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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

smallspy said:
I suspect that the problem is one of staffing and equipment.

GO will be running a lot of special trains during the Pan-Am games, and will need a lot of rolling stock and staff to equipment them. Once the event is over, that staff and rolling stock will now be available for other services.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
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So there will be midday service in the corridor....just not necessarily the finalized schedule?
 
nfitz said:
The press release accompanying the removal in April 2010, said the Bramalea cut was temporary. It's to be restored once construction has finished. But when will that be?
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True for Kitchener Line, but the Stouffville and Milton reverse/midday trains are forever MIA.
 
smallspy said:
GO will be running a lot of special trains during the Pan-Am games, and will need a lot of rolling stock and staff to equipment them. Once the event is over, that staff and rolling stock will now be available for other services.
Click to expand...
Not enough to create mid-day equipment shortages.

Staffing might be an issue - but hard to imagine, given they've had 5 years to get ready. (wait, Metrolinx hard to imagine - who am I kidding ...).

Though are we expecting any special daytime GO services, other than to James Street North station?

robmausser said:
True for Kitchener Line, but the Stouffville and Milton reverse/midday trains are forever MIA.
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Yes. Well, hopefully not forever ... I don't see any reason that they can't put some Stouffville back in now.

I'm not familiar with this service though - I've heard several mentions, but I've never seen a timetable. When was this?
 
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smallspy said:
Going forward? It's already under construction.

http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/improve/projects/lewis_road_facility.aspx
https://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolinx/sets/72157646432042359



Nitpick - they have 75 locos in the fleet (67 MP40PH-3s and 8 F59PHs) right now, with another 10 currently on order for delivery in 2017. There are currently 50 trainsets in service, with a new one scheduled to start this January.

They have also exceeded 500 buses in the fleet - they recently had a bit of a celebration at a number of their garages whereby one of the newest double-deckers was renumbered into 500. By the end of the year they will be close to 540 buses on the property.
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So I'm yakking on about a business plan that's already half executed, and numbers that are outdated. Yeesh. I guess it just shows reporting to the board or publishing of stats can't keep up with the activity on the ground.
 
DonValleyRainbow said:
So I'm yakking on about a business plan that's already half executed, and numbers that are outdated. Yeesh. I guess it just shows reporting to the board or publishing of stats can't keep up with the activity on the ground.
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Keep in mind, it's the plan for the 2014-2015 year, that runs from April 2014 to March 2015. So it's almost half over!
 
nfitz said:
Keep in mind, it's the plan for the 2014-2015 year, that runs from April 2014 to March 2015. So it's almost half over!
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If you look at past years, usually the equivalent documents came out in the spring. I'm guessing it was delayed this year because the provincial election delayed the provincial budget.
 
Platform 27 said:
If you look at past years, usually the equivalent documents came out in the spring. I'm guessing it was delayed this year because the provincial election delayed the provincial budget.
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Yes, that's a good point. Still, why isn't it going for board approval at the end of the previous fiscal year? February/March. Clearly a plan existed, or else they wouldn't have boosted service on the Lakeshore and Barrie lines in June.
 
nfitz said:
Not enough to create mid-day equipment shortages.

Staffing might be an issue - but hard to imagine, given they've had 5 years to get ready. (wait, Metrolinx hard to imagine - who am I kidding ...).
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Not hard to imagine. Remember that UPX is starting in April of next year, and that the pool of crews will start from the general GO pool. That's going to be close to 40 crews right there that will no longer be available for GO services.

nfitz said:
Though are we expecting any special daytime GO services, other than to James Street North station?
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There are a number planned, but I haven't seen anything concrete beyond that. I know that they did do a Union-Burlington express run in 28 minutes as a test a couple of years ago.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
Took the special service 12:20 departure from Hamilton last night for Supercrawl.

Took 1:40 to reach downtown, pulling in at around 2am... long trip. Bunch of CP related delays just trying to get to Aldershot. Security guards were freaking out because Union station is closed that time of night and here are a bunch of passengers flooding into the station. Ended up getting escorted through Union by a Transit Safety officer who was waiting for the train to arrive. For some reason 1/2 the PRESTO machines turn off at night, so I sort of had to run around frantically to find one to tap off from.

The train was fairly busy, I would guess around 200 people on it leaving Hamilton with around 50% of them staying on until union. Most people crossed over to the bus terminal at Union.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Took the special service 12:20 departure from Hamilton last night for Supercrawl.

Took 1:40 to reach downtown, pulling in at around 2am... long trip. Bunch of CP related delays just trying to get to Aldershot. Security guards were freaking out because Union station is closed that time of night and here are a bunch of passengers flooding into the station. Ended up getting escorted through Union by a Transit Safety officer who was waiting for the train to arrive. For some reason 1/2 the PRESTO machines turn off at night, so I sort of had to run around frantically to find one to tap off from.

The train was fairly busy, I would guess around 200 people on it leaving Hamilton with around 50% of them staying on until union. Most people crossed over to the bus terminal at Union.
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So two buses from Hamilton to Union and two more to other places would have moved the people and, given the time, likely have been faster?

I really don't know but what is cheaper....running 4 buses or 1 train?
 
The delays weren't really GOs fault. It should have taken roughly 1:22 to make the trip (it wasn't an express trip like the regular Hamilton train is) but it had maybe 15 minutes of delays stacked on top.

No way you would have filled 4 buses, people would have simply found other ways home in that case. Plus it seems a bit silly to run 4 buses like that. The same thing happens with the off peak Stouffville trains when they reach Unionville, 4-5 buses pick up passengers to continue on their trip and I can tell you people would much prefer to stay on the train.

The final concert ran a bit late (Arkells) so I bet quite a few missed the train as well, We had to drop out early to catch it.

Consider it like any other off peak Lakeshore train, the difference being that it got to union at 2am instead of midnight.
 
innsertnamehere said:
The delays weren't really GOs fault. It should have taken roughly 1:22 to make the trip (it wasn't an express trip like the regular Hamilton train is) but it had maybe 15 minutes of delays stacked on top.

No way you would have filled 4 buses, people would have simply found other ways home in that case. Plus it seems a bit silly to run 4 buses like that. The same thing happens with the off peak Stouffville trains when they reach Unionville, 4-5 buses pick up passengers to continue on their trip and I can tell you people would much prefer to stay on the train.

The final concert ran a bit late (Arkells) so I bet quite a few missed the train as well, We had to drop out early to catch it.

Consider it like any other off peak Lakeshore train, the difference being that it got to union at 2am instead of midnight.
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GO actually does run two simultaneous buses on Lakeshore West on two late night trips from Union west on weekends. One bus stops only at Port Credit and Clarkson, and the other makes request stops at any other station out to Hamilton. They're usually a tire fire of drunks. I haven't taken it for a year or two, but the last time I used it two people were escorted on board by TPS. One was a girl with no shoes. Apparently the TPS made sure someone would pick her up at her destination (probably a parent who would give her quite the talking to in the morning). The drivers usually make everyone tell them where they plan to get off as they board so there can be no problems later on. Part of the appeal of the train at that time of night is having washrooms available. You need them after a night of partying on a long trip like that.
 
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=16385

Even more interesting are the three platform clearance test cars that were pulled out of their usual hiding spot on a nearby spur and spotted right in the yard. The first two are former CN 40' boxes, the last a former CP plug-door insulated-heated 40' boxcar, all with solid/friction bearing trucks and crudely renumbered GOOX 1, 2 & 3.
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GO owns three box cars? Isn't the reporting mark GOT? And can anyone explain to me how/when these are used?
 
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