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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

lenaitch said:
'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.
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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.
 
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.

www.google.ca

Google Maps

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

The road is in Canada, the park in the US.
 
innsertnamehere said:
any word if LSW express trains are due for a comeback in July, or any other notable changes for the upcoming schedule change?
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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.

lenaitch said:
'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.
Click to expand...
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.

1655183981901.png


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 :) )
 
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nfitz said:
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 :) )
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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.
 
Garuda said:
There is no way GO will ever cross the international border.
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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.

www.railpictures.ca

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
 
timio said:
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.

www.railpictures.ca

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
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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.
 
Garuda said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Garuda said:
There is no way GO will ever cross the international border.
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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?)
 
gweed123 said:
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.
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A pedestrian bridge would be far cheaper and probably be more effective, to be honest, particularly given the passenger volumes involved.

Right now, provided trains operated at the same times, it would be faster to take GO to Niagara and take a taxi across the Rainbow Bridge to get to Amtrak and connect to Amtrak that way than it is to take the Maple Leaf from Union.

Frequencies of services impact that, but assuming we can't modify how long it takes the Maple Leaf to cross the border, the fastest solution would be to have GO Terminating on one side and Amtrak on the other and letting people cross the border individually to make their connections, assuming relatively high frequencies of both services which align with each other.

The reality is that the single best solution is to improve the time it takes for the Maple Leaf to clear customs from the ridiculous ~2 hours it's scheduled for today. This is particularly important right now as Amtrak is discussing increasing frequencies to more than once-daily over the next few years.
 
Another IBEW strike by a different local. Sounds again like no immediate major impacts, but I don't know about picketing and what happens long term.

Canadian National Railway Co. says it has been given 72-hour strike notice by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
CN says the union represents about 750 of its signals and communications employees across the country.
The company says in a release Wednesday that the union has given notice of its intention to strike as of 11 a.m. eastern time on Saturday.
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Very happy about weekend 12B buses! In practice, they're probably faster than the train. Also, the 25C Express is finally back. That milk run was awful.

Also, direct service to St. Jacobs Market!! I biked there from U of W a few times. Too bad it's only on the milk run.
 
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Am i seeing clearly?! There’s actual GO service at unexpected places?!

Let’s start with the bad first. Of course no LSW/Kitchener express services and no 15 min all day on both Lakeshore lines and UP Express. Possibly saving all of this for September, but when we desperately need them now it gets annoying. Pretty much nothing when it comes to the trains this time around. Also no 30 min all day bus service on routes which had that type of service prior, but once again probably saved for September.

Now the good, NIAGARA AND WATERLOO EXPRESS BUS SERVICE IS BACK! Finally, and they brought connections to Toronto Premium Outlets, St Jacob’s Market, and direct service to Wonderland on weekends which are all way more than welcome additions.
 
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