GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[rbt]

... Blue Mountain skiing bus too (if that doesn't already exist)

There is a daily Greyhound route to Blue Mountain Village; the village even runs a shuttle from the bus stop to the hotels (all are within a 10 minute walk). IIRC, it's under $40 per direction for online advance bookings.

 

[gweed123]

It would probably be possible to extend GO train service along the Barrie-Collingwood Railway, or what's left of it. But I don't see why this kind of thing needs to be a train concept rather than a bus one.

I would suspect that the buses are susceptible to the same backups on the 400 as the cars are. At least with a train, it's independent of that. Also, I would expect that a train would be a bigger draw, simply because it's rail. I would probably only do weekend only trips during the summer, but it would be something worth looking into, I would think. If it were to become a permanent staple, I would think that even more fully furnished "cottage condos" would start popping up in areas that had a stop.

 

[ShonTron]

The Barrie-Collingwood line is officially abandoned west of Utopia (Canadian Pacific). Service stopped several years ago. Even then, the tracks stopped short of Downtown Collingwood. A bus shuttle from Allandale is probably the best solution.

You can see it will be a lot of work to bring rail service back anywhere near Collingwood:
BCRY at Poplar Sideroad: http://goo.gl/maps/QZc3h - tracks completely gone from the grade crossing; levelled out.
BCRY in Stayner: http://goo.gl/maps/3N0aj - tracks overgrown; you can see that trains had to come to a full stop before crossing Highway 26.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

Add to all that, I believe the tracks were restricted to 10mph freight(yup it was a long trip to Collingwood for those crews) for most of the way, which normally equates to 15mph for passenger. Meaning GO/metrolinx would have to put in millions(possibly tens of millions) of dollars upgrading the line just for a seasonal service that could easily be replaced with a bus-train meet in Allandale that will cost next to nothing in comparison.

 

[robmausser]

I could see Blue Mountain helping to fund a seasonal GO train. They are owned by InterWest and have lots of money to use.

If it was feasible and brought more people I could see them helping to pay for track replacement and even possibly an extension right to the village.

I think they would be your only chance of a "cottage country" GO train.

 

[ShonTron]

Add to all that, I believe the tracks were restricted to 10mph freight(yup it was a long trip to Collingwood for those crews) for most of the way, which normally equates to 15mph for passenger. Meaning GO/metrolinx would have to put in millions(possibly tens of millions) of dollars upgrading the line just for a seasonal service that could easily be replaced with a bus-train meet in Allandale that will cost next to nothing in comparison.

Yep, I'm sure you're right. The Orangeville-Brampton railway is in somewhat better condition than the Utopia-Collingwood section was say 5 or 10 years ago, and it sees occasional (tourist) passenger service. Even OBRY, which has a stronger case for resumption of passenger services, wouldn't cut it as it is still rated to 20 or 30 MPH and would require millions to upgrade, and has a winding route that you'd likely not get above 40 or 50 MPH except south of Cheltenham.

As for Collingwood, I hate to say this, but money would be much better spent upgrading Highway 26, perhaps building a bypass around the west side of Barrie from the 400 to connect with it.

 

[smallspy]

Heads-up to Barrie Line users: you're going to get two new rush hour trains starting June 30th.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[nfitz]

Heads-up to Barrie Line users: you're going to get two new rush hour trains starting June 30th.

TFC previously posted this on March 19th - http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showth...ad-(including-extensions)?p=837857#post837857 including a link to the MTO press release - http://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2014/03/better-go-transit-service-for-gtha-commuters.html which also says that there will also be more weekend trips on the Lakeshore lines.

I mentioned a few days ago that the note about the note about more weekend Lakeshore trips had disappeared from GO's website. Have you heard anything about that?

 

[smallspy]

TFC previously posted this on March 19th - http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showth...ad-(including-extensions)?p=837857#post837857 including a link to the MTO press release - http://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2014/03/better-go-transit-service-for-gtha-commuters.html which also says that there will also be more weekend trips on the Lakeshore lines.

I mentioned a few days ago that the note about the note about more weekend Lakeshore trips had disappeared from GO's website. Have you heard anything about that?

Indeed, there was the press release. They are now informing employees of the times however - two new northbound trains at 15.40 and 18.45, running all the way to Barrie. The southbound trains will only run south from Maple, leaving at 7.13 and 7.45.

They do still plan to have the additional weekend trains added to the schedule, but they haven't told the employees any more than that as yet.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[TOareaFan]

Indeed, there was the press release. They are now informing employees of the times however - two new northbound trains at 15.40 and 18.45, running all the way to Barrie. The southbound trains will only run south from Maple, leaving at 7.13 and 7.45.

They do still plan to have the additional weekend trains added to the schedule, but they haven't told the employees any more than that as yet.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Was there ever any detail about the additional weekend LS trains? What are they....aren't the trains every half hour already?

 

[gweed123]

Was there ever any detail about the additional weekend LS trains? What are they....aren't the trains every half hour already?

I would suspect it would be an extension of the 30 min service to later on in the evening. Right now I believe after 8 or 9 pm the schedule reverts back to every hour until the last train at 00:43 (Lakeshore West).

 

[nfitz]

Was there ever any detail about the additional weekend LS trains? What are they....aren't the trains every half hour already?

They are only every half hour after about 10 AM on weekends, and before 6 pm on Sundays. I'd guess that what they are doing would be filling in some of this.

There's also a 1-hour gap at the end of each day ... I wouldn't mind seeing that filled, particularly on Fridays/Saturdays. Adding a later train on Fridays/Saturdays would be nice too.

 

[robmausser]

I don't mean to derail this thread (hehehe) but all this talk about Cottage country and GO trains got me thinking.

What does everyone think the next major extension of the GO train will/should be and why?

Richmond hill line north? Niagara year round service? Milton train to Cambridge?Stouffville line to Uxbridge?

What do you think the next entirely new line will be?

Bolton line? Peterborough line? Seaton line? Orangeville line? GO midtown line?

I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

I'd bet on a Niagara extension first, as the local municipality is asking for it and the train already runs there seasonally. That or an extension of Richmond Hill line.

 

[TOareaFan]

I would suspect it would be an extension of the 30 min service to later on in the evening. Right now I believe after 8 or 9 pm the schedule reverts back to every hour until the last train at 00:43 (Lakeshore West).

Thanks...just checked Saturday.....westbound they are every half hour until 11:43 pm then there is an hour gap before the last train at 43 after midnight. There is a stretch in the morning where they are hourly 6:43 to 11:43 then half hourly until that 11:43 pm train.

Similarly, eastbound the service is hourly from Aldershot from 7:04 to 10:04 then half hourly from 10:34 to 22:04 with an hour gap to the final train at 23:04.

Honestly, would not have found that to be all that inconvenient/problematic.

 

[salsa]

Recently I rode the Lakeshore East train on the weekend, and there were almost no people on the train. It's nice that the service is now 30 min (with further improvements planned) but I have to wonder if it's really necessary.