GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[Markster]

very very few people current disembark at stations other than Union during AM rush. If few are going from A to non-union B on Lake Shore then they probably aren't going to transfer at these other stations in the short-term either. If 95% of trips are satisfied by the stop being a single-line then that's probably for the best.

If they get a measurable number of inter-line transfers at Union, these stations can be expanded to become multi-line stops. Gradual expansion through numerous independent tenders fits well with how they like to do things.

It requires culture change.

It is unsurprising that in the near-to-medium term people will continue to use the system the exact same way it's been designed to be used for 50 years. And frankly, there's no reason to expect it to change, so long as the service pattern penalizes anything else.

 

[rbt]

And frankly, there's no reason to expect it to change, so long as the service pattern penalizes anything else.

For the Spadina-Front station it would be an extra 10 minutes (mostly due to a super-long-dwell at Union) to transfer via Union. It might be annoying but that's not enough to stop people from making the line change from Lakeshore West to Barrie Line. When GO sees a measurable number of people making that transfer (say a hundred during rush) they'll move aggressively to improve the connection so it occurs without involving Union.

Obviously network integration would happen faster if GO built for the interchanges but slowing down each train of 2000+ passengers for the current near 0 who would use the transfer does seem pointless, so it's probably the right decision for now.

 

[Jonny5]

I expect tomorrow to be have hilarious crowds of confused riders on Lakeshore West, especially in the PM.
Interesting to see express services to/from Oakville which have been around for decades now all switched to Clarkson.
Interesting that morning services from Hamilton have all been moved so early. IIRC before West Harbour opened 3 trains left Hamilton GO after 7AM. Now only one does. I wonder if this is a response to the endless freight train blocks at Bayview Junction?

 

[mdrejhon]

I expect tomorrow to be have hilarious crowds of confused riders on Lakeshore West, especially in the PM.
Interesting to see express services to/from Oakville which have been around for decades now all switched to Clarkson.
Interesting that morning services from Hamilton have all been moved so early. IIRC before West Harbour opened 3 trains left Hamilton GO after 7AM. Now only one does. I wonder if this is a response to the endless freight train blocks at Bayview Junction?

Fingers crossed that the Hamilton Junction expansion brings several trains that runs after 7am. I wonder if Bayview modifications are also part of this corridor work package.

It would help me.

 

[Allandale25]

Given the pattern of previous tweets where the press secretary the day before said "GOing", I assume that regular GO train service will be extended from West Harbour to St. Catharines or Niagara Falls given this tweet posted.

Patrick Searle‏@Patrick4ONT
Tuesday 1 PM: Transport Minister @StevenDelDuca is GOing to be in Niagara Region.

 

[crs1026]

Let's hope it's more than just opening the new GO layover yard - they have connected the signalling out that way.

I was watching the GO service which started this past weekend, and noticed that the trains plod along at about 30 mph from Millen over to about Nelles Road. I hope that's due to trackwork and isn't a new regular track speed for that line.

- Paul

 

[Jonny5]

Given the pattern of previous tweets where the press secretary the day before said "GOing", I assume that regular GO train service will be extended from West Harbour to St. Catharines or Niagara Falls given this tweet posted.

Could be only announcing resumption of weekend Niagara train services.

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

I expect tomorrow to be have hilarious crowds of confused riders on Lakeshore West, especially in the PM.
Interesting to see express services to/from Oakville which have been around for decades now all switched to Clarkson.
Interesting that morning services from Hamilton have all been moved so early. IIRC before West Harbour opened 3 trains left Hamilton GO after 7AM. Now only one does. I wonder if this is a response to the endless freight train blocks at Bayview Junction?

Between the early morning signal problems and all the service adjustments (read: delays) I received no less than 50 Lakeshore West Service Alert emails through the course of the day! Almost every peak train was delayed in the morning and in the afternoon there were numerous "operational adjustments". Hopefully today goes better.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Yesterday was a complete CF - having all 7 lines delayed at rush is quite a feat even with adverse weather and they did it without it. Congratulations all around to all involved.

On another note, we have yet another track fatality - on Kitchener line.

AoD

 

[TripleQ]

Sstill delays on the LSW line this morning, not as bad as yesterday though.

If I'm reading the schedule right, it looks like they've reduced westbound LSW service in the PM rush? Use to be a 16:43 (local), 16:47 (express) and 17:02 (express). Now there is only a 16:40 (local) and 17:000 (express).

Overall the service looks to be more uniform during the peak service, with local and express trains running regularly from "round" times as opposed to the old schedule where times seemed more scattered. At least on the LSW line which I've looked at.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Sstill delays on the LSW line this morning, not as bad as yesterday though.

If I'm reading the schedule right, it looks like they've reduced westbound LSW service in the PM rush? Use to be a 16:43 (local), 16:47 (express) and 17:02 (express). Now there is only a 16:40 (local) and 17:000 (express).

Overall the service looks to be more uniform during the peak service, with local and express trains running regularly from "round" times as opposed to the old schedule where times seemed more scattered. At least on the LSW line which I've looked at.

That it is, and it has some added potential benefit of avoiding simultaneous unloading at Clarkson. The flip side is it will mess up how well the MT connector buses work.

AoD

 

[Jonny5]

Between the early morning signal problems and all the service adjustments (read: delays) I received no less than 50 Lakeshore West Service Alert emails through the course of the day! Almost every peak train was delayed in the morning and in the afternoon there were numerous "operational adjustments". Hopefully today goes better.

Problems in Hamilton have caused cascading delays two days in a row now.
One odd change I noticed is the 6:39 out of West Harbour no longer originates from there after parking overnight. A train dead-heads to West Harbour form Willowbrook, arriving at about 6:20. Maybe they don't have space with the track reconstruction. That dead-head is troubling as any delay will freeze movement through the junction and throw off the whole Lakeshore schedule.

 

[smallspy]

Problems in Hamilton have caused cascading delays two days in a row now.
One odd change I noticed is the 6:39 out of West Harbour no longer originates from there after parking overnight. A train dead-heads to West Harbour form Willowbrook, arriving at about 6:20. Maybe they don't have space with the track reconstruction. That dead-head is troubling as any delay will freeze movement through the junction and throw off the whole Lakeshore schedule.

That's always been the case with the trains from West Harbour. What has changed with this new schedule is that the trains no longer deadhead to Hamilton way before the service starts, or deadhead back from Hamilton an hour-plus later.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[Allandale25]

Could be only announcing resumption of weekend Niagara train services.

That's already been announced and is happening this summer. This sounds like it'll be bigger.

 

[mdrejhon]

This may very well be an Announcement I am hoping to hear.