GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[smallspy]

I believe that's another of the early works projects (like the quickly completed Woodbine Avenue 4th track bridge).

I'd assume the 4th GO track itself would be part of the OnCorridor work, and the 2 subway tracks and Riverside & Gerrard stations would be part of one of the Ontario Line contracts. Presumably the latter would be a prerequisite for the former, for equipment access, with the 4th track itself being just about the last thing to be installed.

It is, although when these two bridges are done there will be just three short sections of work that will need to be completed in order to allow for the 4th track to be built. Danforth Station, the Birchmount Road bridge, and Scarborough Station.

While it stands to reason that there is still some thought being put into the design of Danforth, and there really isn't going to be much work necessary at Scarborough other than the addition of some trackwork and some realignment, the work at Birchmount Road is conspicuous by its absence.

Dan

 

[crs1026]

While it stands to reason that there is still some thought being put into the design of Danforth, and there really isn't going to be much work necessary at Scarborough other than the addition of some trackwork and some realignment, the work at Birchmount Road is conspicuous by its absence.

There is now a Plan B for Birchmount. City decided to replace the whole structure. Presumably back to a procurement and possibly design stage. This is possibly now the critical path item for the entire quad tracking beyond Danforth.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-249688.pdf

- Paul

 

[crs1026]

I took a trip on the Kitchener line today and noted that there has been a gradual clearing and tidying of the right of way along the route where the fourth Kitchener track will be laid from Strachan up to Dupont. Nothing dramatic, but some previous gaps in the grading have been filled in, sound fencing is largely complete, and the separate subgrade to bring the Barrie line all the way to Strachan is largely cleared and levelled.

At the Liberty Station site, work was underway to shift telecom cables. This task usually gets done before grading - if this work were complete, one could imagine track subgrade and track laying being able to proceed right from Strachan up to Dupont.

There's a short stretch from St Clair up to Black Creek that would need grading before a fourth track could be laid, and the control point at Black Creek (where the connection to CPKC will eventually join) needs to be installed. And of course completing the work at Bloor station, which does seem to be progressing.

Further north, there is still construction material left on the platform at GO Mount Dennis (will that station ever be done?) but an absence of workers or work equipment. Weston's fourth track and platform appears fully complete. Signalling is in place but has yet to be cut in from Nickle up to Humberview.

And one wonders how much bridge renewal will be required between Strachan and Lansdowne before track can be laid.

The end is not in sight for the quad tracking on the Kitchener line and doubling of the Barrie line, but it's closer than it was last year.

- Paul

 

[smallspy]

Metrolinx put up a puff piece today on the upcoming improvements to Long Branch Station, and they managed to shoehorn in a reference and quote to one of our own here. @crs1026, take a bow!

Innovative rail bridge installation at Long Branch GO

Using the Verona System to maintain train service along the Lakeshore West line.

www.metrolinx.com

Dan

 

[Allandale25]

^ Great to see, @crs1026!

 

[ownthesky]

Sorry if this was covered in another thread, but NDP Leader Marit Stiles was recently at the proposed Grimsby GO station site for a campaign stump speech promising to prioritize the station's construction and to double track Grimsby to Niagara Falls: https://www.niagarathisweek.com/new...cle_52724e9f-42b5-54e4-9db3-eec7a26d7072.html

Not sure what reality this is rooted in given they're CN's Grimsby Division tracks...

 

[Northern Light]

Sorry if this was covered in another thread, but NDP Leader Marit Stiles was recently at the proposed Grimsby GO station site for a campaign stump speech promising to prioritize the station's construction and to double track Grimsby to Niagara Falls: https://www.niagarathisweek.com/new...cle_52724e9f-42b5-54e4-9db3-eec7a26d7072.html

Not sure what reality this is rooted in given they're CN's Grimsby Division tracks...

If the government of Ontario is paying to upgrade CN's tracks, I'm sure they'll take it. Grimsby sub was two-tracks, so the space is there, its simply re-laying rail, and/or upgrading from siding to mainline track.

(I'm over simplifying railway people, don't look at me like that, LOL)

That said, last I heard, Grimsby was something CN was willing to part with for the right price.

 

[drum118]

Jan 19
More on site and fail to post before now.

Another angle shot of the bridge track

 

[crs1026]

If the government of Ontario is paying to upgrade CN's tracks, I'm sure they'll take it. Grimsby sub was two-tracks, so the space is there, its simply re-laying rail, and/or upgrading from siding to mainline track.

(I'm over simplifying railway people, don't look at me like that, LOL)

That said, last I heard, Grimsby was something CN was willing to part with for the right price.

I'm dubious that CN would sell outright, but it's definitely an easier corridor to add full GO service to than some, at affordable cost.

Sort of......begs the question of how much express running one would plan. An all-stops train to Niagara would be painful. But adding more 2-way express capacity to the Toronto-Aldershot leg would add cost. Extending more peak trains beyond the Lewis Road layover would certainly be possible. Speeding up the east end Hamilton segment would help.

And, that pesky matter of crossing the Welland Canal is still out there....

But - the service would sure be a good thing. The QEW is awfully full, and needs relief.

- Paul

 

[WB62]

I was looking at an older plan for a yard in Burlington, which I believe is now cancelled in favour of one at Walkers Line.

I noticed that this yard had space for a maintenance facility, which would have been the third one on the network. Since this yard was cancelled, is there still a need for a third maintenance facility?

 

[drum118]

I'm dubious that CN would sell outright, but it's definitely an easier corridor to add full GO service to than some, at affordable cost.

Sort of......begs the question of how much express running one would plan. An all-stops train to Niagara would be painful. But adding more 2-way express capacity to the Toronto-Aldershot leg would add cost. Extending more peak trains beyond the Lewis Road layover would certainly be possible. Speeding up the east end Hamilton segment would help.

And, that pesky matter of crossing the Welland Canal is still out there....

But - the service would sure be a good thing. The QEW is awfully full, and needs relief.

- Paul

You can have service from Niagara to Hamilton only as well Niagara to KW/Guelph. Then there is Niagara to London or even to Windsor. Opens up a new market for GO and the trains don't have to be longer than 4-6 coaches with a bike coach.

Taking it one step further, going to the US to NF or Buffalo.

 

[Sauga89]

And, that pesky matter of crossing the Welland Canal is still out there....

I know from reading previous posts that other members have suggested tunnelling underneath the canal near the current crossing. But I wonder if it would be better and cheaper to just rebuild the old CN lift bridge south of Thorold. It was only removed in 1998 I think, and the tracks on both sides are still there. I'm not an engineer, but a 60 metre lift bridge sounds cheaper to build than a three or four kilometre-long tunnel. If you could divert some CN traffic onto a rebuilt Thorold bridge, that I think would free up slots for GO on the existing bridge.

Taking it one step further, going to the US to NF or Buffalo.

I would start with just a GO bus to the U.S.

 

[lenaitch]

I know from reading previous posts that other members have suggested tunnelling underneath the canal near the current crossing. But I wonder if it would be better and cheaper to just rebuild the old CN lift bridge south of Thorold. It was only removed in 1998 I think, and the tracks on both sides are still there. I'm not an engineer, but a 60 metre lift bridge sounds cheaper to build than a three or four kilometre-long tunnel. If you could divert some CN traffic onto a rebuilt Thorold bridge, that I think would free up slots for GO on the existing bridge.


I would start with just a GO bus to the U.S.

While cost would no doubt be an issue, the suitability of a moveable bridge depends on the type of service envisioned. Bridge cycle times are long and both trains and ships need a long clearance times for safety. Not to mention ships would be passing under the bridge very slowly.

 

[drum118]

Cost for the Tunnel out weights the operation cost, cost of the bridge and wasting riders travel plans from my point of view. It only takes a number of unscheduled bridge moves or have the bridge issues that the cost for delays or cancelling service adds up against using the bridge in place of a tunnel.

 

[reaperexpress]

Sorry if this was covered in another thread, but NDP Leader Marit Stiles was recently at the proposed Grimsby GO station site for a campaign stump speech promising to prioritize the station's construction and to double track Grimsby to Niagara Falls: https://www.niagarathisweek.com/new...cle_52724e9f-42b5-54e4-9db3-eec7a26d7072.html

Not sure what reality this is rooted in given they're CN's Grimsby Division tracks...

For context, here's the current extent of double track on the Grimsby sub.

It's already mostly double-tracked, the most notable single-track segment is the 16 km between Grimsby and St Catharines. The single-track segment in Niagara Falls probably doesn't really matter since that's after CN's trains split off, and hourly GO trains would presumably lay over in NF for about about 20 minutes which still leaves enough time to get to/from the existing double track in St Catharines. A second platform at NF station (high-level platform for US customs clearance perhaps?) would be enough to enable hourly GO service in addition to Via/Amtrak thru trains.

But as others noted, I'd be reluctant to commit public funds to upgrade a line still owned by CN. Both Via and GO have been burned by that in the past.

While cost would no doubt be an issue, the suitability of a moveable bridge depends on the type of service envisioned. Bridge cycle times are long and both trains and ships need a long clearance times for safety. Not to mention ships would be passing under the bridge very slowly.

The bridge is on a dual lock along the canal that only has a capacity of about 1 boat per hour per direction regardless of the railway bridge. If hourly GO trains are timed to cross the bridge simultaneously in both directions it would have a negligible effect on seaway capacity, though it could potentially cause up to an hour of delay to ships if they happen to arrive at the wrong time.