GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[khris]

The last 2 times I took the GO Train on Lakeshore West, the train didn't reach the correct spot and had to move forward more to get in the right spot. This never used to happen.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

Has anyone notice trains either under shoot or over shooting the accessibility platform these days?

Not bad under shooting the platform since the train can crawl up to it if it does. Over shooting it can cause the crews to change ends to bring the train back to the platform or using the other door.

The last 2 times I took the GO Train on Lakeshore West, the train didn't reach the correct spot and had to move forward more to get in the right spot. This never used to happen.

lol.
Sorry I'm not laughing at anyone's misfortune in being delayed. Its just that I was wondering if the public had noticed it. In the last little while I've heard a ridiculous amount of overshoots being called in over the radio, usually several per day and that's only on one line and for the duration of my shift (I of course never overshoot... well ok, almost never ).

Thing is, its to be expected...
The reason is quite simple, right about one third of the trains out there are being operated by trainees. There are a total of 35 right now, easily the most in GO transit history. On top of that most of them have just started in the last month. Like all things, there is a learning curve to properly stopping a train. Usually it takes several months to develop the feel for it, so unfortunately expect more of the same for the next little while. But obviously its to everyone's benefit in the end.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

lol.
Sorry I'm not laughing at anyone's misfortune in being delayed. Its just that I was wondering if the public had noticed it. In the last little while I've heard a ridiculous amount of overshoots being called in over the radio, usually several per day and that's only on one line and for the duration of my shift (I of course never overshoot... well ok, almost never ).

Thing is, its to be expected...
The reason is quite simple, right about one third of the trains out there are being operated by trainees. There are a total of 35 right now, easily the most in GO transit history. On top of that most of them have just started in the last month. Like all things, there is a learning curve to properly stopping a train. Usually it takes several months to develop the feel for it, so unfortunately expect more of the same for the next little while. But obviously its to everyone's benefit in the end.

I actually thought this idea would be the best to get all those kids trained. Now maybe I do not think it's such a good idea.

 

[nfitz]

lol.
Sorry I'm not laughing at anyone's misfortune in being delayed. Its just that I was wondering if the public had noticed it.

Oh, I can assure you the public always knows it, and is quietly and sometimes not so quietly cursing the crew.

That said, I haven't noticed any particular increase in it.

Perhaps there's a partial automatic train control implementation that could bring trains into a stop? Subway trains in some cities have been using automatic control to stop in the same spot for about 40 years. If GO implemented something like this, for station stops only, I'd think it would allow for faster stopping.

 

[gabe]

Everyone: After checking the Wikipedia page I discovered that there is no mention why there was a ridership decrease
leading to the discontinuance of this train back in 2004: What I recall was happening was that Customs and Immigration
checks by both the US and Canada were tightened after 9/11 and the result was sometime major delays causing the
train to run quite late even when a longer time period was factored into the schedule causing the train to be less time
competitive with either driving or taking a bus - also affected to some extent was the "Maple Leaf" NYC-Toronto at
Niagara Falls in both directions...

One thing to remember is that when a train is being checked by Customs and Immigration that they have full control
over even the train crew and until they finish their work and give the OK to proceed that train will remain stopped no
matter what the schedule may say...

LI MIKE

Via rail is ridiculously expensive compared to Amtrak. I know people who live in the Windsor area, they take the train from Detroit to Chicago round trip for $68!!!

 

[junctionist]

$68 is ridiculously cheap. Via can be reasonable. It's $45 from Windsor to Toronto, which is similar to what gas would cost you or taking Greyhound. The trip is as fast as driving. The bad thing about Via is that they raise fares the closer you book to your travel date. A lot of people look up a price online a few days before their trip and see a price that is in fact ridiculous.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Yep, I went to ottawa a couple of months ago on VIA, $94 when I bought 2 weeks ahead of time. Guy sitting beside me on the train bought the ticket the day before and paid $120.

 

[rbt]

$68 is ridiculously cheap. Via can be reasonable. It's $45 from Windsor to Toronto, which is similar to what gas would cost you or taking Greyhound. The trip is as fast as driving. The bad thing about Via is that they raise fares the closer you book to your travel date. A lot of people look up a price online a few days before their trip and see a price that is in fact ridiculous.

Got a bunch of tickets between Toronto and London recently; $65 for business class and $29 for coach.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

Oh, I can assure you the public always knows it, and is quietly and sometimes not so quietly cursing the crew.

Sometimes I'm curious about public opinion but in all honesty pleasing the general public is not my primary motivation because generally they have absolutely no idea(and don't care to know) about what our job entails. I'm motivated to do a good job because I take pride in what I do and in being professional at whatever my chosen vocation is.

Perhaps there's a partial automatic train control implementation that could bring trains into a stop? Subway trains in some cities have been using automatic control to stop in the same spot for about 40 years. If GO implemented something like this, for station stops only, I'd think it would allow for faster stopping.

Not necessary, once someone gets a good feel for it they're pretty much set for the rest of their career. Even before GO padded the schedules most crews came into station stops with plenty of time to spare. So it makes no sense for them to implement something that costs so much(if it didn't it would have been in place long ago) just to avoid a short term problem.

Besides, if they can't even find the time and effort to put up a spotting marker for a f59ph loco going west(two guys could probably do it in one day - which would probably cut down overshoots by 10%) what are the chances they'd implement something thousands of times more expensives?

 

[nfitz]

Not necessary, once someone gets a good feel for it they're pretty much set for the rest of their career. Even before GO padded the schedules most crews came into station stops with plenty of time to spare. So it makes no sense for them to implement something that costs so much(if it didn't it would have been in place long ago) just to avoid a short term problem.

Fair enough ... and on the rare occasion I've ridden the Metro in Montreal when automatic train control is down ... it's really quite shocking. While Montreal trains are normally a smother ride than Toronto trains (none of the jerkiness as some operators shake the train around), when they don't have ATC it's like you are on a train being driven by someone who has no idea what they are doing. Hold on for dear life.

Besides, if they can't even find the time and effort to put up a spotting marker for a f59ph loco going west(two guys could probably do it in one day - which would probably cut down overshoots by 10%) what are the chances they'd implement something thousands of times more expensives?

With bureaucratic foolishness ... it's almost a given that they'd spend money on something 1,000 times more expensive than the cheap solution they wouldn't try.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

With bureaucratic foolishness ... it's almost a given that they'd spend money on something 1,000 times more expensive than the cheap solution they wouldn't try.

Agreed, some decisions just boggle the mind.

And the yes I think that's a large part of it re; ATC failure. Its bad enough for it to happen on a subway where you can stop on a dime(although it won't be pretty) it's quite another thing with a commuter train that takes about a mile to stop smoothly from top speed with possibly a lot of other considerations happening at the same time. I think eventually when(though maybe I should say if?) they start using smaller and more frequent trains and after electrification it'll make financial and logistical sense to implement full ATC.

 

[salsa]

Fair enough ... and on the rare occasion I've ridden the Metro in Montreal when automatic train control is down ... it's really quite shocking. While Montreal trains are normally a smother ride than Toronto trains (none of the jerkiness as some operators shake the train around), when they don't have ATC it's like you are on a train being driven by someone who has no idea what they are doing. Hold on for dear life.

The TTC will be getting automatic train control eventually, and like with everything else on the TTC you can expect it to break down too.

 

[khris]

lol.
Sorry I'm not laughing at anyone's misfortune in being delayed. Its just that I was wondering if the public had noticed it. In the last little while I've heard a ridiculous amount of overshoots being called in over the radio, usually several per day and that's only on one line and for the duration of my shift (I of course never overshoot... well ok, almost never ).

Thing is, its to be expected...
The reason is quite simple, right about one third of the trains out there are being operated by trainees. There are a total of 35 right now, easily the most in GO transit history. On top of that most of them have just started in the last month. Like all things, there is a learning curve to properly stopping a train. Usually it takes several months to develop the feel for it, so unfortunately expect more of the same for the next little while. But obviously its to everyone's benefit in the end.

The public did notice. There were a couple of guys in front of me who started talking about why every station we were stopping, only to then move up some more and stop again. And the people outside waiting to board the train were all panicky wondering if the train was about to leave the station without even opening the doors.

 

[innsertnamehere]

The worst was pulling into Kennedy going southbound one day the doors didn't open, we moved forward, and they still didn't open. Looking out the window (I was getting off) I saw that people were getting on a the raised platform. I ended up sprinting over through the train cars to get out of that train car thinking no other doors were opening, only for them to all open a couple of seconds after getting off. That was a screwed up stop for sure. Pissed me off as I sort of mini-panicked thinking I'd miss my stop.

 

[Red October]

Mini rant... Absolutely genius planning this city has. They need to replace the Dufferin Street bridge, fine. They need to close Lakeshore West line to do so, fine. They want to do it on a weekend so it doesn't affect commuters, fine. So the weekend they pick is the one with both the Cavalcade of Lights, the Distillery District Christmas Market, a concert at the ACC and the Bills game at the Skydome??? The f*ck? I'm sure the bridge would have lasted another week, or even do it last week. They honestly picked the worst weekend possibly to do it.