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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

crs1026 said:
An important milestone for GO happened yesterday - CN transferred dispatching duties for much of the ML owned system from its dispatching office at MacMillan Yard in Maple to the new GO Operations Center in Oakville. The CN dispatching centre is closing, with the remaining CN owned territory mostly now controlled from Edmonton. CN also plans to close its Montreal dispatching office and centralise all dispatching in Edmonton.

- Paul
Click to expand...
Very interesting coincidence happening on the day CN shut down it's eastern operations. As an outside observer, it looks like the transition went smoothly. There were no major glitches as far as I could tell, although opening day tests did occur such as the code line failure on Kitchener line disrupting UPX, and a broken rail at Guildwood.
All in all, congratulations to Metrolinx (GO Transit) on achieving this milestone!
 
^ what's a code line error?

Also the switch over is mentioned in this report:

• We’ve been preparing for the transition of the Rail Traffic Control function from CN to Metrolinx. This corridor-by-corridor transition, commencing in February, will take approximately two years to complete, with the Union Station Rail Corridor being completed in the final phase.
Click to expand...
 
“Code line” is the data communications network that connects the control centre with specific CTC installations in the field - signals, switches, interlockings etc. It passes information such as train position, block occupancy, etc to the control centre and it carries the electronic commands to field equipment from the RTC console.

Once upon a time it was a physical cable like a telephone line with some very cool if anachronistic electric relay technology - the videos on line about Cabin D give you the flavour.. These days it involves radio links, fibre cable, etc and works much more like a internet type data system. The section from Silver to Kitchener is commercial cell data, but that’s a rarity - the norm is a standalone system with higher security and reliability assured (that’s a good example of just how low quality the VIA/GEXR CTC installation on that route was as built ...One of the first things CN did after taking back the line west of Kitchener was upgrade the CTC codeline to its standard radio based data networking. East of Kitchener, ML is likely waiting until it redoes the CTC next year when the new sidings go in.)

I don’t know what the specific failure was this week. The UPE route is fibre connected with radio backup, so ought to not have many codeline issues. Of course, hardware does fail now and then. A knowledgeable RTC commented the other day that Wice (the jct with the Pearson Spur) is the balkiest interlocking on the system.

- Paul
 
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One additional thing to point out about "code line" in addition to Paul's comments are that there are a number of different methods in use today on the lines in the Toronto area. Some, such as CN's Halton and York Subs, still use their 1960s-era installations of wayside copper line on the ubiquitous line-side poles. The 1980s saw the beginning of the cell-based installations under an industry-wide standard known as "ATCS". Fibre is a much more recent thing, and allows for some advantages over the other systems, but is also more expensive to install. But at the end of the day, all of these various communication systems all plug into the same silver wayside cabinets and huts, and many of those - despite the installation of more advanced communication methods and protocols will be the critical link in the reliability of the network as a whole. And thankfully (for the railroads, and mainly in the concern of cost-savings), many of the systems in those cabinets can be upgraded without requiring the other parts to be changed out.

crs1026 said:
I don’t know what the specific failure was this week. The UPE route is fibre connected with radio backup, so ought to not have many codeline issues. Of course, hardware does fail now and then. A knowledgeable RTC commented the other day that Wice (the jct with the Pearson Spur) is the balkiest interlocking on the system.

- Paul
Click to expand...

The plant at Wice threatened to delay the opening of UPX on a number of occasions as crews tried to sort out its myriad of issues. Even a couple of days before its opening, they weren't certain that they could get all of the equipment operating properly.

The biggest problem with it is all of the additional interlocking equipment installed to prevent non-standard equipment from operating on the Pearson Sub. There are sensors located in the 4-foot at Wice and the three intermediates before it, and detect a specific beacon that is installed on the leading truck of all of the UPX DMUs. So long as the sensors at the three intermediates detect this beacon, the signals at Wice will clear to allow a train onto the Pearson Sub. But if they don't, the lights will not clear, and the train will have to wait and get a manual clearance through the interlocking.

It took them the better part of a year after the opening but they seem to have finally resolved most of the issues with the system. But still every once in a while something happens and they need to manually clear a train through the plant at Wice.

Dan
 
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Speaking of radios @smallspy

When I take the Stouffville Line home at night I keep hearing what sounds like automated transmissions from the CSAs radio.

It is track name and a 3 digit number usually (e.g 320, 214, etc). It is usually when I'm passing through the USRC.

Any idea what I'm hearing?
 
Richard White said:
Speaking of radios @smallspy

When I take the Stouffville Line home at night I keep hearing what sounds like automated transmissions from the CSAs radio.

It is track name and a 3 digit number usually (e.g 320, 214, etc). It is usually when I'm passing through the USRC.

Any idea what I'm hearing?
Click to expand...

Those would be the "talking hotbox detectors". As a train passes the detector, it transmits a message giving either an alarm or an all-clear.

They are set up a little differently by location, but the general format of the automated voice message is "Railway, Subdivision, Milepoint, Track, Alarm status, speed, length, temperature". The busier ones abbreviate this considerably to reduce the amount of radio chatter. Not all give speed or length but some do.

"Kingston.....321....3....No alarms" is a typical message.

"Kingston.....305....South.....No alarms.......99" is the message you want to hear when on VIA ;-)

- Paul
 
From a Facebook group:

"GO Transit announces improved Niagara region coverage!

Existing Niagara Falls route extended to Fort Erie and a new route going south through St. Catharines, stopping at the Pen Centre, Brock, Niagara College Welland Campus, Welland bus terminal, and Port Colborne."

FB_IMG_1581984898769.jpg
 
Allandale25 said:
From a Facebook group:

"GO Transit announces improved Niagara region coverage!

Existing Niagara Falls route extended to Fort Erie and a new route going south through St. Catharines, stopping at the Pen Centre, Brock, Niagara College Welland Campus, Welland bus terminal, and Port Colborne."

View attachment 231626
Click to expand...
I have been anticipating this, I think there is some potential for greater transit connectivity in Niagara Region.

I wonder if it is possible yet to turn St. Catharines into a regional employment hub of sorts.
 
Allandale25 said:
From a Facebook group:

"GO Transit announces improved Niagara region coverage!

Existing Niagara Falls route extended to Fort Erie and a new route going south through St. Catharines, stopping at the Pen Centre, Brock, Niagara College Welland Campus, Welland bus terminal, and Port Colborne."

View attachment 231626
Click to expand...

I don't believe this. This replicates several Niagara Region Transit routes. There's no park and ride in Downtown Welland or Downtown Port Colborne.

The most I could see is a branch to Brock University.
 
ShonTron said:
I don't believe this. This replicates several Niagara Region Transit routes. There's no park and ride in Downtown Welland or Downtown Port Colborne.

The most I could see is a branch to Brock University.
Click to expand...

Given your statement above, I have tweeted the image out to AMA.

We shall see what is said!
 
ShonTron said:
I don't believe this. This replicates several Niagara Region Transit routes. There's no park and ride in Downtown Welland or Downtown Port Colborne.

The most I could see is a branch to Brock University.
Click to expand...
The March 2, 2020 start date also doesn't make sense since the next set of schedule changes won't take place until April 4th. It seems like someone just photoshopped this schedule:

Error | GO Transit

www.gotransit.com www.gotransit.com

If you look at this higher resolution image from reddit, you can see that some text (such as the year 2020) isn't aligned properly:

 
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