felix123
Active Member
The thought of Sabrina Carpenter not only riding a GO train but then also transferring to a f###ing Miway bus
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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
dowlingm
Senior Member
Future UT:
‘I know this crayon map seems crazy, but I don’t think it’s “Sabrina Carpenter on a Miway bus” crazy’
‘I know this crayon map seems crazy, but I don’t think it’s “Sabrina Carpenter on a Miway bus” crazy’
Allandale25
Senior Member
smallspy
Senior Member
Different systems and different operations, and not enough data being shared between them.
The station announcements are plugged into GO's train scheduling system, not their dispatching system. They know when their trains are on time or late, and can broadcast warnings and changes of that. They can even broadcast platform changes.
But the scheduling system does not display VIA trains on it (it's not a graphical interface), and so they don't know when and where the VIA trains are. Thus, they can't broadcast warnings for when their trains are about to pass.
Dan
dowlingm
Senior Member
Hmmmmm… to me this Adrian dude has a (possibly excessively expressed) point. If there are some hazard announcements then people should be able to rely on warnings before all similar hazards. GO should get itself a better system integrated with signalling and not just dispatch, or just have humans with a pair of binoculars and a PA system do it like what could be done before we decided computers were cheaper than headcount.
lenaitch
Senior Member
I'm not so sure it is a OH&S Act matter either.
DVtoClear
New Member
What's sure regarding Long Branch is that it's an unsafe situation all around.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
Sensor detecting trains could trigger the announcement.
Allandale25
Senior Member
‘Usually, I’m a very careful person’: Woman hit by GO Train haunted by her brush with death — and thoughts of family, a world away
The 46-year-old mother of two suffered life-threatening injuries after her backpack got caught on an express train at the Long Branch GO Station.
www.thestar.com
Latest on this incident as it was discussed here at the time.
Given the volume of trains and the limited number of tracks, etc, I would have to imagine the suggested in the bold could be a challenge? @smallspy @crs1026
I also wonder if she was walking in the narrow section that is shown in the picture of the article.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
If they could fill the embankment to the left there is space for an additional track.‘Usually, I’m a very careful person’: Woman hit by GO Train haunted by her brush with death — and thoughts of family, a world away
The 46-year-old mother of two suffered life-threatening injuries after her backpack got caught on an express train at the Long Branch GO Station.
Latest on this incident as it was discussed here at the time.
Given the volume of trains and the limited number of tracks, etc, I would have to imagine the suggested in the bold could be a challenge? @smallspy @crs1026
I also wonder if she was walking in the narrow section that is shown in the picture of the article.
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Bojaxs
Senior Member
Nothing needs to change. People just need to practice common sense.
I'm glad to hear the woman is alive and recovering, but I don't believe her when she says she's "a very careful person."
When you walk up the stairs onto the platform you are physically standing in the middle of the platform. You are at no danger of being struck by a train. At this point you take note of how crowded the platform is and change your habits accordingly. And yet after walking up the stairs and standing in the middle of the platform, this woman still felt compelled to walk towards the edge. Why???
I'm glad to hear the woman is alive and recovering, but I don't believe her when she says she's "a very careful person."
When you walk up the stairs onto the platform you are physically standing in the middle of the platform. You are at no danger of being struck by a train. At this point you take note of how crowded the platform is and change your habits accordingly. And yet after walking up the stairs and standing in the middle of the platform, this woman still felt compelled to walk towards the edge. Why???
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crs1026
Superstar
In general, the older GO transit platforms are fairly narrow, but GO is certainly not the only system with this..
There is no way to guarantee that express trains will always be at a distance from platforms….to get to that, a huge construction program with many added tracks would be needed. It isn’t happening.
GO’s platform PA announcements are pretty good these days… but after riding day in and day out, who really hears or attends to them?
About the best that can happen is to educate at every opportunity, and accept there will be some incidents. And occasionally take risks to warn other passengers who are standing too close and not paying attention. It may ooze Karenism, but on this topic I’m all for it.
- Paul
There is no way to guarantee that express trains will always be at a distance from platforms….to get to that, a huge construction program with many added tracks would be needed. It isn’t happening.
GO’s platform PA announcements are pretty good these days… but after riding day in and day out, who really hears or attends to them?
About the best that can happen is to educate at every opportunity, and accept there will be some incidents. And occasionally take risks to warn other passengers who are standing too close and not paying attention. It may ooze Karenism, but on this topic I’m all for it.
- Paul
Northern Light
Superstar
While I'm happy enough to encourage common sense, and concede that many take dumb risks...... I think simply pronouncing that a sizable percentage of people should spontaneously change their behavior, just because @Bojaxs wants them to is to wish to see this outcome and worse repeated ad nauseum.
That doesn't mean I endorse Platform Edge Doors here, I don't, for a variety of reasons. That said there should be a careful consideration as to whether some design or operating procedure changes may be reasonable to implement. Its not a given that the answer will be yes, but its worth a look.
In the absence of evidence, I think you're drawing a conclusion that isn't all that supportable.
Certainly, she was situated dangerously on the day this happened; but its also apparent that she's been a daily commuter here for sometime, possibly years, and yet she's never been hit before. So there is certainly the possibility that her position on that day was out of the ordinary for her.
Lots of reasons.
Most commonly, because you'd like to find a less crowded area of the platform on which to stand, and to get out of the way of the stairs and entering/exiting passengers. But you may also be seeking a seat, or positioning yourself in front of a car where your more likely to get a seat.
The suggestion that all passengers should crowd around the top of one or two sets of stairs is not only unreasonable, it is, unto itself dangerous and likely to create dangerous crowding conditions.
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Northern Light
Superstar
I certainly concur that dedicated passing tracks are not coming to every GO station in the system, or even most, in the near to medium term. But I think its reasonable enough to imagine that can come to more stations, and strategic choices may be deliverable and inordinately beneficial, indeed for reasons other than passenger safety as well.
I broadly agree, but I think that's just a bit too fatalistic.
Let me offer a few things I think are practical.
1) Platform edge lights, embedded, which light up when a train is approaching. The utility here is that many people wear headphones/earbuds and may not hear a fast moving train approaching in a timely way, and they may, if walking away from it, not see it either. But lights up/down the platform edge would be highly visible and an indicator of warning/pay attention. This is perfectly feasible, though only cost-effective during platform reconstruction.
This is a real thing btw:
Taken from: https://mediafra.admiralcloud.com/customer_609/123ac246-e496-4eb6-b36f-c95a40984119?response-content-disposition=inline; filename="PowerPoint-Präsentation.pdf"&Expires=1728682019&Key-Pair-Id=K3XAA2YI8CUDC&Signature=WQ3WI2KeDBwnN7jvVl5plxcUsHKeQ-23qWbKXAWYC2dMR910t8wEdWGVZ0Ghu7rd2kypVgYvt6Mqh0RrFp9UpwR6293Oq1siLczbwOpaypBVHGvp5-n-fiF0OZMTvnt88xQjgbij47nMGehOgSgKHKnTGoQjGDzdKxTESoqyn7doKXjDvgp3OQ1HuAHLdpLNTV50B9yzozA~Mci8rjWF5p9jyaaevvKg9PJ0tx5MIo9eV-Qof2GF98APh8D57uV2TySewFyQ01uoERMg0aGQF4Zf3OUcZxdpuiKZPRK8pr8C9DCzQ0qwkzaqM~i-Cl3yzXRK8ItXGNtg41Nd3OF32Q__
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Additionally, I think other than making sure platform widths are adequate, wherever feasible; there is a need for more tunnels in order to ensure better distribution of passengers. Again, one is not going to alter the whole system overnight, but rather prioritize such investments where SOGR construction is planned, or crowding most acute.
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Finally, I think when it comes to education, I'd like to see a full sized screen (the kind for ads) that can be used for PSAs at at least one spot along a platform at most stations overtime. Then the key to the PSA being effective is to realistically reenact accidents (not in a gory way), but in a way that is scary and shows people why proximity to the edge is dangerous, including due to loose clothing or backpacks that may project out from one's body more than the wearer knows.
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crs1026
Superstar
Interestingly, some stations on the Barrie line appear to have been built with room for a third (expressish) track in the center.
The problem is partly the narrowness of the row, and the many places where thing have been squeezed to fit. In so many places it would take land acquiition and a major civil project to widen things out. That's not a good reason to do nothing, but one has to be realistic about where and how often that will be affordable.
But the bigger problem is that it would be very constraining to insist that non-stopping trains never, ever be scheduled or routed over platform tracks. A simpler but very constraining patch would be to impose speed restrictions on every non stopping train at platforms.... but that would wreak havoc on scheduling and dispatching.
I hope I wsn't sounding indifferent. I was simply taking the risk profile of an unprotected platform, multiplied by frequency of trains, multiplied by time. If the probability of an incident at a platform is non-zero, even if it is very small.....something will happen eventually.
A very good idea. I wonder if there are other technologies as well. My imagination wonders how one might transmit an energy field that raises a shiver as trains approach. Flashing light definitely would be a start and could convey direction of approach too.
I'm wondering how many people will actually watch.... a bit like safety demonstrations on airliners.....but they can't hurt. One ML practice I would offer is the on-platform ambassadors, who I am noticing more and more often actually engaging passengers helpfully on the platform. Some are wooden, and nobody responds well to being corrected, but some are real people people.....and as someone who spends their Saturdays (as a volunteer) asking people to stand behind a yellow line, there is nothing like a smile and a personal connection to get someone's attention.
- Paul