GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[oakvilleBee]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Lakeshore west daily rider.

Great to see more Go service, but I find it confusing that the boost for LSW is on the weekend rather than extending the rush hour service. Right now the last weekday express train on LSW out of Union is at 5:51 pm, after that the next trains are 6:17 and 6:47. The 617 train in particular is packed Tuesday through Thursday, and the 647 is pretty busy as well. Does anyone know if there is a technical reason why 15 minute service has to end before 6 pm, when there is consistently lots of demand for another hour?

 

[Allandale25]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Lakeshore west daily rider.

Great to see more Go service, but I find it confusing that the boost for LSW is on the weekend rather than extending the rush hour service. Right now the last weekday express train on LSW out of Union is at 5:51 pm, after that the next trains are 6:17 and 6:47. The 617 train in particular is packed Tuesday through Thursday, and the 647 is pretty busy as well. Does anyone know if there is a technical reason why 15 minute service has to end before 6 pm, when there is consistently lots of demand for another hour?

Congrats on your first UT post!

 

[wopchop]

PS - my impression is that the QEW is basically full all the way from Hamilton to Toronto.

This is no longer completely true. COVID and remote work has probably changed QEW traffic patterns moreso than any other highway in the GTA. The route from Oakville to 427 has improved significantly in both directions, AM and PM rush. Especially on certain days of the week when there are more people working remotely.

For example, previously it could take 15-25 minutes to get from 427 ramp to QEW westbound at PM rush. This is very rarely an issue anymore.

Is it busy? Yes, of course. But the days of crawling through Mississauga at less than 50kph are a lot rarer.

 

[tmustudent9]

From what I'm reading, 15-min service along the Lakeshore lines is only happening during weekend afternoon & evening times? If so it would be odd that they're not doing weekday 15-min service as well.

 

[Northern Light]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Lakeshore west daily rider.

Great to see more Go service, but I find it confusing that the boost for LSW is on the weekend rather than extending the rush hour service. Right now the last weekday express train on LSW out of Union is at 5:51 pm, after that the next trains are 6:17 and 6:47. The 617 train in particular is packed Tuesday through Thursday, and the 647 is pretty busy as well. Does anyone know if there is a technical reason why 15 minute service has to end before 6 pm, when there is consistently lots of demand for another hour?

From what I'm reading, 15-min service along the Lakeshore lines is only happening during weekend afternoon & evening times? If so it would be odd that they're not doing weekday 15-min service as well.

While I'm not in on the internal conservation at Mx; I can share a couple of things.

1) Weekend service demand is actually higher than weekday off-peak at this point, particularly on Mondays and Fridays. That's a shift from commute-driven demand to event-driven demand (Jays game, concert, club hopping etc.)

2) Weekday mid-day on the LSE side is still very much impacted by the Ontario Line work.; I'm not sure how much work they're doing in the post-rush evenings, but I imagine its just easier to leave things open there, with fewer conflicts.

***

I myself look forward to the return of 15M off-peak on weekdays, but that may require that corridor works be a bit more advanced.

 

[tmustudent9]

While I'm not in on the internal conservation at Mx; I can share a couple of things.

1) Weekend service demand is actually higher than weekday off-peak at this point, particularly on Mondays and Fridays. That's a shift from commute-driven demand to event-driven demand (Jays game, concert, club hopping etc.)

2) Weekday mid-day on the LSE side is still very much impacted by the Ontario Line work.; I'm not sure how much work they're doing in the post-rush evenings, but I imagine its just easier to leave things open there, with fewer conflicts.

***

I myself look forward to the return of 15M off-peak on weekdays, but that may require that corridor works be a bit more advanced.

Very fair points. I'm assuming once the fourth track on the LSE gets completed we'll see a ramp-up of service to weekday 15M + express trains coming back.

 

[Northern Light]

Very fair points. I'm assuming once the fourth track on the LSE gets completed we'll see a ramp-up of service to weekday 15M + express trains coming back.

3, unimpeded, non-slow ordered tracks should be sufficient to support 15M service w/o issue; frankly, it can almost certainly be done with 2 tracks, but it may peripherally impact some work, when crews need to move or move goods across active rail.

The 3rd track is, however, quite important for any type of express service.

 

[generalcanada]

speaking of which how far behind are they on the bridge replacements and corridor work? im assuming the original timeline of late 2024 is going to be missed?

 

[canarob]

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).

It's a strange claim to make if they are including evening Stouffville service that is being returned. I'm happy to have the service back and get that there's a lot of construction happening across the line, but positioning it as new service is a huge stretch.

 

[mdrejhon]

Buried at the bottom of the Toronto West email newsletter is this big news [...]

Someone on X-Twitter (@_ChanFace) just made a good infographic of the expansions!

 

[Northern Light]

Someone on X-Twitter (@_ChanFace) just made a good infographic of the expansions!

View attachment 547020

Squints.... @mdrejhon is that you? Making your first post since Nov' 23? Welcome back, for as long as it lasts!

 

[Bojaxs]

3, unimpeded, non-slow ordered tracks should be sufficient to support 15M service w/o issue; frankly, it can almost certainly be done with 2 tracks, but it may peripherally impact some work, when crews need to move or move goods across active rail.

The 3rd track is, however, quite important for any type of express service.

If MX continues to increase service on the Stouffville line, won't they eventually have to add a fourth track east of Union through Danforth and Scarborough?
Looking at Google maps, I only see 3 tracks running through these stations.

 

[Northern Light]

If MX continues to increase service on the Stouffville line, won't they eventually have to add a fourth track east of Union through Danforth and Scarborough?
Looking at Google maps, I only see 3 tracks running through these stations.

The plan for the LSE corridor does call for 4 tracks from Scarborough Junction (where the Stouffville and Lakeshore lines meet) to the USRC.

That includes adding one through Danforth Station, and Scarborough Station. This would require extensive changes.

 

[bpbpbpbp]

Hey guys, making my first post here to learn more about Kitchener Line upgrades. It's been somewhat hard to get updates about 2WAD and weekend service on the line all the way to Kitchener, and since Metrolinx doesn't seem to want to share information (which I think is ridiculous), I just don't have much a great understanding of how improvements are going. My understanding is that Metrolinx is adding passing tracks in spots like Breslau (and other areas), the second platform in Guelph (which appears to be almost complete) among other upgrades to bring more service. And from what I gather, the reason we don't get proper weekend service past Mount Pleasant is that a lot of the upgrade work takes place on the Weekends when there is less traffic. Can someone confirm the issues with weekend service, and if CN has any control over it? Another thing I was wondering is what's going on with Silver Junction, and that third track through Brampton. Anyone know how those projects are going/when construction should start and end? And the last thing I was hoping was to get word on when you guys think we'll get at least some Weekend service past Mount Pleasant, and more ambitiously, 2WAD (30 minute freq. each way??) service. It would mean the world for those of us who make the trip on the KI train, and us 30/30A riders (especially UW and WLU students), because those buses are PACKED. Thanks to anyone who has any insight, I know I've got way too many questions.

 

[Allandale25]

Hey guys, making my first post here to learn more about Kitchener Line upgrades. It's been somewhat hard to get updates about 2WAD and weekend service on the line all the way to Kitchener, and since Metrolinx doesn't seem to want to share information (which I think is ridiculous), I just don't have much a great understanding of how improvements are going. My understanding is that Metrolinx is adding passing tracks in spots like Breslau (and other areas), the second platform in Guelph (which appears to be almost complete) among other upgrades to bring more service. And from what I gather, the reason we don't get proper weekend service past Mount Pleasant is that a lot of the upgrade work takes place on the Weekends when there is less traffic. Can someone confirm the issues with weekend service, and if CN has any control over it? Another thing I was wondering is what's going on with Silver Junction, and that third track through Brampton. Anyone know how those projects are going/when construction should start and end? And the last thing I was hoping was to get word on when you guys think we'll get at least some Weekend service past Mount Pleasant, and more ambitiously, 2WAD (30 minute freq. each way??) service. It would mean the world for those of us who make the trip on the KI train, and us 30/30A riders (especially UW and WLU students), because those buses are PACKED. Thanks to anyone who has any insight, I know I've got way too many questions.

Welcome to UT!

Some info here a few posts back:

GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

BlogTO has a new article up about the E-Bikes on the GO trains. https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/02/go-transit-cracking-down-bikes-trains/ This is a multi-layered social phenomenon/problem that I'm not sure is GO's to solve alone. Gig economy, people unwilling to brown bag - if the market...

urbantoronto.ca

Also, from the latest Metrolinx board meeting:

GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

It's the control point at the west end of the new siding, where the Fergus and Preston spurs connect to the Guelph Sub - between Alma and Silver Creek Parkway. - Paul Thanks. I had to visualize this so here's a map excerpt. In the 2009 EA referenced and linked above, it looked like this...

urbantoronto.ca

And, mentioned here months ago, the design for a third platform at the Brampton Station was been awarded to HDR. Apparently, CN is designing the track. This is definitely a pinch point.

The City of Brampton did some high-level visuals of what the third track would look like. I'll post them in a separate post.