GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[SkylineHorizons]

Why would an express train need to stop at Exhibition? That defeats the purpose of it being express, which is to rush people to and from Union Station. Exhibition is getting an Ontario Line stop. There's your express service to downtown from Exhibition.

The train absolutely crawls to Union Station after it stops at Exhibition. It barely picks up speed.

In order to not overload Union Station.

With the amount of passenger flow projected they absolutely must look at options to provide future relief for Union station otherwise it risks being overwhelmed even with the planned upgrades to the station. By stopping at the Ex passenger traveling into the city who's final destination is at or north of Queen street can transfer over to the Onatrio line there rather than continuing into Union and transfering onto line 1 via either the Yonge or University branch to get up to Queen st. Even though it's a longer subway stretch, since the subway platforms at the ex will be right next to the GO platform the trip should take the same amount of time by cutting down on the walking distance for the the transfer.

 

[Bojaxs]

Part of the reasoning behind running the Ontario Line to Exhibition is to relieve Union Station as well. It should be a busy transfer point and so it makes sense for express trains to stop there.

In order to not overload Union Station.

With the amount of passenger flow projected they absolutely must look at options to provide future relief for Union station otherwise it risks being overwhelmed even with the planned upgrades to the station. By stopping at the Ex passenger traveling into the city who's final destination is at or north of Queen street can transfer over to the Onatrio line there rather than continuing into Union and transfering onto line 1 via either the Yonge or University branch to get up to Queen st. Even though it's a longer subway stretch, since the subway platforms at the ex will be right next to the GO platform the trip should take the same amount of time by cutting down on the walking distance for the the transfer.

Most of the daily commuters who work in I.T. and the financial sector in DT won't care how crowded Union is if it's still quicker to take the Yonge or University line from Union versus the Ontario line from Exhibition.

 

[nfitz]

Most of the daily commuters who work in I.T. and the financial sector in DT won't care how crowded Union is if it's still quicker to take the Yonge or University line from Union versus the Ontario line from Exhibition.

The ones who work near Union Station will indeed stick to Union.

But the ones who work near Queen will switch.

The downtown station with the most arrivals in the AM is Dundas. And they some'll surely switch to the Ontario Line.

 

[reaperexpress]

The ones who work near Union Station will indeed stick to Union.

But the ones who work near Queen will switch. The downtown station with the most arrivals in the AM is Dundas. And they'll surely switch to the Ontario Line.

And people heading to somewhere along Dufferin, Bathurst or Harbourfront can already transfer to the streetcar or bus.

 

[rbt]

The ones who work near Union Station will indeed stick to Union.

But the ones who work near Queen will switch. The downtown station with the most arrivals in the AM is Dundas. And they'll surely switch to the Ontario Line.

If you're taking the subway from Union to Dundas (not Queen) then why would you switch to the Ontario line at Exhibition which drops you at Queen? If you're taking GO/TTC to Ryerson then Line 1 is probably still going to be preferred.

I know several 905 commuters who used to hike back to King/Spadina-Portland; and that pattern seems obvious for a transfer to the Ontario Line.

 

[ARG1]

Why would an express train need to stop at Exhibition? That defeats the purpose of it being express, which is to rush people to and from Union Station. Exhibition is getting an Ontario Line stop. There's your express service to downtown from Exhibition.

And let me ask you why Ontario Line is getting an Exhibition Stop? Hint: No its not to get people to and from Exhibition Quickly, at least not fully. Its to relieve Union Station, to allow people to get off at a shoulder station and use that to reach where they need to go without needing to deal with the crowded mess that Union Station can become. East Harbour on LSE and Stouffville serves the same purpose.

The train absolutely crawls to Union Station after it stops at Exhibition. It barely picks up speed.

This shouldn't be a problem after the USRC is reconfigured. Cururently the problem with USRC is that there are a ton of cross overs and sliptracks that is powered by early 20th century signalling systems, and I believe the plan is to completely redesign the system which should significantly speed up operations.

 

[nfitz]

If you're taking the subway from Union to Dundas (not Queen) then why would you switch to the Ontario line at Exhibition which drops you at Queen? If you're taking GO/TTC to Ryerson then Line 1 is probably still going to be preferred.

I assume people will do what's faster. Some will walk from Queen or Moss Park stations. Some might change to the Yonge Line at Queen. And some will stay on GO to Union. Some spend a bit more time to only change once rather than twice.

The transfer at Exhibition station should be very fast to get from the GO platform to the Ontario platform. The transfer times at Union to TTC I've found are quite slow, especially with the crowding on the GO Platforms. And GO runs slowly between Exhibition and Union.

But yes, I overstated that. Some will switch, not all. Bojaxs point is that people will do what's quicker. But I think for many it will be quicker to switch at Exhibition. That includes some how now use Dundas, but also those who might use St. Andrew/Osgoode/Queen/King to get to the towers on Adelaide and Richmond. The weather on the day might be a factor too.

We'll have to do a race from Mimico to Dundas Square to test it out ... in about a decade.

 

[reaperexpress]

If you're taking the subway from Union to Dundas (not Queen) then why would you switch to the Ontario line at Exhibition which drops you at Queen? If you're taking GO/TTC to Ryerson then Line 1 is probably still going to be preferred.

I know several 905 commuters who used to hike back to King/Spadina-Portland; and that pattern seems obvious for a transfer to the Ontario Line.

Given that the transfer will be quicker at Ex than at Union, it's safe to assume that all demand from Lakeshore West to Osgoode and Queen stations will be relocated onto the Ontario line. That's already a substantial chunk of the transfers right there.

Then there's a also a non-negligible minority of riders who currently use other stations such as St Patrick or Dundas who would switch to Osgoode or Queen, and all the demand heading to new stations along the Ontario Line.

 

[smallspy]

And GO runs slowly between Exhibition and GO.

And yet, trains hit 60mph in both directions on this stretch.

Dan

 

[ShonTron]

Buried at the bottom of the Toronto West email newsletter is this big news:

Starting Sunday, April 28, GO rail will see the largest service expansion since 2013, with increased service on Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Kitchener, Stouffville and Milton lines. There will be 308 new weekly rail trips, which is a 15% increase (from 1,999 to 2,307 total weekly trips) from current state. See below for details by line.


Bus and some rail services will change on April 27; however, most rail service changes will take place on April 28 to align with our operating crew’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, as a result of such a large weekend service enhancement.

Overview of GO train service changes (April 28)

· On the Lakeshore West line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Oakville GO and Union Station.
· On the Lakeshore East line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Durham College Oshawa GO and Union Station.
· On the Kitchener line, we’re introducing approximately 30-minute weekday service in the midday and evenings between Bramalea GO and Union Station.
· On the Stouffville line, evening train service after 7 p.m. returns seven days a week.
· On the Milton line, one additional morning rush hour trip to Union Station and one afternoon rush hour trip to Milton GO.
· Some trips on the following lines will be adjusted to depart up to nine minutes earlier or later to better align with actual travel times, and new and connecting services: Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, Stouffville.
· Some weekend Kitchener line service trips will be increased to 10 cars long to provide more space for customers.

 

[T3G]

Will this put enough strain on the fleet to finally require usage of the refurbished cab cars?

 

[tsm1072]

Buried at the bottom of the Toronto West email newsletter is this big news:

Starting Sunday, April 28, GO rail will see the largest service expansion since 2013, with increased service on Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Kitchener, Stouffville and Milton lines. There will be 308 new weekly rail trips, which is a 15% increase (from 1,999 to 2,307 total weekly trips) from current state. See below for details by line.


Bus and some rail services will change on April 27; however, most rail service changes will take place on April 28 to align with our operating crew’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, as a result of such a large weekend service enhancement.

Overview of GO train service changes (April 28)

· On the Lakeshore West line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Oakville GO and Union Station.
· On the Lakeshore East line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Durham College Oshawa GO and Union Station.
· On the Kitchener line, we’re introducing approximately 30-minute weekday service in the midday and evenings between Bramalea GO and Union Station.
· On the Stouffville line, evening train service after 7 p.m. returns seven days a week.
· On the Milton line, one additional morning rush hour trip to Union Station and one afternoon rush hour trip to Milton GO.
· Some trips on the following lines will be adjusted to depart up to nine minutes earlier or later to better align with actual travel times, and new and connecting services: Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, Stouffville.
· Some weekend Kitchener line service trips will be increased to 10 cars long to provide more space for customers.

Great news! I hope this service increase will also bring 30-minute service to West Harbour. I know the schedules on LW are already set up to allow for this, as trains that terminate at Aldershot lay over for 40 minutes before heading back to Union. I believe the track and signalling upgrades to allow for the train meet between West Harbour and Aldershot were completed last year, so there shouldn't be much stopping them from extending all the Aldershot trains to West Harbour. We talked about express service further up in the thread, but I doubt anything like that comes in until 2025 when the service contract moves over to OnXpress.

 

[crs1026]

Will this put enough strain on the fleet to finally require usage of the refurbished cab cars?

Possibly, although most of the added service will happen at times when some of the currently active fleet is laying over.

- Paul

 

[Northern Light]

Buried at the bottom of the Toronto West email newsletter is this big news:

Starting Sunday, April 28, GO rail will see the largest service expansion since 2013, with increased service on Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Kitchener, Stouffville and Milton lines. There will be 308 new weekly rail trips, which is a 15% increase (from 1,999 to 2,307 total weekly trips) from current state. See below for details by line.


Bus and some rail services will change on April 27; however, most rail service changes will take place on April 28 to align with our operating crew’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, as a result of such a large weekend service enhancement.

Overview of GO train service changes (April 28)

· On the Lakeshore West line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Oakville GO and Union Station.
· On the Lakeshore East line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Durham College Oshawa GO and Union Station.
· On the Kitchener line, we’re introducing approximately 30-minute weekday service in the midday and evenings between Bramalea GO and Union Station.
· On the Stouffville line, evening train service after 7 p.m. returns seven days a week.
· On the Milton line, one additional morning rush hour trip to Union Station and one afternoon rush hour trip to Milton GO.
· Some trips on the following lines will be adjusted to depart up to nine minutes earlier or later to better align with actual travel times, and new and connecting services: Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, Stouffville.
· Some weekend Kitchener line service trips will be increased to 10 cars long to provide more space for customers.

Excellent reporting and news!

I will definitely make use of those changes on the LSE; the changes to Brampton will be helpful to many as well.

 

[reaperexpress]

Buried at the bottom of the Toronto West email newsletter is this big news:

Starting Sunday, April 28, GO rail will see the largest service expansion since 2013, with increased service on Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Kitchener, Stouffville and Milton lines. There will be 308 new weekly rail trips, which is a 15% increase (from 1,999 to 2,307 total weekly trips) from current state. See below for details by line.


Bus and some rail services will change on April 27; however, most rail service changes will take place on April 28 to align with our operating crew’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, as a result of such a large weekend service enhancement.

Overview of GO train service changes (April 28)

· On the Lakeshore West line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Oakville GO and Union Station.
· On the Lakeshore East line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Durham College Oshawa GO and Union Station.
· On the Kitchener line, we’re introducing approximately 30-minute weekday service in the midday and evenings between Bramalea GO and Union Station.
· On the Stouffville line, evening train service after 7 p.m. returns seven days a week.
· On the Milton line, one additional morning rush hour trip to Union Station and one afternoon rush hour trip to Milton GO.
· Some trips on the following lines will be adjusted to depart up to nine minutes earlier or later to better align with actual travel times, and new and connecting services: Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, Stouffville.
· Some weekend Kitchener line service trips will be increased to 10 cars long to provide more space for customers.

This is very positive news. But that claim of this being the largest service expansion since 2013 seems suspicious. They note that it's a 15% increase, but between August 2021 and September 2021 there was an enormous increase that was almost certainly more than that. I didn't specifically summarize the August 2021 and September 2021 GO service, but I did summarize the January 2021 and January 2022 service (the latter of which largely dated from September or October 2021).

Between January 2021 and January 2022, there was a 49% increase in train service. My data doesn't show exactly how much of this change happened in a single schedule change, but as I recall, almost all of the increases occurred overnight at the start of the September 2021 schedules. If someone has more time than me they could tally up the service in August 2021 vs September 2021, but until then I'm pretty confident in saying that there was more than a 15% increase in service as part of that service change.

My data is also approximate since I only counted inbound trips and multiplied them by two. So lines with asymmetrical service like Richmond Hill have incorrect totals. But generally speaking lines tend to be relatively symmetrical so the totals are roughly correct. I am therefore fairly confident that the number of weekly GO train trips in September 2021 (roughly 2480) was more than the number of weekly GO train trips in the upcoming April schedule (2307). The main service that existed in 2021 that is still missing in the upcoming schedule is the 15-minute weekday midday and counter-peak service on Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West. Weekend 15-minute service has never before existed but since it only runs 2 days per week it has a lower impact on the weekly totals than the weekday service.