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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

gweed123 said:
Most interesting line in that entire article I think. I really hope it's a grade-separation project through downtown Guelph. Seems like that's a major choke point on the line, and one that, if removed, would shave a few minutes off the trip for sure.

Thoughts?
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Could be that, or a Breslau station w/ park and ride to make up for the lack of parking in Guelph and Kitchener. Sure, there is a small lot in Kitchener, but it's a 5 minute walk from the current station and the lot is likely to be closed in the near future when LRT construction begins in preparation for the new Transit hub.

There's a lot of work along the line from Mt. Pleasant to Kitchener required to make any expansion feasible, as seen in the EA. They have quite a number of potential station locations listed and there's a number of large water crossings that would need to happen (Grand and Speed rivers, as well as a 2nd track on the Credit bridge east of Georgetown.)

It will be interesting to see what comes out in the coming months.
 
dowlingm said:
more integration between ONR and Metrolinx between Barrie and Toronto would be a start. Northlander was not helped by being run as a service for people from the North to get to Toronto, with little effort to get Torontonians to use it.
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I've only used the Northlander three times. The first was over a decade ago, as I was looking to take the roundabout way home from Sudbury (to North Bay on Greyhound, to Toronto via Northlander). On that trip, the train hit a pedestrian near Gravenhurst, so we were bused to Toronto from there. The next two times were going with friends in 2012 to ride the train before it was cancelled. Apart from the schedule change in the early 2000s to operate using two trainsets and during daylight hours in both directions, no effort was really made to promote the service.

The McGuinty government was going to privatize all of ON (I imagine selling the entire rail network to CN, who knows who'd want the bus system) but quietly went no further than cancelling the train. If Mike Harris wasn't from North Bay, I guess we would have seen it happen earlier.
 
timio said:
....as well as a 2nd track on the Credit bridge east of Georgetown.)
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The second track on the Credit River bridge was completed and placed into service at least a year ago.

ShonTron said:
I've only used the Northlander three times. The first was over a decade ago, as I was looking to take the roundabout way home from Sudbury (to North Bay on Greyhound, to Toronto via Northlander). On that trip, the train hit a pedestrian near Gravenhurst, so we were bused to Toronto from there. The next two times were going with friends in 2012 to ride the train before it was cancelled. Apart from the schedule change in the early 2000s to operate using two trainsets and during daylight hours in both directions, no effort was really made to promote the service.

The McGuinty government was going to privatize all of ON (I imagine selling the entire rail network to CN, who knows who'd want the bus system) but quietly went no further than cancelling the train. If Mike Harris wasn't from North Bay, I guess we would have seen it happen earlier.
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The Harris government was the one in 2002 who gave ONTC the ultimatum - shape up, or get sold off. They were given a 10 year window with which to improve themselves - and in that time, did almost completely nothing. It still takes three crews to run a train from Cochrane to North Bay. They are still using bolted rail. And in 2012, they were still offering two, competing transportation services (Toronto-North Bay-Cochrane) with absolutely no attempt to cross-promote or integrate them.

They were given their chance to fix things, and they seemed quite content to bury their heads in the sand. That it wasn't split up and privatized says more about the level of their operations (CN wasn't interested, and Greyhound would likely have had the routes forced upon them) than anything else.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
smallspy said:
The second track on the Credit River bridge was completed and placed into service at least a year ago.
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Thanks for the clarification. It was February 2013 when I last took the train. I thought it odd at that time that they'd finished the bridge some time before and not completed the 2nd track yet.
 
From twitter:

TriTAG ‏@TriTAG 24m

Minister Del Duca reaffirms provincial commitment to all-day 2-way GO train service between #WatReg and Toronto. Upgrades underway.
 
MrsNesbitt said:
It's interesting you mention the Northlander as I was just considering/reading into the effects of its cancellation.

A huge part of the issue with why the Northlander wasn't cost effective was its low ridership, in spite of the fact that it provided possibly the most convenient route to a lot of the small communities it served. That was in large part because of poor awareness of the service, I think. If it were a GO route rather than an Ontario Northland one it could appear on the system map and in advertising, accept Presto, and benefit from recognition of the GO colours and rolling stock.

I think that without a doubt using a longer-haul form of GO to reach and connect smaller communities could do wonders for their economies, for our roads, and to mend the north-south divide in this province. Another route I wish had been kept in some way or another was the old CN Haliburton Subdivision, which could've funnelled cottagers up to the Kawarthas and beyond.
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Yup, I was thinking the same thing. It would also help mend a lot of the fences/rebuild a lot of the bridges that were burned when the Northlander was cancelled. I have a friend who works for a TV station in Northern Ontario, and I was up there visiting him around the time the cancellation was announced, and the anti-Southern Ontario sentiment was palpable. Even now, drive around North Bay and you still see stop signs in windows that say "Ontario Northland is NOT for sale!". Running it using GO stock and under a GO banner would help a lot I think.

MrsNesbitt said:
Of course it was your transit fantasy map which first convinced me of these ideas of a regional GO network, so there's that too :p
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Glad I could change some minds :p.

ehlow said:
That makes a lot of sense. Maybe that in addition to double tracking everything from Georgetown to Kitchener?

I'm excited about incremental track upgrades or new track to keep making the travel time lower and lower (like the Georgetown project), while increasing service, being competitive with car travel.
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Hopefully! That would provide a good base on which to electrify the line.
 
mpd618 said:
Because we all know there's a lot of all-day demand to Georgetown....
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I just meant because the tracks are already double tracked and with the Georgetown project finishing soon should be ready for frequent service. If demand only exists to Brampton or something, that's fine too.
 
ehlow said:
I just meant because the tracks are already double tracked and with the Georgetown project finishing soon should be ready for frequent service. If demand only exists to Brampton or something, that's fine too.
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Sure. It's quite clear from Ontario's announcements that all-day service to Kitchener is not an immediate goal, so you're right that they could shorter service earlier. They're still saying 2016 is when Kitchener will get two more peak-direction trains.
 
denfromoakvillemilton said:
All day service will stop at mount pleasant.
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Prior to the election announcement that all GO lines would have bi-directional 15 minute service within 10 years, there was no commitment to all day service on this line at all.....so I am not sure where that comes from. Now that the goal is get to that 15 minute/10 year plan, I suspect that if/when this line gets AD2W service it will stop in Kitchener.
 
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