GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[waterloowarrior]

Clarkson GO station gets cash for overhaul

http://www.mississauganews.com/article/25798
By: Radhika Panjwani

April 3, 2009 05:54 PM - A passenger platform at Clarkson GO station is getting a much-needed overhaul thanks to $14 million from Queen's Park and Ottawa.

Details of the project, which includes, among other upgrades to the south platform, installation of a snow-melt system and a canopy, were announced today at the station by Mississauga-Erindale MP Bob Dechert and Mississauga South MPP Charles Sousa.

The money is part of a $213-million funding boost, also announced today, from provincial and federal levels of government for various GO revitalization projects across the GTA.

Work on the south platform is expected to start in the fall and will be completed by spring of 2011, said Bob Boyle, GO Transit's director for multi-modal infrastructure.

“The ($14 million) will enable us to completely retrofit the platforms at the Clarkson GO station and improve the commuting experience for our passengers,†Boyle said. “Essentially, what we'll be doing is ripping apart the existing asphalt, putting in a platform heating system so that snow and ice accumulation on the platform is no longer a problem and extending a tunnel from the north side to the south. And this will give us three access points to the platform area.â€

Boyle said improvements to the south platform are an extension of work already underway, which includes installing a third main line track at the station and upgrading the north platform.

Passengers using the Lakeshore line will benefit from the project, said Sousa, noting commuters will be able to access the south and north platforms via elevator, making the Clarkson station wheelchair accessible.

“This project will enhance our local economy and improve customer service at the Clarkson GO station,†he added.

Dechert said GO's announcement a few weeks ago that it's creating 1,000 additional parking spaces at Erindale and Cooksville stations is also evidence that much-needed improvements are quickly on the way.

He added passengers will reap the benefits of the work being done at Clarkson.

“The new platform will be a lot more comfortable for passengers during winter and inclement weather,†Dechert said. “They are building a wider platform and a large canopy, which covers the whole platform for people to stay under while waiting for the trains. We want to encourage people to take transit.â€
rpanjwani@mississauga.net

 

[drum118]

The south side has been plan to be upgraded in the first place and is part of the current work taking place there now.

There is a new tunnel and elevator to that platform with the current west end tunnel to be close by June or when the north platforms has been rebuilt.

Snow melting is standard now days for platforms being rebuilt.

Reselling old news for photo op and say we are doing something.

 

[Kiwi]

This part doesn't bother anyone?

"Train Fuelling facility at Aldershot:
- A new fuelling facility at Aldershot will reduce the need to divert trains to the main maintenance facility at Mimico for refueling, thereby improving reliability and adding operational flexibility. Construction is expected to begin in April 2009, and be complete in November 2009."

Shouldn't we be focusing on electrification of the Lakeshore Line instead of building fueling facilities? I suppose we won't see the electrification become a reality for some time.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Go Transit rolling into Peterborough this fall

I'm looking forward to the bus service failing completely and ending Flaherty's Folly once and for all.

 

[kEiThZ]

I'm looking forward to the bus service failing completely and ending Flaherty's Folly once and for all.

Better than 100's of millions for rail service to Peterborough.

 

[toraerach]

From the Peterborough Examiner:

GO buses to city a go
TRANSIT: Long-awaited GO Transit service for Peterborough expected by the fall under provincial, federal funding expanding GO system
Posted By BRENDAN WEDLEY , EXAMINER STAFF WRITER
Posted 7 hours ago


The province plans to have GO Transit bus service in Peterborough by the fall, MPP Jeff Leal's office announced yesterday.

"Today's announcement means that Peterborough-area commuters will become part of GO Transit's service area," Leal stated in a release. "A GO bus service to Peterborough will benefit commuters, the economy and the environment."

The announcement comes a little more than a year after the province and federal government promised GO Transit bus service to Peterborough as part of a $195-million public transit capital trust announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

GO Transit will look at a number of options on how to provide regular bus service to Peterborough, Leal said.

"It's about the economy, it's about business development, it's about opportunities for people to enjoy facilities, plays, sports in the GTA and vice-versa for the people of the GTA to enjoy ... the Peterborough area," he said.

GO Transit currently services an 8,000-square-kilometre area, the provincial government states. Its service area will grow to include the Peterborough area and other regions outside the greater Toronto and Hamilton areas.

Leal said he hopes GO Transit implements a one-ticket system, which would allow a person who buys a bus ticket in Peterborough to get on a train in Oshawa without waiting in line to buy another ticket.

"We have to make it as convenient as possible for the travelling public," he said.

The provincially funded transit service previously rejected extending bus service to Peterborough.

A Peterborough GO Transit bus service would carry 125 to 275 riders per day with revenue that would cover about 30 per cent of operating costs, a GO Transit study found in 2006.

Ridership would not grow significantly by 2025 and the capital cost would be about $9 million for additional buses and park-and- ride facilities, according to the study.

 

[jks]

^^That's good news, the "high-speed train" is way too much!

 

[Kiwi]

GO Transit coming to Niagara by September

MARLENE BERGSMA
Standard Staff

GO Transit is coming to Niagara.

St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley and St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra announced Sunday $2.5 million in federal and provincial infrastructure funding to build four new park and ride GO bus stations in Niagara.

Construction on the first station at Casablanca Boulevard and the QEW in Grimsby will start in June, with service to St. Catharines and possibly two locations in Niagara Falls by September.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1511405

 

[RedRocket191]

Better than 100's of millions for rail service to Peterborough.

^^That's good news, the "high-speed train" is way too much!

Word on the street is that the funding for the passenger train to Peterborough was a way of supporting CP's efforts of upgrading the northern mainline to increase Toronto-Montreal capacity.

I see the train as not a random "lets build a train to Peterborough." I see it as "lets make sure that the public gets some benefit from private railway improvements."

 

[SunriseChampion]

And I see the train as being a logical extension of our pathetic passenger rail system.


The fact that southern Ontario cities and towns are not completely interconnected by passenger rail is sad.

Plus, I hate buses.


And I'm with Kiwi........I'll be dead before electrification is completed (and I'm only 24) I'm not holding my breath or placing any bets, that's for sure

 

[Kiwi]

GO expanding to Niagara

April 06, 2009
John Burman
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/543908

GO Transit is going to Niagara Falls.

MPP Jim Bradley said Sunday the system will offer regular bus service to Niagara Falls in September, nine trips each way each weekday to start.

Niagara GO bus service will connect with the GO Train station in Burlington.

The decision follows plans to put $2.5 million in federal and provincial infrastructure money to build four new park-and-ride GO stations in Niagara.

Construction of the first station – in Grimsby at Casablanca Boulevard and the QEW – will start in June. the sites for stations in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls has not been determined yet but are expected to be near the QEW

There was no mention of rail service in the announcement although municipalities in the Niagara region have been pushing for trains for years.

Most of the trips will be during the morning and evening commuter rush hours. Weekend service has not been worked out yet.

 

[adma]

Construction of the first station – in Grimsby at Casablanca Boulevard and the QEW – will start in June.

Boondocks. Yeesh.

 

[Kiwi]

They'll probably link these GO Buses with the Stoney Creek/East Hamilton GO Bus to the Burlington station.

 

[DavidH]

Leal said he hopes GO Transit implements a one-ticket system, which would allow a person who buys a bus ticket in Peterborough to get on a train in Oshawa without waiting in line to buy another ticket.

The MPP for Peterborough is certainly in ignorance of GO's current ticket system.

 

[dunkalunk]

How long do you think it would take to get from Niagara Falls to Downtown Toronto on a GO train? It currently takes almost 2 hours on VIA. 1:15 From Niagara to Aldershot.

Obviously the improvements at hamilton junction will greatly improve travel times, but even then, there is only one train to toronto and one from toronto a day. So unless there are plans for GO to run an express or semi-express that I don't know about, service in this corridor is lacking.

While it is good to hear all of this money being poured into the GO transit systems (even if it is for parking lots), would it also not make sense to be investing in true intercity rail as well? The combination of a true multi-tiered transit system will do a lot to take vehicles of the highways.