The last I heard from one of my contacts at GO, they had been passing around a couple of different variations of a potential schedule, all with projected January start. This was a couple a months ago - and I haven't heard anything since.
I suppose it would be
possible to see midday service in January if GO was somehow granted default access to the original two tracks and, in the event of a conflict, CN opted to slide its freights over to the new track, slow orders and all. That's certainly not in keeping with how landlord-tenant relations have been in the past.
The only direct comparison that springs to my mind is when the Burlington-to-Bayview third track was finished, and sat there in "breaking-in" mode for what must have been almost six months. It was only after CN was quite happily using all three lines at full speed that GO extended trains to Aldershot.
Also, I'm guessing the schedule board for train operators in January has already been circulated by now, no?
Nitpick - the mid-day service will only run as far as Newmarket and Unionville. It was supposed to begin in January as well, but I don't know if that is still the case.
IIRC, vegeta steers his beasts mostly on the Lakeshore lines, so I don't know if he can help us out here, but there's been a real paucity of information on what the state of play is with the new passing tracks up there. Obviously, drum can't really pop up and back easily with his camcorder so we haven't been able to watch progress tie by tie.
For starters, can anyone remind me again precisely where these passing tracks start and stop? And where do things stand in terms of completion?
Secondly, at least at one point I recall reading that the off-peak termini were going to be East Gwillimbury on the Barrie line side and Mt. Joy on the Stouffville line side. This won't be the case? Unionville in particular seems like an awfully short turn, at only 30 clicks from Union.
Also, has any thought been given to interlining services such that, say, some off-peak Lakeshore West trains carry on past Union towards Markham rather than having them all head to Oshawa?
Lastly, on the subject of trackwork outside of easily-observable range, is it possible I caught a mention in passing either here or somewhere else that the twinning of the Credit River bridge near Georgetown is already underway?