GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[rbt]

After GO RER and electrification, what is the expected travel time for the Barrie-Union express?

The original plan had express service from Aurora to Union after making all stops from Allandale with a travel time around 65 minutes BUT the electrification update has the "express" skipping only King City and Maple stations.

New stations like St. Clair don't appear on the frequency chart. Increasing ridership will also slow down service over time due to increased dwell time at stations.

It'll be moderately faster than todays travel time, but not a whole lot. So perhaps 90 minutes from Allandale to Union.

Page 14:

https://www.metrolinxengage.com/sites/default/files/overview_station_-_go_expansion_feb_2020_-_revised_feb_13.pdf

Well, I was thinking a Hamilton style "super express" skipping all or most other stops could produce significant time savings.

It's a 2 track corridor for most of the length. A Hamilton style super-express would be stuck behind the local trains making all stops for the entire trip.

 

[robmausser]

The original plan had express service from Aurora to Union after making all stops from Allandale with a travel time around 65 minutes BUT the electrification update has the "express" skipping only King City and Maple stations.

This is absolutely bonkers insane and completely misses the point of doing electrification and RER.

I knew our elected officials would stuff this whole thing up.

 

[rbt]

This is absolutely bonkers insane and completely misses the point of doing electrification and RER.

The express service piece was easily the least beneficial component. Doubled the capital cost in the central portion of the city (bridge works/corridor widening for a 3rd track so they could weave around all-stop trains) for what amounted to 2 trains per hour of service.

Worth noting, the original version had hourly trains from Barrie to Union and this version is every 30 minutes.

Also, electrification is most beneficial to trains that will be stopping frequently; this version will gain more benefit from electrification than the previous express train version.

 

[north-of-anything]

The Barrie line will be fully electrified all the way to Allandale Waterfront in Barrie. And according to the Barrie Line roll plans, Metrolinx wants to extend double-tracking from Aurora to Newmarket which could extend frequent 15 min service to Newmarket.

https://www.metrolinxengage.com/sites/default/files/barrie_roll_plan.pdf

They better. Aurora is a terrible place for a terminus, considering Newmarket's greater significance as a hub in northern York Region with better connections to higher-order transit and other hubs - just down Davis Drive is the bus terminal, just down Main Street North is East Gwillimbury GO.

 

[Coolstar]

They better. Aurora is a terrible place for a terminus, considering Newmarket's greater significance as a hub in northern York Region with better connections to higher-order transit and other hubs - just down Davis Drive is the bus terminal, just down Main Street North is East Gwillimbury GO.

Plus, Downtown Newmarket also isn't that far away from the GO Station.

 

[Coolstar]

The express service piece was easily the least beneficial. Doubled the capital cost in the central portion of the city (bridge works/corridor widening for a 3rd track so they could weave around all-stop trains) for what amounted to 2 trains per hour of service.

Worth noting, the original version had hourly trains from Barrie to Union and this version is every 30 minutes.

Also, electrification is most beneficial to trains that will be stopping frequently; this version will gain more benefit from electrification than the previous express train version.

And Toronto and the suburbs greatly benefit from subway-style service/frequencies. Not quite the end of the world. Yet. I'd say the point is missed if RER is not fully integrated with other transit agencies or other modes of transit. (Seamless Fare Integration)

 

[hw621]

And Toronto and the suburbs greatly benefit from subway-style service/frequencies. Not quite the end of the world. Yet. I'd say the point is missed if RER is not fully integrated with other transit agencies or other modes of transit. (Seamless Fare Integration)

Political fragmentation will be the biggest barrier of that...

 

[kingkam]

Has there been any discussion on here about Metrolinx using the CN corridor starting from about Oshawa that runs through Pickering, Scarborough, Markham, Thornhill, North York, Brampton etc just south of the 407?

This seems like if we had a northern corridor it would connect so many of the upper cities. Seems like a huge opportunity to me.

We have to stop with everybody only needs rail service to get too and from downtown and try to encourage more northern east/west rail travel.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Northern Light]

Has there been any discussion on here about Metrolinx using the CN corridor starting from about Oshawa that runs through Pickering, Scarborough, Markham, Thornhill, North York, Brampton etc just south of the 407?

This seems like if we had a northern corridor it would connect so many of the upper cities. Seems like a huge opportunity to me.

We have to stop with everybody only needs rail service to get too and from downtown and try to encourage more northern east/west rail travel.

Just my 2 cents

That route is the CN mainline.

To my knowledge, there has been no serious consideration of adding passenger rail to this corridor.

****

Your point is a legitimate one.

But I would expect any new passenger corridor (likely BRT first) to go in the 407 corridor.

Which is adjacent to this rail line at points; but at many others is not.

****

Consideration has been given to ways in which CP rail service on its mid-town corridor might be consolidated to the CN Mainline, for a portion of its length.

That would be with an eye to addressing rail congestion in the Kitchener corridor; but also putting GO Service onto a large chunk of the CP line.

This would make some of the connections you have in mind, but would be much further south in the centre and western portions of the City/Region.

 

[Undead]

Is the CN mainline ROW wide enough to accommodate additional tracks? If not, is there enough room to widen it?

 

[Northern Light]

Is the CN mainline ROW wide enough to accommodate additional tracks? If not, is there enough room to widen it?

In many spots, yes.

But in some spots, its trenched, and would require retaining walls and might encroach on adjacent property.

Its also passes through Rouge Park, and there are spots where widening to 4 tracks would challenging and highly detrimental.

The extent to which additional track is required, would depend on the answer to the CP question; and what level of service was envisioned for the passenger line.

Modern signalling with Positive Train Control (PTC) could certainly allow more service relative to track space; but there is virtually no way to contemplate this without a mostly complete third track; and some further passing track.

The more service, the more track required.

 

[ShonTron]

They better. Aurora is a terrible place for a terminus, considering Newmarket's greater significance as a hub in northern York Region with better connections to higher-order transit and other hubs - just down Davis Drive is the bus terminal, just down Main Street North is East Gwillimbury GO.

It's like Bramalea vs. Brampton. The only thing Bramalea has is being near the Highway 407 corridor for bus connections, but Brampton is more of a real hub, especially as revitalization projects get going.

 

[robmausser]

Has there been any discussion on here about Metrolinx using the CN corridor starting from about Oshawa that runs through Pickering, Scarborough, Markham, Thornhill, North York, Brampton etc just south of the 407?

This seems like if we had a northern corridor it would connect so many of the upper cities. Seems like a huge opportunity to me.

We have to stop with everybody only needs rail service to get too and from downtown and try to encourage more northern east/west rail travel.

Just my 2 cents

Like said above, that corridor is used for mainline CN freight and was actaully built to allow for dedicated passenger rail in the downtown (sort of, CN also wanted out of the downtown)

A better solution is the 407 Transitway, which is a dedicated busway like in Mississauga along the 407. The line closely follows the CN corridor.

While having a dedicated transit link between these northern cities is a necessity, they dont quite meet the ridership potential for a GO train. GO buses in dedicated busway more than meets the demand for a while

407 Transitway

407 Transitway

I've been trying to find info on the proposed 407 transitway that I keep hearing about but cannot find very much on it, I was wondering if anyone else knows of more info on this project or anything? seeing as how ths is supposed to turn into a really important east-west route in the future...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[W. K. Lis]

Point and Call – Metrolinx introduces the practice of Shisa Kanko to GO Transit trains​

From link.

Passengers travelling, or soon returning to more regular GO Transit trips might notice something a little out of the ordinary when their train comes to a stop. An ancient Japanese practice is now in place and it’s aimed at improving the door operations of the coaches and ultimately making the GO system even safer.

Mother always said it was impolite to point.

And don’t get her started on speaking loudly.

But in this case, taking a page out of lessons originally learned on Japan’s transit network, dramatic hand gestures and loud calls are signs of refinement – and added safety.

GO trains are now pulling into stations and opening their doors with the customer service ambassadors – the CSAs who are stationed in the accessibility coach – pointing at certain indicators and calling out their status loudly to themselves.

It’s called ‘Shisa Kanko’ – a pointing and calling safety practice used on Japanese railways for almost a century.

Katelyn Drysdale is seen here identifying a ‘good spot’ as well as pointing and calling ‘clear right, clear left’ before opening the remaining doors of the train for passengers. (Nitish Bissonauth Photo)
“The practice engages the operator’s brain, eyes, hands, mouth, and ears to have increased awareness of what they are doing” explained Bilal Quadri, the manager of Customer Service at Alstom.

Alstom, the company formally known as Bombardier, provides the crews that operate GO Transit’s train fleet.

“By pointing and calling out actions, an operator’s focus is heightened at key moments.”

According to Quadri, some of the CSAs work and operate 60 to70 stops a day and with so many platforms, it’s easy to fall into a routine and create an automatic habit.

The same can be said about anyone who drives or walks to and from the same destination or constantly does the same action repeatedly. Most of us have driven to a regular destination, and then thought ‘I actually can’t really recall the details of that ride’.

Point and call helps transit staff break out of that automation by stimulating the senses.

It involves the CSA pointing at a spotting location and calling out ’good spot’.

The CSA will then point in both directions and at the same time yell ‘clear right, clear left’ determining when the platform is safe to open the doors.

“I find I’m sharper and on the ball more with this new method,” explains Katelyn Drysdale, a CSA for 11 years.

With the organization constantly evolving, she says her, and her colleagues are used to changes and adapting to new practices.

According to Drysdale, point and call was easy to pick up and she already finds it very effective. “It allows me to take a step back and get a proper sense of my environmental awareness, something that is crucial for me while operating the doors, she explains.”

Once customers have boarded or deboarded the train, they may see the CSA stepping out of the train, and again pointing in both directions calling ‘clear right, clear left’, making sure no passengers are left behind before safely closing the doors.

The gesture may seem a little silly, or a tad dramatic, but it’s effective. Japan’s public transit system, a transportation network that moved 12 billion passengers annually prior to the pandemic, is considered one of the world’s safest transit systems.

Katelyn Drysdale points and calls to the step before customers step off. (Nitish Bissonauth Photo)
“I’ve been reading about this for a few years and I’ve seen it myself in Japan when I was on vacation two years ago,” explains Alstom’s Quadri.

“I had observed this practice in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and I thought if other world class transit agencies are adopting this, why not us?”

Metrolinx was quick to support this innovative idea, especially as the transit agency gets ready to launch the largest expansion of GO service in it’s history.

“This is an important addition to the CSA workflow especially on corridors where we have massive construction projects underway,” says Rob Andrews, director of Rail Operations at Metrolinx.

Andrews also mentioned the practice won’t negatively impact GO Transit’s on time performance, something he and his team are committed to delivering, knowing the importance for customers.

Nearly all customer service ambassadors have now been trained and are currently practicing point and call.

Seen here, Drysdale is again practicing Shisa Kanko when closing the doors of the train. (Nitish Bissonauth Photo)

So, if you’re taking the GO train and you see your CSA using this method, just know this is another step towards flawless door operations and hence, greater safety for everyone.

And feel free to explain it to mom, if she accompanies you aboard.

From link.

This activity involves pointing at target objects by stretching your arm and stating out loud, “Such and such is OK” at important points in the work in order to proceed with work safely and correctly.

Pointing and calling are methods for raising the consciousness level of workers and confirming that conditions are regular and clear, increasing the accuracy and safety of work. This method for ensuring safety is based on the philosophy of respecting human life and can be achieved only with the full participation of the workforce in practice activities across the whole of the workplace.

 

[lenaitch]

Point and Call – Metrolinx introduces the practice of Shisa Kanko to GO Transit trains​

From link.

From link.

I saw that on an episode of Mighty Trains covering one of Japanese lines. It looked a little weird when the engineer/driver did it alone in the cab, but if it works . . .

it's kinda-sorta like a cop directing traffic (well, the remaining few that are actually good at it).