leftfieldto
Active Member
Why is this not a good idea? I know a lot of people from the London area who would disagree with you.
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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
Towered
Superstar
It's baby steps. The track upgrades to allow a quicker journey will come. At least something is happening.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
yup. GO is aiming for 1.5 hour kitchener service in the next few years, no reason the remaining track can't be upgraded to get 1-1.25 hour travel times from London to Kitchener resulting in a 2:30-2:45 travel time overall. That's fine for a commuter service, with upgrades for VIA focusing on the southern corridor through Brantford to improve those travel times for regional travel. A sub 2-hour trip on VIA and 2:45 trip on GO through Kitchener is pretty acceptable to me.
tsm1072
Active Member
They also will want to buy the ROW before upgrading the tracks so they can pay their own price and not CN's for track work. I wonder if this service is a preliminary deal while they negotiate a deal to buy the full ROW.
Nomad_87
Active Member
I'm wondering with this, assuming the pilot works out and upgrades are done would the Baden station/Yard still be necessary, or could they maybe construct a yard in say Stratford.
ARG1
Senior Member
Lads, don't forget that the real reason this extension is being built is so that GO can charge you more for forgetting to tap off if you start your trip at Union 
NodeGreen11
Active Member
Technically they can't because you can only use an e-ticket to travel to London.Lads, don't forget that the real reason this extension is being built is so that GO can charge you more for forgetting to tap off if you start your trip at Union
gabe
Senior Member
I couldn't imagine sitting in those GO seats for that long. Those seats are so uncomfortable, plus if you have two taller people sitting in-front of you, there goes your leg room! As you pointed out the seats are not designed for long hauls, it's commuter rail.
When i was staying in Guelph a few years back. I took VIA rail to Toronto, the leg room and comfy seats, plus coffee service, made it worth the extra 10 to 20 bucks depending what day i took the train.
ARG1
Senior Member
Is this confirmed? I assume they're going to install Presto machines at the new stations...
NodeGreen11
Active Member
denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
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They're not for now.
Problem is it will be hard for the Liberals to get rid of this if they get in.
Should have been bus service, gage the market first. And then trains.
It's too far and there's not a huge consumer base. Plus the service will be below par if they start next month.
ericmacm
Active Member
This is fantastic news. I honestly didn't expect a pilot train to London to be running so soon. The 4hr commute time up to Toronto is tough to chew on, but as mentioned by other posters, starting with basic service now is just a baby step. I can't imagine that Kitchener or Barrie had fantastic service to start with great travel times when they were first introduced.
I suspect that this will mostly be used for London-Kitchener commuting for now until corridor improvements are made to decrease travel time into the GTA. This will also be a massive boon to the communities of St. Marys and Stratford, who are still relatively isolated and aren't even connected to the major highways yet.
I'm mostly just excited that a major piece of SW Ontario is hooked up to the GO network now. It's been a long time coming and it'll hopefully foster a change in transit culture down here. Maybe it'll even convince the City of London (with a CMA approaching 600,000 people) to finally get it together regarding rapid transit.
I suspect that this will mostly be used for London-Kitchener commuting for now until corridor improvements are made to decrease travel time into the GTA. This will also be a massive boon to the communities of St. Marys and Stratford, who are still relatively isolated and aren't even connected to the major highways yet.
I'm mostly just excited that a major piece of SW Ontario is hooked up to the GO network now. It's been a long time coming and it'll hopefully foster a change in transit culture down here. Maybe it'll even convince the City of London (with a CMA approaching 600,000 people) to finally get it together regarding rapid transit.
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mdrejhon
Senior Member
The real use case is Londoners with work in KW, or the universities there. KW is an expanding employment centre, even in pandemic.
In bad traffic, it already takes more than 1.5 hours, even almost 2 hours to drive during the worst part of peak hour.
The GO train would be similiar, except more pleasant, if your final mile is a quick Uber or LRT hop.
That’s where most of the ridership probably will occur on this London GO train pilot.
I hope this begins to incubate higher rail speeds over the long term, to he point where train becomes faster than driving.
Initially, there should be a grace period where unfamiliar Londoners are allowed to purchase their ride while on the train, with GO ambassadors helping them instruct them on the app. Nothing like missing the only daily train because you fumbled trying to purchase the train trip.
In bad traffic, it already takes more than 1.5 hours, even almost 2 hours to drive during the worst part of peak hour.
The GO train would be similiar, except more pleasant, if your final mile is a quick Uber or LRT hop.
That’s where most of the ridership probably will occur on this London GO train pilot.
I hope this begins to incubate higher rail speeds over the long term, to he point where train becomes faster than driving.
Initially, there should be a grace period where unfamiliar Londoners are allowed to purchase their ride while on the train, with GO ambassadors helping them instruct them on the app. Nothing like missing the only daily train because you fumbled trying to purchase the train trip.
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DirectionNorth
Senior Member
A few months ago, the feds made some announcements regarding rail service in SW Ontario (remember the one I parodied?)
They highlighted cooperation with Metrolinx, and I think that the feds are providing support for this.
jamincan
Active Member
It will be interesting to see what the schedule is as that would make it clearer whether Metrolinx is targeting commuters into Toronto, or people traveling on points along the line.
My gut is that this is tied some way into the endless promises for improved rail service on the corridor. An incremental approach to improving a line is certainly easier to sell politically than an ambitious and expensive HSR plan.
Will Metrolinx rename the line to the London Line, now? Lakeshore East and West being the exception, they seem to name the line after the last town/city on the line.
My gut is that this is tied some way into the endless promises for improved rail service on the corridor. An incremental approach to improving a line is certainly easier to sell politically than an ambitious and expensive HSR plan.
Will Metrolinx rename the line to the London Line, now? Lakeshore East and West being the exception, they seem to name the line after the last town/city on the line.
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