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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

^ Some context.

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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 line 😂
Would be nice though if they could buy it and fix it up. Both GO and VIA would benefit hugely from it
 
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.
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.

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
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Kipling Station (all of these tracks are existing)
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Dixie Station (new track on the north side)
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Cooksville Station (new track on the north side and south side)

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Erindale Station (new track on the north side; new side platform)
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Streetsville station (new tracks on the south side)

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Meadowvale Station (new track on the north and south sides)
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Lisgar station (new track on the north side and south side)
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Milton yard
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Milton station (new track on the north side)
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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
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.
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.

You’d still need the flyover. The challenge is the underpasses at Keele, Runnymede, Jane and Scarlett. And the yard ladder at the west end of Lambton Yard. And the Humber River.

It will have to be a flyover, Davenport style.

- Paul
 
So they decided to cancel the one train that runs only once daily



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"You can take the 16:49 to Kitchener".
Okay... but...

After arriving in Kitchener at 18:35, passengers could transfer to VIA 87 which departs at 19:18. As of right now, the website is showing a ticket price of $25 including taxes for today's departure.
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If GO just directly bought VIA tickets for the 30 GO travelers west of Kitchener, they'd only be out 750 dollars, which is probably cheaper than hiring a shuttle bus on such short notice.
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Meanwhile on the other lines: two cancellations and an update. The update is that the train is cancelled.
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