3 of the 2041 Regional Transportation Plan. This is considered the “base-case” station concept. There are, however, ongoing transit service and infrastructure initiatives under consideration by Metrolinx and others that could potentially impact the base-case station concept and performance in the business case evaluation, including: 1. UP Express Stop at Highway 27-Woodbine; 2. Finch West LRT Extension; 3. Additional freight tracks; 4. New passenger rail corridor to service Pearson International Airport; 5. Pearson Regional Transit Centre at an alternative location on the Kitchener line; 6. High speed rail service; and 7. Terminus station at Highway 27-Woodbine These initiatives are in varying stages of consideration, and their potential impacts on the potential Highway 27- Woodbine station are unclear, so these options are discussed at a high level in the following sections. Many of the strategic elements of the IBC analysis between the base case and alternate scenarios such as the context of existing land uses and built form, as well as the surrounding transportation infrastructure, connectivity and accessibility. The scenarios considered below are compared against the base case scenario and location of station with GO service only. C.1 UP Express Stop at Highway 27-Woodbine The UP Express operates on the Kitchener corridor between Union Station and the Wice control location, where it diverges onto a separate spur track to Toronto Pearson International Airport. The base-case Highway 27- Woodbine station site is proposed to be located immediately east of the Wice control location, and can be designed to function as an UP Express stop, as well as a GO train stop. Potential Benefits: • Improved connectivity between Pearson International Airport and the west end of the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor, likely driving an increase in ridership; • Travel time savings for air passengers from the west. Currently, riders would need to transfer at Weston GO station to board the UP Express, and then backtrack a distance of approximately 11km. Potential Impacts: • Travel time delays for existing users of the UP Express due to the additional stop; • Requires construction of an additional island platform to serve UP Express trains (and associated rail infrastructure, including additional track work, switches, further expansion of the structure over Highway 27 beyond that indicated in the base-case, and additional property takings).
Click to expand...

What is the latest 'theory'?
 
Last edited:
steveintoronto said:
^ Just scanning through the Business Case. There are many references to a UP stop there too. (Some twenty plus mentions of it)

Anyone able to confirm if this is in the latest plan?

Addendum, as I read further in the BC, it contradicts earlier reference:
Click to expand...

It was mentioned as a possibility in the presser but no firm commitment. Verster noted that it would require additional infrastructure.
 
heard on the radio just now that Woodbine is paying 100% of the cost of the new station....is that correct?
 
steveintoronto said:
^ Just scanning through the Business Case. There are many references to a UP stop there too. (Some twenty plus mentions of it)

Anyone able to confirm if this is in the latest plan?

Addendum, as I read further in the BC, it contradicts earlier reference:


And further still:


What the latest 'theory'?
Click to expand...
Looking at the map this location is very close to Etobicoke North and Malton GO...
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top