Would be nice if they could fix the london to Kitchener line that fast.
Technically they don't own the track between London and Kitchener, and this is only a 4-5 km section. But if we spent a weekend doing 5 km each weekend it would take 20 weeks to fix the lineWould be nice if they could fix the london to Kitchener line that fast.
Would be nice though if they could buy it and fix it up. Both GO and VIA would benefit hugely from itTechnically they don't own the track between London and Kitchener, and this is only a 4-5 km section. But if we spent a weekend doing 5 km each weekend it would take 20 weeks to fix the line
The Milton Line is already in the top 5 most popular train services in Canada, so I think that's a pretty safe statement. To stay in the top 5 it just needs to be more popular than the Richmond Hill line, Stouffville Line, UP Express, and any VIA, RTM (Montréal) or WCE (Vancouver) line, none of which have particuly high ridership.The line also literally cutting through Sauga with 6 of the 9 total stations in the boundary should already be self explanatory as to how big of a deal this approach is, even if we’ll end up getting only 2-3 of them as a priority. When the expanded service is finally into place, this would easily become one of the top 5 most popular train services in all of Canada. The funding for this to become a reality is worth it at the end of the day.
For hourly you only need to do this at Milton, Erindale and Cooksvile.The Milton Line is already in the top 5 most popular train services in Canada, so I think that's a pretty safe statement. To stay in the top 5 it just needs to be more popular than the Richmond Hill line, UP Express, and any VIA, RTM (Montréal) or WCE (Vancouver) line, none of which have particuly high ridership.
In any case, I think it would be fairly straightforward to implement all-day two-way service on the Milton line, since the corridor seems to be future-proofed for 4 tracks. Many of the bridges are even built for 4 tracks already. The main challenge is that there will likely need to be a rail-to-rail grade separation to bring GO across the CP tracks somewhere between Kipling and the West Toronto Diamond. At West Toronto Diamond, GO splits off to the south, but the Milton yard and all of the station platforms are located on the north side of the corridor.
Here are some overhead views where I've sketched in where I think the 4 tracks would most easily fit. Note how all the platforms are on the northern pair of tracks.
West Toronto Diamond
View attachment 359846
Kipling Station (all of these tracks are existing)
View attachment 359845
Dixie Station (new track on the north side)
View attachment 359844
Cooksville Station (new track on the north side and south side)
View attachment 359843
Erindale Station (new track on the north side; new side platform)
View attachment 359842
Streetsville station (new tracks on the south side)
View attachment 359841
Lisgar station (new track on the north side and south side)
View attachment 359839
Milton yard
View attachment 359838
Milton station (new track on the north side)
View attachment 359837
Yeah, I just showed a full 4-track configuration as a full build-out scenario. Certainly a phased approach could start with only the segments required for whatever the initial two-way service is. Another idea is to double-track as far as Cooksville (including the grade separation east of Kipling) and run 15-minute service that far (possibly with hourly service continuing to Milton), and gradually extend the dedicated pair of GO tracks further west, bringing the 15-minute service with it.For hourly you only need to do this at Milton, Erindale and Cooksvile.
For hourly you only need to do this at Milton, Erindale and Cooksvile.
So they decided to cancel the one train that runs only once daily