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GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

Gormley, Bloomington and the eventual Vandorf stations are all seen as ways of catching a lot of the commuters from the east sides of Newmarket and Aurora that are not willing to drive to the existing Barrie Line stations to the west of them.

Dan
I would like to point out that the RHill line takes significantly longer to get downtown than Barrie line due to various reasons. Gormley to Union is 58 minutes, Newmarket to Union is 59.
 
I would like to point out that the RHill line takes significantly longer to get downtown than Barrie line due to various reasons. Gormley to Union is 58 minutes, Newmarket to Union is 59.

The plan was to use Leaside Spur, a bit of new track along CP branch and route the Richmond Hill train down the purchased CP Don Branch to straighten it out and avoid all of the mess that is the lower don flood plain. It would make the trip comparable to Barrie Line.

Unfortunately a rail trail (im a biker and use it often but I can still see it's merit for RH line) work needed on the bridge and track, and dealing with CP made the prospect very difficult.

I could only see the Leaside Spur ever be used if it was 100% electric EMU's, and they still were able to fit the trail in beside the tracks.

So, 2050 anyone?
 
Saw this on Youtube today and thought it would be fun to share.

"Platform curtains" being tested at a regional/commuter rail station in greater Paris. Imagine Go one day might consider it to increase speeds and safety at stations.


More about it here:
Railway Gazette: Vertical platform gates to be tested in Paris
You need post at least 16 feet tall with a back brace to it to support the screen when raise 16' on a windy day, since most platforms have a canopy that prevent screens sliding over the platform. Now, what happens if a screen or the whole thing fails with 15 minute service???
 
do people really fall accidentally that often? if someone wanted to just they could still easily climb over those
 
The plan was to use Leaside Spur, a bit of new track along CP branch and route the Richmond Hill train down the purchased CP Don Branch to straighten it out and avoid all of the mess that is the lower don flood plain. It would make the trip comparable to Barrie Line.

Unfortunately a rail trail (im a biker and use it often but I can still see it's merit for RH line) work needed on the bridge and track, and dealing with CP made the prospect very difficult.

I could only see the Leaside Spur ever be used if it was 100% electric EMU's, and they still were able to fit the trail in beside the tracks.

So, 2050 anyone?
I ride that trail a lot too, and it's a wide enough right of way that it could easily fit train tracks and a multi use trail. The corridor would have to be completely rebuilt and it would face stiff NIMBY resistance no doubt. The other issue with the RH line is that north of the York sub it's a CN mainline, and that's where most of the stations are. So the amount of service on the line will always be limited.
 
I ride that trail a lot too, and it's a wide enough right of way that it could easily fit train tracks and a multi use trail. The corridor would have to be completely rebuilt and it would face stiff NIMBY resistance no doubt. The other issue with the RH line is that north of the York sub it's a CN mainline, and that's where most of the stations are. So the amount of service on the line will always be limited.

In order to achieve higher levels of service, even south of York Sub, you'd also need to grade separate the Track at Lawrence, and tunnel/bridge the minor pedestrian/cyclist access points.
 
1596722999087.png


 
"Breakthrough" is not 100% completion of one tunnel. It's encouraging progress, certainly, but there will be more excavation before the tunnel interior can be completely poured. There will have to be work done to the tunnel portals as well. And then there will have to be grading and track laying and shifting of track from the existing tunnel.

Before any real upgrading can happen on the line, the new Woodbine station will have to be completed such that Etobicoke North can be closed. (The new tracks leading out of the tunnel will run right where Etobicoke North sits at the moment.) Some shifting of local tracks in the Kipling-Martin Grove-27 Highway will be needed also.

Even that will only lead to four tracks being placed in operation from Humberview (Islington Ave) westward to Wice (by the airport). More work is needed west of Wice to add trackage west to Halwest (Bramalea).

To the east of Humberview, the additional Weston Station platform will have to be completed before there will be a full fourth track as far as Nickle (south of Lawrence).

Lastly, the shifting of the Railpath and the Bloor Street bridges will have to be completed, and more track laid, before there can be a fourth track put in service from Nickle to Strachan Ave.

Getting the 401-409 tunnel completed is definitely progress, and an impressive bit of project execution that seems to be running smoothly......but ML seldom manages work with the end in mind. Not getting these other items going will hold up the promised improvements.

- Paul
 
To the east of Humberview, the additional Weston Station platform will have to be completed before there will be a full fourth track as far as Nickle (south of Lawrence).

I personally don't think they need to build the north-side platform at Weston station. As services become more frequent it will become increasingly necessary to separate tracks into express tracks and local, since faster trains would otherwise be unable to overtake the frequent local services. The north pair of tracks makes most sense as the express pair, where trains wouldn't stop at Weston anyway:
WestonSub-Prop2022.jpg

GO seems to be persuing a layout with a express pair and local pair of tracks, rather than a single quad-tracked line with slow tracks either on the inside or the outside. The dual double-tracked setup is less flexible than a unified quad-tracked setup, but it does avoid the need to build a grade separation at Pearson Junction (Wice).

UP Express, despite its name, is the second-slowest service on the line, and Metrolinx has implied that the new stop at Mount Dennis will be in addition to the existing stops, making it even slower. So it makes sense to be grouped with the GO local services running to Bramalea, not the much-faster VIA and GO express services. It and the local service will also be the least likely to experience delays since they never enter the CN segment. This combination is therefore less risky to operate through the at-grade Pearson Junction than if UP shares tracks with the long-distance services.
 
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I personally don't think they need to build the north-side platform at Weston station. As services become more frequent it will become increasingly necessary to separate tracks into express tracks and local, since faster trains would otherwise be unable to overtake the frequent local services. The north pair of tracks makes most sense as the express pair, where trains wouldn't stop at Weston anyway:
View attachment 262077
GO seems to be persuing a layout with a express pair and local pair of tracks, rather than a single quad-tracked line with slow tracks either on the inside or the outside. The dual double-tracked setup is less flexible than a unified quad-tracked setup, but it does avoid the need to build a grade separation at Pearson Junction (Wice).

UP Express, despite its name, is the second-slowest service on the line, and Metrolinx has implied that the new stop at Mount Dennis will be in addition to the existing stops, making it even slower. So it makes sense to be grouped with the GO local services running to Bramalea, not the much-faster VIA and GO express services. It and the local service will also be the least likely to experience delays since they never enter the CN segment. This combination is therefore less risky to operate through the at-grade Pearson Junction than if UP shares tracks with the long-distance services.
Where do you know Metrolinx is persuing express pair and local pair, rather than quad-tracked line?
 

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