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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

crs1026 said:
Travel time by GO from Union to Maple is 35 minutes. It's essentially one section of single track. Even with the new double track in Vaughan, hourly service won't be possible until the Dufferin/Queen bridge widening is complete. At that point doubletracking of the Barrie line from Bathurst is feasible as far as Parkdale (Queen Street). I don't know for a fact that GO intends to do this ahead of the eventual Davenport solution, I'm just pointing out that this is possible and it's the most constraining aspect of the line.

The Barrie line's single track from Parkdale to Bathurst St is shared with the Kitchener GO line, too. While in theory the Weston Sub is triple track, Peak service on the Kitchener line is forced to single direction running on this one shared track by the location of some of the stations, and the need to stay out of UPX headways. So at peak the Barrie line can only run in the one direction that Kitchener is running.

All this is because GTS scrimped just a little too much on some fine points that should have been in place by 2015. I still suspect the GTS budget got pared back to hide UPX overruns. I'm still disappointed with that.

- Paul
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People will regret UPX 10 years from now, especially if the Eglinton line shows decent ridership. And when is the Dufferein /Queen Bridge expected to be done?
 
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gweed123 said:
What about the section of double track that will exist at the future Downsview Park station? Is there no opportunity for trains in opposing directions to meet there?
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It will make things much better, yes. I'm just not too clear on what will be finished when . It sounded like the north end was getting done first. There is currently a siding up around Kirby.

- Paul
 
Those reports fill in a lot of information gaps around what is progressing and what is still at the early stages. Good to see so many things nearing the tendering stage. While it takes years of planning and design to get these going, personally I don't consider anything as 'real' until the tender is awarded. (and even then, cancellations do happen!)

Most interesting thing in these reports for me was the admission that GO and TTC are not on the same wavelength re parking at some of the new stations....with TTC/City of Toronto not in favour.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
Those reports fill in a lot of information gaps around what is progressing and what is still at the early stages. Good to see so many things nearing the tendering stage. While it takes years of planning and design to get these going, personally I don't consider anything as 'real' until the tender is awarded. (and even then, cancellations do happen!)

Most interesting thing in these reports for me was the admission that GO and TTC are not on the same wavelength re parking at some of the new stations....with TTC/City of Toronto not in favour.

- Paul
Click to expand...

They are really not that far off.....the city wants zero parking at all of the new stations inside Toronto...GO is in agreement on most of the stations but at two of them is proposing very limited parking. In my experience, GO stations with very limited parking end up generating revenue from parking as most (all?) get reserved at good income rates (eg. Long Branch).
 
smallspy said:
There will be three trips from Allandale Waterfront heading southbound, leaving at 9.03, 9.47 and 11.02am. There are also 7 trips southbound from Aurora GO at 1.03, 14.18, 15.33, 16.48, 18.03 19.18 and 20.33pm.

Trips northbound from Union heading to Allandale Waterfront leave at 16.28, 21.50 and 22.50pm, with trips to Aurora leaving at 11.28am, 12.43, 13.58, 15.13, 17.43 and 18.58pm.
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https://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2016/12/more-go-train-service-for-families-in-york-region.html

Confirmed, Aurora to Union about every 1 hour and 15 minutes. 38 trains per week = 19 trains each on Sat+Sun = 10 southbound, 9 northbound as @smallspy posted the times for, with 3 south+3 north being full-length Allandale-Union and the other 7 south+6 north being Aurora-Union. Also, GO Bus service will be extended to directly connect Barrie (and Bradford, Holland Landing, Newmarket Bus Terminal) to Aurora GO for those trains.

I presume we'll be seeing 6-car trains for all of these.

As others have mentioned, this is a huge development--the first non-lakeshore line to have regular weekend service at all, let alone every 1h15min. A big step towards RER, and a big step from only having buses on the weekends outside of July/August.
 
Megaton327 said:
https://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2016/12/more-go-train-service-for-families-in-york-region.html

Confirmed, Aurora to Union about every 1 hour and 15 minutes. 38 trains per week = 19 trains each on Sat+Sun = 10 southbound, 9 northbound as @smallspy posted the times for, with 3 south+3 north being full-length Allandale-Union and the other 7 south+6 north being Aurora-Union. Also, GO Bus service will be extended to directly connect Barrie (and Bradford, Holland Landing, Newmarket Bus Terminal) to Aurora GO for those trains.

I presume we'll be seeing 6-car trains for all of these.

As others have mentioned, this is a huge development--the first non-lakeshore line to have regular weekend service at all, let alone every 1h15min. A big step towards RER, and a big step from only having buses on the weekends outside of July/August.
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Great improvement, but I wish they would build the station on Mulock Drive so Newmarket would get all day service as well, doesn't make any sense to miss them.
 
crs1026 said:
Those reports fill in a lot of information gaps around what is progressing and what is still at the early stages. Good to see so many things nearing the tendering stage. While it takes years of planning and design to get these going, personally I don't consider anything as 'real' until the tender is awarded. (and even then, cancellations do happen!)

Most interesting thing in these reports for me was the admission that GO and TTC are not on the same wavelength re parking at some of the new stations....with TTC/City of Toronto not in favour.

- Paul
Click to expand...
This is why it's good for the City of Toronto to be partially funding the stations. They can keep Metrolinx in check by having real influence. Furthermore a Toronto-Metrolinx partnership should hopefully help insulate the plan from changes in politics.
 
salsa said:
Metrolinx agenda items are now posted.

Procurement Update: http://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pd...ardMtg_RER_Package1_Procurement_Update_EN.pdf

GO RER Station Access Plan: http://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pd...61208_BoardMtg_RER_Station_Access_Plan_EN.pdf

GO RER New Stations Update: http://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pd.../20161208_BoardMtg_New_Stations_Update_EN.pdf
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Some of the station plans are awful. Finch East for example, has the station north of Finch, with a gigantic bus loop for the 39/199 buses that really should be stopping on street, with direct connections with platforms on the bridge structure.

The connection between the Relief Line and GO/RER at Gerrard/Pape are badly thought out, and the bus loop is gigantic, built to GO suburban standards that don't make sense in urban Toronto. TTC bus terminals are compact and with direct connections to rapid transit. St. Clair doesn't meet St. Clair Avenue or the streetcar well, never mind the 41 and 89 bus routes.
 
Also with regards to Gerrard/Pape it looks like the 505 Dundas streetcar would be moved to this location instead of going to Broadview Station.
 
ShonTron said:
Some of the station plans are awful. Finch East for example, has the station north of Finch, with a gigantic bus loop for the 39/199 buses that really should be stopping on street, with direct connections with platforms on the bridge structure.

The connection between the Relief Line and GO/RER at Gerrard/Pape are badly thought out, and the bus loop is gigantic, built to GO suburban standards that don't make sense in urban Toronto. TTC bus terminals are compact and with direct connections to rapid transit. St. Clair doesn't meet St. Clair Avenue or the streetcar well, never mind the 41 and 89 bus routes.
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Yeah, those bus loops are endemic. Anyone else notice that in half the drawings, the zig-zags are oriented the wrong way?

I would also think the Bloor station on the Barrie Line should be pushed north 100m to extend over the bridge, so it can reduce the transfer distance to the Bloor subway. There seems to be strong resistance to stations that span over top of roads, but ultimately that's where the connections need to be. These stations need to stop being put in the "easiest" place, and need to be put in the "correct" place.
 
It's great to expand service but how exactly are they paying for the operations of these expansion? The new APTA statistics for the second quarter of 2016 have been released and year over year rail ridership is up 2.75%. Considering that the GO rail service area's population is growing at about 2% a year { Ontario as a whole grew by 1.3% in the 12 months} and they have rolled out huge increases in service & frequencies, how exactly are they affording this?
 
ShonTron said:
Some of the station plans are awful. Finch East for example, has the station north of Finch, with a gigantic bus loop for the 39/199 buses that really should be stopping on street, with direct connections with platforms on the bridge structure.

The connection between the Relief Line and GO/RER at Gerrard/Pape are badly thought out, and the bus loop is gigantic, built to GO suburban standards that don't make sense in urban Toronto. TTC bus terminals are compact and with direct connections to rapid transit. St. Clair doesn't meet St. Clair Avenue or the streetcar well, never mind the 41 and 89 bus routes.
Click to expand...

Well at least there's this. Hopefully it's more than just words.


The City of Toronto has indicated that it does not support the provision of parking at any of the eight stations within its borders. The Initial Business Cases propose parking at Finch East and Lawrence. The City’s position is that parking at these two station is not in keeping with the City’s Official Plan. They expect that GO RER/Smart Track passengers will arrive primarily by transit, passenger pick-up and drop off, on bicycles and walking. Metrolinx staff recommend that the stations be designed to protect for a modest amount of parking and to protect for the possibility that the City may come to a different position on the matter once the system is operational. Staff will continue to work with the City on finalizing an approach on this topic. ​

With regard to Passenger Pick-Up and Drop-Off facilities, the City has requested that Metrolinx consider a more compact design that is more in keeping with the urban context and modified from the current GO standards. Again, staff will continue to work with the City on finalizing an approach on this topic.​
 
salsa said:
Metrolinx staff recommend that the stations be designed to protect for a modest amount of parking and to protect for the possibility that the City may come to a different position on the matter once the system is operational
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Yeah, the city clearly doesn't have a clue how to build transit stations! Better make sure there's space for parking for when the city comes to its senses. :rolleyes:
 
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