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GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

It looks like the parking structure at Centennial might be moving ahead soon. From Markham's development services committee's agenda next week:

2. CENTENNIAL GO TRANSIT No attachment
PARKING STRUCTURE
(5.14.2) S. Muradali, ext. 2008

That the presentation provided by Mr. Dave Kaluza, Project Manager, GO Transit regarding the Centennial Go Transit Parking Structure, be received.
 
somebody clapped and here I am :D
Job changes are coming in March for the re-opening of Batherst Yard (should of already been on line by now but the contractor screwed up the wiring and a switch or two i.e. way-side power wasn't working and the switches were a little to tight that a GO train going over them might de-rail :rolleyes:)
This change probably won't coincide with any major train schedule changes.

However, rumor is theres another change coming right afterwards in April for the return of Niagara service.

No concrete talk about when mid-day service will arrive on the Barrie & Stouffville lines. Even though the track is in place there is still some work to be done, such as the installation of 'powered' switch (the switches in place are manual ones and are only temporary).
 
vegeta_skyline said:
somebody clapped and here I am :D
Job changes are coming in March for the re-opening of Batherst Yard (should of already been on line by now but the contractor screwed up the wiring and a switch or two i.e. way-side power wasn't working and the switches were a little to tight that a GO train going over them might de-rail :rolleyes:)
This change probably won't coincide with any major train schedule changes.

However, rumor is theres another change coming right afterwards in April for the return of Niagara service.

No concrete talk about when mid-day service will arrive on the Barrie & Stouffville lines. Even though the track is in place there is still some work to be done, such as the installation of 'powered' switch (the switches in place are manual ones and are only temporary).
Click to expand...

I can't believe how long this project has taken.

It took longer to do than the east yard.

The next fun is the tipple tracking the fly under tracks with the construction of a new retaining wall on the north side. I guess that work was held up until the yard and the new bypass track got built.

No surprise about Niagara service returning.

Waiting for the 30 minute service on the Lakeshore line
 
How will Bathurst Yard's reopening affect the number of dead-head moves to/from Willowbrook mid-day? I'm presuming it plus the Don Yard still can't swallow every rush-hour-only trainset in use, but how many will be left shuttling back and forth to Willowbrook once it's back? Will there be any benefits other than reduced fuel consumption?
 
The laying of asphalt commenced at the new Mount Pleasant parking lot today. I guess it should be open pretty soon.
 
Major Lakeshore W Update

Here a listing of updates for the LakeShore W Line. Comments on the Youtube.

Rail laying equipment sitting on the new #1 mainline in Oakville Yard.

Both Clarkson and Oakville new platforms are finish. As for Clarkson, still got to build the new south tunnel and entrance and surprise it has started. Have to check to see what the time frame was supposed to be. Both stations are a few months away from having the new elevators in service.

The escalator to platform 3 at Port Credit is now a stair and should be open this month. The other escalator is block off and work on removing it should start this month. The contractor needs to learn a few things from the contractor doing Burlington Escalators.

The west end of platform 1 & 2 are ready to be put back into service after been rebuilt. So much for Dec completion date.

Over at Appleby, Platforms work should be finish by May.

Last month at Burlington, they were taking out the escalator to Platform 3 with 1 & 2 gone. This visit saw both platforms gone as well the north and south entrance ones gone. That fast work and why Port Credit contractor who is only doing 2 escalators should see what this contractor is doing to make it happen faster. Then the PC has been slow on not only GO projects, but TTC.

The contractor doing Burlington used PCV pipping cut in haft as a shut to pour the concrete to fill in the base of the escalator for the south entrance. Using wheel-barrels to pour the concrete.

Trains should be running on the new #1 track by May.

Hear there is a fare hike coming in March. Will go get the same backlash as TTC??

A view from the front of the cab car going west.
GO New Main Line Oakville Yard Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMDyXrfRiKs
GO 3rd Track Kerr-Oakville Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Oa7o1EJuI
GO 207 & 606 @ Port Credit Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfIE0eR0nBE
Arriving eastbound @ Port Credit Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_SC2h9FaGA
CN Power Move Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S53CWrj4ovo
VIA 905 @ Bronte Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJZvUZGEt0
Oakville-Kerr Lakeshore Line Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wAjTe-hnv
Clarkson to Oakville Station Feb 04-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPNRu4VZKNc

Clarkson GO Station http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjev4CSH_ZY
 
You don't have to worry about GO taking a backlash from GO. There are visible improvements all around riders. They are likely to grumble but they know they are getting their money's worth. Aside from which, I really have not heard too many complaints about unprofessionalism with GO's staff. Do GO bus drivers stop off for coffee mid-route?
 
kEiThZ said:
Aside from which, I really have not heard too many complaints about unprofessionalism with GO's staff. Do GO bus drivers stop off for coffee mid-route?
Click to expand...

LOL

There WERE complaints about GO staff (CN employees) which is why GO Fired them all (did not renew its contract w/CN). Bombardier was hired to replace all of GO's Train operating staff and add customer service ambassadors whose only job are announcement and keeping customers happy.

* I should add I knew one of the CN guys and he was great, I'm sure many were; but there were issues.

I know from former the above source who liked the run that Bombardier was trying hard not to rehire any of the CN guys. (though I think there were a few exceptions). Several stayed on w/CN, many took early retirement.

***

Just imagine Bombardier hired to restaff the entire TTC......... sigh, not going to happen! ;)
 
kEiThZ said:
You don't have to worry about GO taking a backlash from GO. There are visible improvements all around riders. They are likely to grumble but they know they are getting their money's worth. Aside from which, I really have not heard too many complaints about unprofessionalism with GO's staff. Do GO bus drivers stop off for coffee mid-route?
Click to expand...

Purely in the realm of anecdote here, but I can say that I've generally found GO bus drivers to be a more pleasant bunch than their TTC counterparts, and by a considerable margin. Granted, it's a somewhat different job in terms of both the operational environment (fewer stops, highway driving, coaches vs. city buses) and the sorts of passengers they deal with, so it could be less stressful and thus not a fair apples-to-apples comparison.

One other difference I've noticed--and I certainly wouldn't want to claim this is definitely a contributing factor to the quality of customer service--is that there's a bit of a demographic gulf between each service's bus drivers: a majority of TTC drivers seem to be fattish baby-boomer white dudes, while I tend to notice more women, ethnic minorities and new Canadians driving for GO. This could be a freak chance thing, the result of some flavour of affirmative action practices, or simply a consequence of GO having hired a larger proportion of its drivers in recent years. I don't really know, and wouldn't want to suggest one agency has better practices than the other.

However, I wouldn't be so sure GO's ridership will be quite so hunky dory about a potential fare hike. Saying GO's ridership is more pleased with their agency than the TTC's ridership is with their's isn't exactly much by way of praise. There still have been no shortage of cancelled and delayed trains lately (often CN's fault, yes, but the riders don't care), ongoing construction in places like Oakville and the West Toronto Diamond has been quietly nibbling away at reliability and speed of service, and new train trips haven't kept pace with ridership growth, making for much more sardining and a lower quality "product."

Yes, we on this forum know that some of that current pain is going to bring future gain, and there's going to be some pretty noticeable improvements by the end of the year---much more off-peak service, and a substantial amount of missing trainshed making it clear that the Union reno is off and running. But I don't think that would placate a March fare hike.
 
Northern Light said:
Just imagine Bombardier hired to restaff the entire TTC......... sigh, not going to happen! ;)
Click to expand...

How about P3 operation of Transit City lines by SNC Lavalin or equivalent, a la Canada Line in Vancouver? Like you said, not going to happen in Toronto, because a pro-transit candidate here is necessarily a pro-union one, it seems. (And SNC Lavalin is hardly a popular name with the McGuinty government after the 407 fiasco.)
 
Northern Light said:
LOL

There WERE complaints about GO staff (CN employees) which is why GO Fired them all (did not renew its contract w/CN). Bombardier was hired to replace all of GO's Train operating staff and add customer service ambassadors whose only job are announcement and keeping customers happy.

* I should add I knew one of the CN guys and he was great, I'm sure many were; but there were issues.

I know from former the above source who liked the run that Bombardier was trying hard not to rehire any of the CN guys. (though I think there were a few exceptions). Several stayed on w/CN, many took early retirement.
Click to expand...

It's a nice post - except that almost none of it is true.

GO didn't "fire" CN - they decided that rather than sole-sourcing the operating staff contract (for which they felt they were getting hosed on), they would tender it out. CN, and CN alone, chose not to bid on it. Bombardier did, and won. I had heard rumours of doing the same with the CP contract, but thus far nothing has come up.

The vast majority of CN crews who had been operating GO trains stayed on with CN - a lot of them were quite high up on the seniority ladder and thus were able to push off many junior crews onto spareboard. The glut of employees was so bad in fact that some of the most junior crews were on furlough (layoff) for almost a year, and others transferred to the east coast and the Rockies in an effort to keep working.

Some did jump to Bombardier, and in fact Bombardier had to contract to CN on a month-to-month basis for engineers, as they didn't have enough to begin with. It took about 10 months or so, but now all operating staff on board GO trains are Bombardier staff.

Small point of trivia: CN requires that all engineers have at least two years of service as conductors on that particular region before they are able to move up as an engineer. Bombardier didn't have 2 years to train crews, so where do you think a lot of their engineers come from?

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
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