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GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

asher__jo said:
It definitely will, CP will drag their heels of course. There is very strong political consensus on multiple levels of government to improve service on a line that functions as close as Mississauga will ever get to a Metro/subway line.
Click to expand...

The Province can only manage (and afford) so many projects at one time. Perhaps Milton deserved to be higher on the list, but that’s water under the bridge now. Ottawa is playing politics by pretending to be chafing at the bit, knowing that Ontario can’t move on this for a few more years.
CP is not the obstacle. They will lay out their requirements and their price tag. It’s the pols who will dither, hoping they can wear CP down to something cheaper. And then ML will change the design 32 times, forcing the whole approval process to cycle back.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
The Province can only manage (and afford) so many projects at one time. Perhaps Milton deserved to be higher on the list, but that’s water under the bridge now. Ottawa is playing politics by pretending to be chafing at the bit, knowing that Ontario can’t move on this for a few more years.
CP is not the obstacle. They will lay out their requirements and their price tag. It’s the pols who will dither, hoping they can wear CP down to something cheaper. And then ML will change the design 32 times, forcing the whole approval process to cycle back.

- Paul
Click to expand...
They can afford to build hwy 413? 😂
 
crs1026 said:
The Province can only manage (and afford) so many projects at one time. Perhaps Milton deserved to be higher on the list, but that’s water under the bridge now. Ottawa is playing politics by pretending to be chafing at the bit, knowing that Ontario can’t move on this for a few more years.
CP is not the obstacle. They will lay out their requirements and their price tag. It’s the pols who will dither, hoping they can wear CP down to something cheaper. And then ML will change the design 32 times, forcing the whole approval process to cycle back.

- Paul
Click to expand...

Sorry Paul, not accurate.

The Auditor General came out w/a report on the books right before the election.

The province is hiding about 15B in un-allocated funds in the just unveiled budget.

That's over the next 3 years; but does not include under-estimated tax revenues according to the AG.

That's without cancelling any highways.

There is no shortage of funds at the provincial level.

Report here: https://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/specialreports/specialreports/Pre-Election-2022_EN.pdf

From the above: p.6

The understated estimates of provincial revenue from corporate tax in the fiscal plan are as follows:
• for the year ending March 31, 2023, corporate tax revenue of $19.7 billion is understated by between
$1.5 billion and $3.4 billion;
• for the year ending March 31, 2024, corporate tax revenue of $20.4 billion is understated by between
$1.9 billion and $3.9 billion; and
• for the year ending March 31, 2025, corporate tax revenue of $21.1 billion is understated by between
$2.1 billion and $4.2 billion.
When revenues are underestimated, the perception can be that the government has less funds available for
decision-making than can be reasonably expected.

and p.8

1653271949666.png


p. 26

1653272157858.png
 
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Northern Light said:
Sorry Paul, not accurate.

The Auditor General came out w/a report on the books right before the election.

The province is hiding about 15B in un-allocated funds in the just unveiled budget.

That's over the next 3 years; but does not include under-estimated tax revenues according to the AG.

That's without cancelling any highways.

There is no shortage of funds at the provincial level.
Click to expand...

I won’t go down a rabbit hole about how Ontario is managing cash flow and debt…. but I take your point that Ontario’s ability to borrow is sufficient to make money available if the sense of urgency were there.

I am dubious that either ML, or CP, or the construction industry, could mobilise to the degree needed to take on the project right now, on top of what is already in the books.

It’s a bit surprising that the Ford government hasn’t slid a campaign promise about Milton into the mix….and maybe started the consultation process, which will be lengthy. I’m sure they will be leery of making promises knowing that for this project, Mississauga residents will expect fast action once a go decision were announced.

Milton 2WAD will be bigger in scope than anything since GTS - just getting to yes with CP will have a ton of details, even if CP sees the deal as profitable.

- Paul
 
^The impending Weston Station completion is noteworthy because once the fourth track can be connected between Nickle (Jane St, roughly) and Humberview (Islington), a more frequent stopping service could be started between Bramalea and Union without interleaving with UP or express service.

I’m not saying that will happen, but it’s physically possible, because there will be a meeting point that allows more intensive use of the single track Etobicoke North and Bloor platforms.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
^The impending Weston Station completion is noteworthy because once the fourth track can be connected between Nickle (Jane St, roughly) and Humberview (Islington), a more frequent stopping service could be started between Bramalea and Union without interleaving with UP or express service.

I’m not saying that will happen, but it’s physically possible, because there will be a meeting point that allows more intensive use of the single track Etobicoke North and Bloor platforms.

- Paul
Click to expand...

Don't they still need to shut down the rail path to add the 4th track in that area?
 
The Metrolinx Blog today had a video of the "Completion of Upgrades at Unionville" and it was really hard to watch and not smile or laugh. Why would they announce completion and take people on a video tour of missing roof panels, construction pylons on the platform, signage wrapped in black plastic, and some bushes in the landscaping which are clearly dead. They should have taken that video, showed it to the contractor, and said... how would you like your brand reflected by this "finished product", then came back in two weeks for the real video.
 
Major storage of ties and rails at the Metrolinx-owned property at the LSW line and Maple Grove Road in Oakville. I assume it’s for a LSW track rehabilitation program?


458BDA2F-3B7B-4A85-9432-0C9F34BC90F7.jpeg
 
crs1026 said:
^The impending Weston Station completion is noteworthy because once the fourth track can be connected between Nickle (Jane St, roughly) and Humberview (Islington), a more frequent stopping service could be started between Bramalea and Union without interleaving with UP or express service.

I’m not saying that will happen, but it’s physically possible, because there will be a meeting point that allows more intensive use of the single track Etobicoke North and Bloor platforms.

- Paul
Click to expand...
If you don't say it, then I will. Once this platform is complete, they will run 2 trains per hour, of which 1 turns back at Bramalea. The western/southern pair of tracks will be used by UP Express, and the eastern/northern track will be used by GO local services as a single-track line, using the completed segments of 4th track as passing sidings.

Evidence:
- The new fourth track is exactly 15 minutes east of the existing Malton passing location - which was also recently expanded from 2 tracks to 3.
- The draft timetable which was leaked last year matched this description.
- The above article states "The new platform will be added for customers using GO trains, allowing UP Express trains to use separate platforms at the station, which means that the station will be able to accommodate increased GO service in the future."

VIA and GO express trains will need to fight it out with one of those slower services, which is unfortunate from a speed perspective. The capacity of the single-tracked eastern/northern half is pretty much used up by a bidirectional 2tph service, so in practice they'd need to share the southern pair with UPX. Which is a bizarre arrangement because the north platform at Bramalea is generally off limits for terminating trains (it's on the CN mainline), it creates unnecessary conflicts at Wice (Pearson Junction), and the average speeds of UPX and GO local services are more similar than either of them are to GO express or VIA. Based on this limitation, I think we won't see any off-peak GO express services until the 4th track is complete. I'm not too bothered though, because once the 4th track is complete, they can easily change the way the corridor is divided up.
 
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