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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Just checking out the new Brantford GO schedule, the thought had occurred to me to cycle the Cambridge to Paris to Brantford leg of the Cambridge to Hamilton rail trail (done it many times, might do the entire distance, season is waning though) and the bus in from Brantford to Aldershot makes for a good fallback if I decide to cut it short in Brantford.

So looked at the schedule....and it's fugged up:
http://www.gotransit.com/timetables...x?tableid=15&dir=E&date=2016-09-09&parentid=1

Note that there's a bus every hour mid to late afternoon Brantford to Aldershot. Now look at the connecting trains eastward. Only marked every *two* hours. They run half-hourly.

I had to do double-check here just in case there's some oddity today:
http://www.gotransit.com/timetables...x?tableid=01&dir=E&date=2016-09-09&parentid=1

I keep checking to make sure I've got this right...this is so incredibly bizarre. Anyone else get the same result?
 
mdrejhon said:
There are some nice TTC announcers, most particularly Michael the Smooth Operator on the Bloor-Danforth line.
Click to expand...

I don't care about whether they are nice or not - I care about consistency, clarity and usefulness - and TTC can be dubious at all three. This isn't something that should be left to individual leadership (or the lackthereof)

AoD
 
mdrejhon said:
Eeek. And near where a VIA derailment occured before -- one that killed some.

We need (reliable) CBTC protection to automatically brake trains as corridors gets more congested with RER/HFR.
Click to expand...
That was exactly my reaction. One also wonders for every incident reported (and Don's link discusses that) how many aren't?

Canada is so in the dark ages on this, even the US, which is way behind Europe, is ahead of us.
 
vegeta_skyline said:
Which is why there needs to be something else backing us up. The saddest part is that specific something actually exists. It's time for the politicians, industry and company officials to stand with us and spend whatever amount is necessary to implement these systems. To not do so would is tantamount to saying our lives are not worth the costs of these systems.
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Yikes. I posited it as probable fact, you verified it.

As much as air-travel also can't be completely safe, if the same situation existed in air-travel (and I have heard and read horror stories there too) if the case was the same as trains, there would be absolute outrage. Air-control, for all its limitations, has secondary and tertiary back-up systems, including proximity detection with warnings to change course, and which direction/attitude/altitude.

In the big scheme of things, PTC (of whatever type, CBTC looks to be the best choice since digital com has improved exponentially, and it connects passenger com at the same time) is not an expensive investment, contrary to so many rail companies dragging their undercarriage on it. It probably pays for itself in closer headways and speed, and less track needed per throughput. But shareholders rarely look at it that way, especially hedge companies looking for a quick return.

I bite my fingers as I type...but it's time to mandate both the Missing Link and PTC. Sometimes big business doesn't know what's best for them. If it applies equally to all the Class Ones due to Gov't fiat, GDP productivity will increase. Over a number of years, it would be paid down. That takes leadership...I defer from typing something cynical on that...

I wonder what the insurance companies have to say on it?

Excellent post as always, Vegeta.

Edit to Add: I brought up the question of "insurance companies"...here's a reader post to an article on the matter. (Many of these commenters are obviously rail employees)
American-American-2390509Jan 19, 2012
"Investigators with the agency have identified 21 train wrecks since late 2001 that, they say, would have been averted by PTC. In all, the accidents caused 53 deaths and nearly 1,000 injuries."

The cost is estimated at 13 billion to install the PTC system. They have spent almost 1 billion on K Street lobbyists. I can imagine they have already spent another 12 billion and more paying to replace/repair all of the damage prior to Chatsworth and probably an equal sum was spent afterwards. However, that 'cost' would come from the Insurance Corporations and not the Railroad corporations directly. Therefore, it is cheaper to kill people then it is to install preventable measures. I get it, these 1% RR owners won't be riding on these trains so no discernable loss on their part, just pay the higher premiums and the insurance corporation spreads that cost over the Auto and Home Insurance divisions through higher premiums to the 99%. Then the insurance corporation can post higher profits for Wall Street. A vicious cycle and we are all forced to power the proverbial hamster wheel. This article, in and of itself, is the exact reason why we must regulate the unregulated Insurance Industry. If it is intelligently proposed that the RR industry is no longer 'insured' until they meet the required Safety Standards (insurance corporations aren't going to insure a 99%'rs car that doesn't meet safety standards), i.e. they are solely and financially responsible for every aspect of the so-called 'rare' life taking train accident, then I imagine they wouldn't have wasted their money on K-Street and these life saving devices would be in place already, for years. However, the unregulated Insurance Industry is able to pass the bulk of those train crash costs on to it's pool of Auto/Home/Medical customers, who are literally blameless for the irresponsibility of the RR corporations and their denial to provide modern day RR safety is in and of itself a criminal act. They are crying to their K Street funded politicians because the government told them they could not increase their already existing 'yearly 99% taxpayer subsidies' to pay for the cost of Operating their own Corporations in an OSHA approved manner, like Main Street is required to, yet the 1%'r corporations like these RR's have the money to purchase a loophole from the affected 'states' politicians. They are all running their businesses that way, taking huge Tax deductions and receiving huge Tax refunds all the while posting record profits for Wall Street. I need to purchase a politician toot sweet! The IRS is charging me a $1600.00 fine for not reporting $3000 in 2009. Anyone know of an available politician not already purchased by K Street?
Click to expand...
http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_...ght-safety-rules-with-help-from-gop-and-obama
 
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Incidents which are reported and investigated will eventually have the reports placed on line.

See http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/rail/

Incidents which result in disciplinary action against rail employees often end up documented in the Canadian Railway Office of Arbitration web site, which is in the public domain.

See for instance http://croa.com/PDFAWARDS/CR4290.pdf

Needless to say, reading these awards is a slanted way to do research, as they dwell on the negative and not on the majority of workers who do their job diligently - but it does show that lots of stuff happens, far too often.

- Paul
 
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