GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[timio]

That and it's absolutely necessary for the new service the Liberals promised. But I'm confused, the ESR recommended a storage facility in Baden, whatever happened to that? The Kitchener storage tracks were a temporary fix while there was haggling over property issues there, but I didn't think it was going to be bad enough that they would bail on it completely. Do they even have environmental clearance for the 200 Shirley Ave yard?

Another thought could be in the purchase of the sub from CN/GEXR. I recall reading somewhere that it was only a partial purchase instead of whole purchase of the Guelph Subdivision (through to London). Perhaps they only want to work with tracks and areas they own rather than to go into another track lease situation.

 

[timio]

Fewer movements will likely make building the King St underpass that much simpler.

They've done the Weber street underpass with no issues and the train sits on the track across the street while boarding/deboarding. Speaking of which, I drove by the other day and saw through the underside of the tracks. The plan is to have the first part of the Weber underpass open for vehicles within a few weeks. This will help with the traffic in that area of town.

 

[Markster]

They've done the Weber street underpass with no issues and the train sits on the track across the street while boarding/deboarding. Speaking of which, I drove by the other day and saw through the underside of the tracks. The plan is to have the first part of the Weber underpass open for vehicles within a few weeks. This will help with the traffic in that area of town.

I never said it was a big issue. There's still a difference between a train rumbling through and not.

While we're talking about it, here's some pictures I took yesterday of the Weber underpass:

August 27th:

 

[dunkalunk]

Consider it hearsay, but I've heard that there were objections over the conversion of farmland to Industrial.

This property is within the city, near other services, and is under-utilized existing industrial. Also, a decidedly local benefit, the GO trains that start here will not need to block King St twice a day. Fewer movements will likely make building the King St underpass that much simpler.

Further, (dunkalunk will see where I'm going with this) this site also provides an opportunity for a Park and Ride in a fairly ideal location within Kitchener. Looking at the alignment of New Highway 7, we see that there's an off-ramp that is directly opposite this property. If a parking lot is put at or near this property, then anyone in Kitchener-Waterloo would be able to take the expressway directly to the entrance of the parking lot.

View attachment 32050

A station here would pair nicely with another park and ride station at Elmira Rd in Guelph which has similar road connectivity and is located on the west end of Guelph. With dedicated park and ride facilities on the fringes of both Guelph and Kitchener, the full-scale (overbuilt) park and ride facility at Greenhouse Rd becomes largely redundant, allowing for a smaller-scale station with better road and transit connectivity to be built in the heart of Breslau between Fountain St and Woolwich St. I've illustrated some potential station locations here (Maps Engine). plus a few additional ones after the line is electrified and 2-way all-day service is a thing.

[EDIT] Handy Screenshot

 

[Long Island Mike]

To once again nip this in the bud....

Electric trains do not inherently provide any improved service. In fact, below about 32mph, an electric locomotive pulling coaches will probably accelerate at a slightly lower rate than the current MP40s do because they are generally lighter in weight (and therefore develop less tractive effort). Because an electric loco can pull down as much power as its traction motors need from the overhead, it can continue to accelerate at a higher rate right until it reaches its maximum geared speed, whereas the acceleration of a diesel loco will begin to drop off at point as the traction motors require higher and higher voltage.

If you want faster starts and stops, you need to use some sort of multiple unit railcar. Again, diesel and electric versions will have virtually the same acceleration curve to about 30 or 32mph, at which point EMUs win out.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Dan: I will second you here in this comparison of electric locomotives to EMU cars...

When SEPTA first acquired its fleet of Bombardier cab cars and coaches and its 7 unit AEM7 locomotive fleet (1987) they
tested these train sets on all routes - On the Chestnut Hill East and West routes with its very close together stations during
the testing the AEM7s barely got the train moving before the brake application at the next line station...SEPTA ended
up assigning its push-pull trains to longer runs (The Paoli-Thorndale Line uses the most P/P equipment) with stops
that tend to be further apart...I remember the CHE/CHW Test runs because I rode them both back then...

On most SEPTA routes EMU cars are much more practical then using locomotive-hauled train sets...LI MIKE

 

[DKsan]

They've done the Weber street underpass with no issues and the train sits on the track across the street while boarding/deboarding. Speaking of which, I drove by the other day and saw through the underside of the tracks. The plan is to have the first part of the Weber underpass open for vehicles within a few weeks. This will help with the traffic in that area of town.

Mind you, the King Street underpass might be a bit more difficult than the Weber Street one considering the new Kitchener Station's platforms will be on that rail bridge, as well as the LRT + platforms underneath.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Anybody know what is going on with the Lewis Road layover facility in Stoney Creek? I saw it on Metrolinx's flickr today and its the first time I've heard of the project.. My understanding was that GO was going to store 2 trains at the platform at James North and that would be it for service expansion, but now apparently they are building 4 additional layover spots in Stoney Creek.

 

[drum118]

You will be lucky to see Weber open in Sept, but more like Oct/Nov from what I saw on my way home last week. Those photos are the same when I saw it.

Surprise only 1 track bridge being used here with no provision for future tracks without building another bridge.

The yard is lightly used and having GO use it would do more to it as well help GO future needs all around.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

Anybody know what is going on with the Lewis Road layover facility in Stoney Creek? I saw it on Metrolinx's flickr today and its the first time I've heard of the project.. My understanding was that GO was going to store 2 trains at the platform at James North and that would be it for service expansion, but now apparently they are building 4 additional layover spots in Stoney Creek.

Well it was pretty half-assed to commit to James St. North and not the Lewis Road layover. The ESR recommended opening day service to include James St. North, Confederation, and the Lewis Road layover. It was just the government not shelling out for it all, and yet I can't put a number on how much it was saving.

From the ESR:

* James St. North Station - $17.2m
* Confederation Station - $16.6m
* Lewis Rd. Layover - $33.5m
* Grade Separations - $11.7m
* Rail Corridor Improvements - $98.8m
* TOTAL - $177.8m

So that would have been at least ($16.6m + $33.5m + $11.7m=) $61.8m (35% of total). Then it would have been a portion of the corridor improvements, but I wonder how much of that it dedicated to the improvements around the Desjardins canal and getting around CN's Hamilton yard, stuff that's required to get to James St. North anyway. Anyone wanna hazard a guess?

 

[gweed123]

I never said it was a big issue. There's still a difference between a train rumbling through and not.

While we're talking about it, here's some pictures I took yesterday of the Weber underpass:

August 27th:

Thanks for the pics! Is that overpass temporary? If not, why the heck is it only wide enough to accommodate 1 track? Not exactly future-proofing.

EDIT: I see now that drum noticed the same thing I did.

 

[dunkalunk]

You will be lucky to see Weber open in Sept, but more like Oct/Nov from what I saw on my way home last week. Those photos are the same when I saw it.

Surprise only 1 track bridge being used here with no provision for future tracks without building another bridge.

The yard is lightly used and having GO use it would do more to it as well help GO future needs all around.

There are plans to have two lanes of the total 4 of Weber St open partway though September. The rest of it is planned for either later this year or early next year depending on weather.

As for the tracks, there are plans for a total of 3 tracks over Weber. The bridge is being constructed in different sections. The section that is up now is the freight bypass track with the second structure carrying the two passenger rail tracks north of the existing bridge going in at some point next year.

 

[Markster]

Thanks for the pics! Is that overpass temporary? If not, why the heck is it only wide enough to accommodate 1 track? Not exactly future-proofing.

You can clearly see in this photo that there is extra space for more tracks on the overpass.

View attachment 32060

 

[mpd618]

This isn't strictly a GO Transit project, but there's work being done to add CTC / signals to the railway through Kitchener. Anyone have ideas on completion timelines and how that might affect service?

 

[EnviroTO]

Surprise only 1 track bridge being used here with no provision for future tracks without building another bridge.

The EA information indicated all the designs considered had built in provisions for handling 3 tracks. Since the project is paid by the city as part of a street widening project rather than a rail transit project then it is possible they left it to Metrolinx / GEXR / CN to drop in the other bridge structures as they need it, or perhaps they just haven't got that far in the project yet. I do notice the finish on the side of the bridge which is along the edge of the corridor is smoother than the side whose view would be blocked by other bridge structures.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

Well it was pretty half-assed to commit to James St. North and not the Lewis Road layover. The ESR recommended opening day service to include James St. North, Confederation, and the Lewis Road layover. It was just the government not shelling out for it all, and yet I can't put a number on how much it was saving.

From the ESR:

* James St. North Station - $17.2m
* Confederation Station - $16.6m
* Lewis Rd. Layover - $33.5m
* Grade Separations - $11.7m
* Rail Corridor Improvements - $98.8m
* TOTAL - $177.8m

So that would have been at least ($16.6m + $33.5m + $11.7m=) $61.8m (35% of total). Then it would have been a portion of the corridor improvements, but I wonder how much of that it dedicated to the improvements around the Desjardins canal and getting around CN's Hamilton yard, stuff that's required to get to James St. North anyway. Anyone wanna hazard a guess?

A fair portion of it. The track is in horrible shape and speed restricted to 30mph all the way from Valley Inn Rd. until Woodward Ave, a distance of over 7miles(11km) and is actually just single main track from the Desjardins canal until John st. They will have to upgrade the current main track between Desjardin as well as built a new track south of the current one(noted in the ESR) for bi-directional service. Basically 5 miles of new main track with new crossovers at Hamilton Jct. and a controlled location at James st and a retaining wall for a significant portion of it.