GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[WillTo]

Annoying and preposterous virus safety theater that having free rides would encourage gatherings because we're supposed to believe the GO fare was the barrier preventing people from traveling on that night. No one who would choose to travel on New Years will change their plans because of this, but they might choose to drive now, even after a few drinks. Again, it's safety theater.

You are arguing that the fare was not enough to change people's mind about going out, but is enough to encourage people to drive drunk? I can't agree with that at all.

Free rides sends out a terrible message. Celebrate virtually everyone!

 

[reaperexpress]

With double-tracking well underway between Kennedy and Unionville, I've been wondering about what type of service the Stouffville Line will see when construction wraps up. Ridership will likely not have yet recovered from the ridership slump, so they probably wouldn't come right out with 15-minute service to Unionville. But on the other hand they would want to demonstrate their new infrastructure with some kind of service increase.

So my guess is that they will introduce an hourly service from Union to Unionville, in addition to the existing hourly service from Union to Mount Joy. Here's my stab what such a schedule could look like (full version here).

The assumed track configuration is full double track south of Unionville, and single track north of Unionville except for Mount Joy station, which would have two platforms. Schedule does not account for conflicts in the Lakeshore corridor or the USRC.

The most interesting thing I discovered here is that if a second platform is built at Mount Joy, it's possible to maintain hourly southbound service through the single-track Unionville-Mount Joy segment in the afternoon peak, while also running 3 trains per hour northbound. Ideally that platform would be completed around the same time as the Unionville-Kennedy upgrades, to resolve the current gap in southbound service between 15:35 and 19:35.

 

[canarob]

The most interesting thing I discovered here is that if a second platform is built at Mount Joy, it's possible to maintain hourly southbound service through the single-track Unionville-Mount Joy segment in the afternoon peak, while also running 3 trains per hour northbound. Ideally that platform would be completed around the same time as the Unionville-Kennedy upgrades, to resolve the current gap in southbound service between 15:35 and 19:35.

I have no idea what ridership will look like in the after times, but ridership has been growing more strongly at the stations north of Unionville, so I would hope all service would go to Mount Joy as much as capacity will allow.

 

[anb]

I did it once when I worked at Square One. I went from Scarborough GO to Square One via Union.

I don't see it being a common transfer. If you are coming from outside the GTA on a GO train heading back out of the GTA it is easier to find a more direct route.

The weekends come to mind. It is way more common to transfer from the lakeshore lines to the kitchener corridor of buses during the weekends and vice versa

 

[drum118]

You only need 6 car trains on the Stouffville Line and Mount Pleasant for All Day hourly service 7 days a week with 15 minutes service at peak time once work is done on the Stouffville Line. In time, the hourly will drop to 30 and then 15 minutes.

When the line is electrify, most likely get away with 3 car EMU until ridership builds up to add another car or 2 off peak and weekends every 15-30 minutes.

At some point, the Stouffville Line will only be a Stouffville Line since electrify the Mount Pleasant line not in the cards any time soon unless battery power trains surface sooner than later.

 

[nfitz]

Is it actually common for people to transfer from GO Train to GO Bus at Union?

I do it often enough, living near Danforth Station. I prefer to change from GO Train to GO Train ... but so much of the time there's only buses on many routes.

 

[canarob]

When the line is electrify, most likely get away with 3 car EMU until ridership builds up to add another car or 2 off peak and weekends every 15-30 minutes.

I think a little 3-car EMU rolling up to Markham GO will be adorable, which will make people want to ride it and take photos, etc. One of my all-time favourite rail memories (I'm very casual at this, so excuse the poor terminology) was riding the Tarka Line in Devon, England. I wasn't sure what I expected when I arrived at Barnstable Station, near where we were staying with family, but it certainly wasn't a two-car train! It was beyond adorable. The seating was very tight for me, a 6ft man, but the countryside is spectacular and we had the joy of hearing the conductor explain to us, in a thick West Country accent, that we were momentarily stopped because of a cow on the tracks.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarka_Line

 

[Amare]

I just found a little tidbit in an article noting that Leslie Woo (former Chief Planning Officer at Metrolinx) is now CEO of CivicAction. Did a little investigation to find out that she left Metrolinx this past September 2020.

Good news in my books, the "rational" she used to justify the inclusion/omission of new GO stations was outright laughable and baffling. Actually i'll be more blunt, she had no idea what she was doing planning the construction of GO stations, and the Metrolinx analysis work for it was flawed under her watch.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-city-council-post-covid-1.5842439

 

[Allandale25]

Metrolinx Press Room

Find the latest Metrolinx news, project updates and more.

blog.metrolinx.com

 

[LNahid2000]

Metrolinx Press Room

Find the latest Metrolinx news, project updates and more.

blog.metrolinx.com

I hope this is only because of reduced demand due to COVID. Before COVID, I used to take this train with my bike and then bike into the US to pick up Amazon packages and do some shopping. Did it in the winter when there wasn't snow on the ground and it was so convenient.

 

[Richard White]

I hope this is only because of reduced demand due to COVID. Before COVID, I used to take this train with my bike and then bike into the US to pick up Amazon packages and do some shopping. Did it in the winter when there wasn't snow on the ground and it was so convenient.

Niagara is dead in the winter. With covid closing most things up there along with all the restrictions I can't see how it is viable to keep service running out there. It is expensive to run empty trains.

 

[ShonTron]

I hope this is only because of reduced demand due to COVID. Before COVID, I used to take this train with my bike and then bike into the US to pick up Amazon packages and do some shopping. Did it in the winter when there wasn't snow on the ground and it was so convenient.

And the elevators are all out of service at Burlington. Brilliant.

 

[reaperexpress]

I just found a little tidbit in an article noting that Leslie Woo (former Chief Planning Officer at Metrolinx) is now CEO of CivicAction. Did a little investigation to find out that she left Metrolinx this past September 2020.

Good news in my books, the "rational" she used to justify the inclusion/omission of new GO stations was outright laughable and baffling. Actually i'll be more blunt, she had no idea what she was doing planning the construction of GO stations, and the Metrolinx analysis work for it was flawed under her watch.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-city-council-post-covid-1.5842439

Yes the rationale for selecting GO stations was ridiculous, but was that actually her fault, or was it the politicians who were telling Metrolinx which stations to select based on their political value?

 

[Amare]

Yes the rationale for selecting GO stations was ridiculous, but was that actually her fault, or was it the politicians who were telling Metrolinx which stations to select based on their political value?

Politicians were definitely at play (namely Stephen Del Duca), but she was at the head at the table in the selection process.

For instance, even though politicians were influencing the decisions, Metrolinx (under her watch) still came up with the decision that a Park Lawn GO station was not significantly important. This was despite having a Liberal MP representing the ward at the time. The only reason it got bumped up in priority was because of the outcry that was made by all levels of government, and the community.

The fact that Metrolinx couldnt even recognize the sheer importance of including that station in their initial rollout plans is bad planning, pure and simple.

 

[crs1026]

I’m a little uncomfortable reading criticism directed at an individual, particularly offering speculation about why an individual may have left an employer. We spectators may be dissatisfied with ML’s output, but we are not in a position to know employment matters, and it is none of our business.

I can understand how, with a long term GO Expansion strategy and Business Case developed, approved, and moved from a blank sheet to an action plan, and a 25-year network plan developed and moved through a couple of 5-year iterations, ML’s strategic planning needs and challenges may have changed. That might change the potential fit and/or attractiveness of either the incumbent or the job, or both.

It’s a new era, let’s leave it at that. The products are certainly fair game for debate and criticism.

- Paul