GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[generalcanada]

Is Alghabra hinting at a development here?

naw the feds are trying to make a show that theyre the only ones wanting to develop milton line.
the ontario government also wants to but its not like they dont have their hands full.
All we know is the feds commited a billion i think for the line, no plans have been drawn up at all

 

[Allandale25]

^ I think they committed 50% of the projected cost which is around $1B. That was the last public figure I saw that was from 2014 and published around 2015.

 

[Richard White]

The ROW is dead. The line was closed, starting with the 1933 (?) abandonment of the Cache Lake Trestle. The ROW is completely unusable and rebuilding it (and the bridges that are long-gone) would not be worth it.
View attachment 407113

Yea that could be a problem.

Putting a railway station in Algonquin Park would be damn near impossible given the available space for doing so and other requirements. That being said, I am surprised the ROW was left to decline with all the logging in the area.

 

[Allandale25]

Yea that could be a problem.

Putting a railway station in Algonquin Park would be damn near impossible given the available space for doing so and other requirements. That being said, I am surprised the ROW was left to decline with all the logging in the area.

Speaking of this line, I saw this picture pop up on railpictures.ca today:

Railpictures.ca - Unknown Photographer; Jacob Patterson Collection Photo: The weekend of February 18 & 19, 1978 saw Barry’s Bay busy with activity as the ski train, running for it’s second of three weekends, arrives from Ottawa with folks ready to

Tens of thousands of great Canadian railway photographs, discussions, and much more. Click to view the image or register for your free account. Please share this if you like it.

www.railpictures.ca

 

[nfitz]

When my wife went to Bishops in the 90s, she and her friends used to drive over the border into Vermont on ice cream runs.

Quite likely in Stanstead, where the town (and even some buildings) straddle the border, and you can simply walk across.

 

[lenaitch]

And the cottage trains that ran from Toronto to the Gravenhurst docks to connect to the lake steamers…would there be a market for a GO train to Washago, Gravenhurst and Huntsville? I think so.

Without the 'next step' infrastructure', like the lake boats of yore, dedicated tourist trains to these communities would really only benefit the townsites themselves (like what do you do when the train dumps you in Washago?). Before it was cancelled, ONR was trying to attract more Muskoka business but the schedule didn't really work. It remains to be seen if a new schedule will be any better.

Maybe GO can get into the tourism business when it has solved the GTA commuter problem.

A century ago, there used to be trains directly into Algonquin Park. Over the years, the track was ripped up and the Highland Inn burned down. It would be nice to have a train out there again but I doubt the ROW still exists and remains useable.

Not from southern Ontario. The line ran from Ottawa to Parry Sound. It had passenger service, just like every other railway did back then before roads went through.

Yea that could be a problem.

Putting a railway station in Algonquin Park would be damn near impossible given the available space for doing so and other requirements. That being said, I am surprised the ROW was left to decline with all the logging in the area.

In spite of the controversy it generates, not a lot of logging goes on inside the park in relation to its total area. This map is a little dated but gives you the idea, and very little is in the area where the railway was (very roughly where the highway is).

https://algonquinforestry.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/AWS_Webmap.pdf

What wood that comes out of the area is hauled from cutting areas by truck to local mills. The era of seasonal cutting and hauling, floating logs in water courses and trainloads of raw logs being shipped off to overseas buyers is no longer a thing.

 

[lenaitch]

Quite likely in Stanstead, where the town (and even some buildings) straddle the border, and you can simply walk across.

View attachment 407233

'Could' not "can". 9/11 pretty much ended that. I believe for those buildings that actually straddle the border, one can enter and cross the line inside the building so long as you exit the building in the same country. The days of freely zipping back and forth are done.

 

[ShonTron]

'Could' not "can". 9/11 pretty much ended that. I believe for those buildings that actually straddle the border, one can enter and cross the line inside the building so long as you exit the building in the same country. The days of freely zipping back and forth are done.

The library is the only exception, as the only entrance is on the Vermont side. You can cross the border from Quebec, but have to walk straight into the library, and straight back out across the border after leaving.

But this is getting well off topic.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Peace Arch State Park in Washington State was considered a bit of an "amnesty" zone during COVID - with both Americans and Canadians permitted to enter the park, provided they returned to their respective countries afterwards.

It was to the point where cross-border couples were setting up tents in the park to do... you know what when they couldn't otherwise cross the border.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.ca

The road is in Canada, the park in the US.

 

[nfitz]

any word if LSW express trains are due for a comeback in July, or any other notable changes for the upcoming schedule change?

I was looking in TripLinx - the schedules are there into September, but are only "preliminary" after Friday June 24. So still chance of a change.

My biggest hope we be restoration of the 15-minute service on the UP and Lakeshore lines. LSW Express is possible - though personally I'd prefer 15-minute counter-peak service instead - like they had scheduled briefly during 2021. Lakeshore East will be expressless for a while (though I don't know why they can't have some AM peak trains that only run express (inbound), that can save 15 minutes; they wouldn't need the third track for that.

'Could' not "can". 9/11 pretty much ended that. I believe for those buildings that actually straddle the border, one can enter and cross the line inside the building so long as you exit the building in the same country. The days of freely zipping back and forth are done.

The picture was from 2019. There's even a sidewalk, well maintained. crossing the border. I don't know what they've been doing since Covid.

No different than crossing the river in a boat. The signs all say you phone customs when you arrive. I assume the locals all have CANPASS so they can legally freely zip back and forth over the street for a coffee, without phoning every time they do.

Perhaps one day everyone on the GO Train to Buffalo just phones in as the train crosses the bridge (he says in a pathetic attempt to keep slightly on-topic )

 

[Garuda]

I was looking in TripLinx - the schedules are there into September, but are only "preliminary" after Friday June 24. So still chance of a change.

My biggest hope we be restoration of the 15-minute service on the UP and Lakeshore lines. LSW Express is possible - though personally I'd prefer 15-minute counter-peak service instead - like they had scheduled briefly during 2021. Lakeshore East will be expressless for a while (though I don't know why they can't have some AM peak trains that only run express (inbound), that can save 15 minutes; they wouldn't need the third track for that.


The picture was from 2019. There's even a sidewalk, well maintained. crossing the border. I don't know what they've been doing since Covid.

No different than crossing the river in a boat. The signs all say you phone customs when you arrive. I assume the locals all have CANPASS so they can legally freely zip back and forth over the street for a coffee, without phoning every time they do.

View attachment 407283

Perhaps one day everyone on the GO Train to Buffalo just phones in as the train crosses the bridge (he says in a pathetic attempt to keep slightly on-topic )

There is no way GO will ever cross the international border. Doing so places GO and Metrolinx under federal regulation along with 3 other transit agencies (OCTranspo, STO - Ottawa Gatineau and Windsor Transit) which means that Queens Park is no longer calling the shots.

See the Ottawa bus strike of 2008. Ontario had no justification to mediate to order the strikers back to work as they fall under federal review. Therefore it was the federal government who introduced legislation to order the strikers back to work (which must be weird for parliament to deal with municipal issues). No provincial party in office will give up this power.

Would I like to see it sure? I hope one day we have a Schengen Area that allows for free movement between Canada and the USA. But that’ll never happen.

 

[timio]

There is no way GO will ever cross the international border.

In the mid 90's a GO trainset was used to ferry passengers through the newly completed St. Clair River Tunnel between Sarnia and Port Huron for a weekend.

Passengers got off on the other side and hopped back in line to return to their country of origin. Pre 2001 and a special event, but it did happen.

Railpictures.ca - Gord Taylor photo, Dan Dell'Unto coll. Photo: GO trains in Sarnia? The new CN St. Clair Tunnel opening between Sarnia and Port Huron on May 5th 1995 featured a few special events held on May 5-7th to celebrate this cross-border ra

Tens of thousands of great Canadian railway photographs, discussions, and much more. Click to view the image or register for your free account. Please share this if you like it.

www.railpictures.ca

 

[Garuda]

In the mid 90's a GO trainset was used to ferry passengers through the newly completed St. Clair River Tunnel between Sarnia and Port Huron for a weekend.

Passengers got off on the other side and hopped back in line to return to their country of origin. Pre 2001 and a special event, but it did happen.

Railpictures.ca - Gord Taylor photo, Dan Dell'Unto coll. Photo: GO trains in Sarnia? The new CN St. Clair Tunnel opening between Sarnia and Port Huron on May 5th 1995 featured a few special events held on May 5-7th to celebrate this cross-border ra

Tens of thousands of great Canadian railway photographs, discussions, and much more. Click to view the image or register for your free account. Please share this if you like it.

www.railpictures.ca

It is cool to see them used for a unique event like this.

Along other unique events- GO trainsets have been sent to Montreal to help with commuter service when the highway bridge collapsed in 2006.

Temporary and emergency situations don’t count.

In the case you posted, CN probably rented the trainset for the weekend. So it’s it wasn’t operated by GO pre se.

 

[gweed123]

There is no way GO will ever cross the international border. Doing so places GO and Metrolinx under federal regulation along with 3 other transit agencies (OCTranspo, STO - Ottawa Gatineau and Windsor Transit) which means that Queens Park is no longer calling the shots.

I've proposed this before, but I think a train shuttle that just runs from the Niagara Falls ON station to the Niagara Falls NY station would be quite useful. Set up a couple border guards at each station, and just have the car go back and forth across the bridge all day.

This would also simplify things for VIA and Amtrak. VIA could run more trips to Niagara Falls ON, and Amtrak could terminate most of if not all of their trips at Niagara Falls NY. Whoever wants to do a cross-border trip can take any number of options on the Canadian side, cross using the border shuttle, and then board an Amtrak train on the US side.

 

[nfitz]

There is no way GO will ever cross the international border.

That I called my own comment 'pathetic' wasn't an indication that I was joking?

(on the other hand, would they have believed 40 years ago, that you could drive from Holland to Lithuania via Germany and Poland without having to show a passport or any other papers?)