GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[canarob]

A few updates from the Feb 18 Metrolinx meeting (http://www.metrolinx.com/mx/en/board/20110218/agenda.aspx):

•Ridership growth of 4% over last year, creating crowding on trains
•12 car trains will be introduced into Barrie and Stouffville lines Fall 2011
•New train service to Kitchener Waterloo end of 2011, resulting in 2 new trains on the Georgetown line

I was hoping for more trains on the Stouffville line, but I guess 12-car trains will have to do for now.

 

[nfitz]

I was hoping that the 30-minute off-peak service that the McGuinty government had promised would appear by 2010 would be finally coming.

Another McGuinty transit lie I guess.

 

[Dan416]

I think serving Kitchener and Waterloo this year is quite remarkable!

Dunno if this was ever posted: http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/...itchenerEnvironmentalStatusStatement_2011.pdf

Showing the selection of the temporary layover facility for the Kitchener extension.

Opening day service will be Kitchener VIA, Guelph VIA, Acton and on to Georgetown etc.

I imagine the Georgetown line will be renamed the Kitchener line when the new extension opens.

 

[EnviroTO]

Re 30min service on Lakeshore line: They are still building the required infrastructure around Exhibition, Mimico, and Clarkson I think. Once the projects complete I would also become sceptical.

 

[TFC]

I was hoping that the 30-minute off-peak service that the McGuinty government had promised would appear by 2010 would be finally coming.

Another McGuinty transit lie I guess.

2008-present recession rather than transit lie IMO

 

[nfitz]

Re 30min service on Lakeshore line: They are still building the required infrastructure around Exhibition, Mimico, and Clarkson I think. Once the projects complete I would also become sceptical.

Those new projects weren't even contemplated when they made the promises about 30-minute service almost a decade ago. What was contemplated were the 3rd track on Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West which are now completed.

2008-present recession rather than transit lie IMO

And yet since they announced this, they've found plenty of money to expand service to Niagara Falls and Kitchener, which wasn't contemplated when they promised the 30-minute service.

The Ontario government has been promising increased service on Lakeshore since the early 1970s. We've had many recessions since then.

Some of the transit promises the McGuinty government has broken were made after the recession started. I don't think we can blame all the McGuinty lies on the recession.

 

[Dan416]

I'd rather take the incremental improvements in service we've been getting over the transit cuts of the Conservatives.

 

[doady]

Yes, obviously McGuinty has been bad for transit in Ontario. Hudak for Premier!!

 

[TOareaFan]

If Mr. McGuinty is leading a government that has reached this conclusion "why are we increasing frequencies on one line to 30 minutes 7 days a week when we have all those other lines that sit empty outside of rush hour 7 days a week. let's expand transit on a more balanced approach....unless you are telling me that all of those trains on Lakeshore in off peak are already full? No? Then lets spread the service more evenly and, I bet, we get larger incremental ridership growth"....if that is the decision he has made then he has found a way to have me consider voting Liberal for the first time in my 50 years on this planet.

30 minute frequencies on Lakeshore is a good long term goal....sure, but in the short term there are more pressing regional needs to be adressed without doubling the number of off peak trains on the only line that has any off peak trains.

 

[drum118]

If Mr. McGuinty is leading a government that has reached this conclusion "why are we increasing frequencies on one line to 30 minutes 7 days a week when we have all those other lines that sit empty outside of rush hour 7 days a week. let's expand transit on a more balanced approach....unless you are telling me that all of those trains on Lakeshore in off peak are already full? No? Then lets spread the service more evenly and, I bet, we get larger incremental ridership growth"....if that is the decision he has made then he has found a way to have me consider voting Liberal for the first time in my 50 years on this planet.

30 minute frequencies on Lakeshore is a good long term goal....sure, but in the short term there are more pressing regional needs to be adressed without doubling the number of off peak trains on the only line that has any off peak trains.

Why is it that other systems that have started up after GO and carry less rider offering 30 minutes service from day one?

Why is Montreal going to offer 30 minutes service all day and 12 minutes at peak time for the new West line to built by 2015?

By offering 30 or less service on the Lakeshore Line today, you will gain a lot more new riders than the 60 minute crowd. It great the Air Rail can get 15 minute service while the rest of the system can go to hell.

The cart is in front of the horse on this issue.

Better watch out for Hudak as you may see less funding for transit than today.

 

[nfitz]

Yes, obviously McGuinty has been bad for transit in Ontario. Hudak for Premier!!

I'm not saying Hudak would be any better ... I'd think he'd actually be worse. But we're supposed to reward a pathological liar with re-election simply because the only real opposition is even worse?

Sigh ... sadly yes ... but that doesn't mean I won't call out the McGuinty government for the lies and broken promises they have been making to us over the last 4 years. Doesn't mean I'll support a Mike Harris Conservative. Though I'd be surprised if my own riding won't go NDP as usual ... and perhaps as usual I'll vote Green out of protest. The Liberal and NDP bigoted policy on funding only one religion's schools is unforgivable in my mind.

 

[TOareaFan]

Why is it that other systems that have started up after GO and carry less rider offering 30 minutes service from day one?

Why is Montreal going to offer 30 minutes service all day and 12 minutes at peak time for the new West line to built by 2015?

By offering 30 or less service on the Lakeshore Line today, you will gain a lot more new riders than the 60 minute crowd. It great the Air Rail can get 15 minute service while the rest of the system can go to hell.

The cart is in front of the horse on this issue.

Better watch out for Hudak as you may see less funding for transit than today.

I don't spend a lot of time comparing to other systems because there is little value in it. GO is dealing with the realities of commuter rail in Toronto not Montreal. It is also a red herring to compare to the ARL as that is a separate "premium" service using different equipment and answering totally different goals and mandates.

What I don't understand is why it makes sense to add 30 minute frequencies on Lakeshore in off peak before adding any off peak at all on the other lines comuter lines that GO serves.....Richmond Hill, Milton, Georgetown, Barrie, Stouffeville line......one of those (Georgetown) is getting about a billion dollars of upgrades yet there is no timetable or promise for any offpeak service on that line....yes people expect it will come but there is no promise....yet the Lakeshore line should be upgraded to 30 minute frequencies....it makes no sense to me at all.

 

[AnarchoSocialist]

Why is Montreal going to offer 30 minutes service all day and 12 minutes at peak time for the new West line to built by 2015.

Just a point of clarification, this will not be a new line, but an upgrade to the existing line.

Also, Montreal has encountered the exact same thing as Toronto over the past 5 years. There are just as many "broken promises" in Montreal as Toronto. In both cases, this isn't because they are not taking commuter rail seriously. Quite the opposite. Both cities have been re-thinking their approaches, looking at electrification, the creation of regional rail networks. Maybe Lakeshore hasn't seen the service increase some would like, but if the end result is a line that is electrified and can handle 10 - 15 minute frequencies easily, I would say that is worth a broken promise or two.

 

[smallspy]

What I don't understand is why it makes sense to add 30 minute frequencies on Lakeshore in off peak before adding any off peak at all on the other lines comuter lines that GO serves.....Richmond Hill, Milton, Georgetown, Barrie, Stouffeville line......one of those (Georgetown) is getting about a billion dollars of upgrades yet there is no timetable or promise for any offpeak service on that line....yes people expect it will come but there is no promise....yet the Lakeshore line should be upgraded to 30 minute frequencies....it makes no sense to me at all.

It becomes a question of costs versus benefits, unfortunately.

Until very recently, GO had much more access to track time on the Lakeshore Lines than it did on the other lines. And even though they now own a handful of the lines, it still makes the most financial sense to improve services on the Lakeshore Lines, as there are no infrastructure requirements necessary to attain 30 minute service. This is in contrast to all of the other lines (which the possible exception of service to Brampton), where there is a lot of major infrastructure that is necessary to even begin hourly service.

I'm sure that GO would love to have hourly service on all of the lines - all of those bus drivers aren't cheap - but it also costs money, and more importantly time, to install CTC and additional tracks.

As for the service to Kitchener by the end of the year - that is simply a political decision.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[Dan416]

Whatever happened to the study for all-day service on the Milton line?