Was excited to get the email notification Tuesday morning announcing the new trains/schedules on the Barrie line. Some interesting reading and discussion here.
I can't find the reference just now, either here or on another board, but I thought there was mention that the off-peak service was going as far as East Gwillimbury. That was a surprise since, prior to that post, Aurora was always the northern terminus. But then the 66 and 68 were redirected to EG, so it was making sense. Am I dreaming? Was EG ever in the running for a turnaround point for this launch of off-peak service?
Still seems absurd to me not to have counter-peak trains, but to have mid-day and evening trains. I'd think that, at least cost to the city itself, that counter-peak would be busier than off-peak.
Not quite all day, two-way hourly train service:
here's the new PDF schedule. The last southbound train leaves Aurora at 2:41 PM, the first evening train leaves at 8:41 PM. The first northbound morning train leaves at 9:40 from Union Station.
It is a significant gap. I remember planning my trip to a 7:07 Jays game last summer, thinking of driving to Unionville to catch a train to avoid rush hour traffic...only to find out there were only buses southbound.
I understand the lack of trackage prevents the counter-peak trains presently, but, I think a train arriving at Union around 6 pm would be a big attractor for those trying to take GO for an evening event during the week.
Will such service only materialize when the line is fully double-tracked? Or will the passing sidings already "in the pipe" offer any incremental improvement over the hourly schedule just announced?
In addition to the new
Barrie Line trains:
- New route 69 will provide weekday shuttle service between Newmarket Bus Terminal and Aurora GO. 69A branch will provide transitional service between Wellington/404 Park & Ride and Aurora GO.
Pleasantly surprised that they're continuing to serve the Bus Terminal. With the restructuring of the 66 to EG, I figured that was their plan to serve the terminal, rerouting all other services to either EG or Newmarket GO at the Tannery (a la 65G on weekends). The terminal is another great option for parking; being able to hop on a GO Bus to the Aurora platform (vs. Viva Yellow, for an extra $1 and a [brief] walk crossing Davis) makes it that much more attractive.
As a commuter who gives up on finding parking at station after the 7:26 departure, I was pleasantly surprised by the 69A. I think it allows the P&R lot to become an extension of the parking at the station-proper...but the P&R can itself fill up by 10 am.
I wonder how long it will last (the shuttle service when weekend trains were launched didn't last long), particularly if/when YRT improves connections to the station. I'm very interested in
the On-Demand service they're talking about.
There are 3 layover spots at Bradford. 2 have been in use since September.
Nitpick: I thought it was just the 8:19 departure that originates at Bradford. Is there another?
Currently, the 8:19 (whenever I've caught it) is a 6-pack. Come January 2, will all three Bradford trains be shorter trains? Can the 3 spots accommodate larger consists?
Looking at the weekend schedule, I see the 18:11 Aurora departure is 10 minutes later (all the others are at :01 past the hour). Is this trip served by a deadhead chasing the Union 17:00. Or does one of the Bradford trains see action on the weekend? (I'm guessing not, since there's only 4 minutes between the train leaving Bradford to go north and the southbound departure from Aurora.)
