Bordercollie
Senior Member
So does anyone answer to this whole situation?
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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
crs1026
Senior Member
Someone should, but we need to break it down a little.
First, we would need to know how many staff attritted during covid. We would have to know more about when and why …. Did they just quit, were they laid off and did not respond to recall, how many were lost to promotions, retirement, other health issues, etc….. and how much hiring and training was going on at that point.
Second, we would need to know what direction ML gave Alstom over the entire period - what the specified demand for staff was Pre covid, what changes did ML make to its requirements over time, what direction did they give alstom to downsize and later to staff up again, etc.
Thirdly we need to know what steps Alstom took during the period where service was being restored… when did they start calling back staff, when did they post job ads, how many qualified applicants responded, etc. Did they meet the pace needed given the time to screen, offer positions, train, etc.
Lastly we need to know where the Province and Minister were in all of this…. Did they direct service startups or instruct ML to delay startups in a way that affected ML’s request of alstom or alstom’s ability to deliver?
My point is - ML will never provide this data voluntarily. It might be discoverable via FOI, but ML will no doubt claim confidentiality clauses, ministerial privilege, canine dietary incidents, or whatever so that none of it comes to light. This is a good example of what can go wrong when there is no transparency within a somewhat complicated food chain.
My conspiracy theory is that Alstom did indeed have a graph that said, as of Feb 2020 we had x rte’s. We have since laid off y of them, if we recall them we may get z% of those people back, and if we begin new hiring it will take us k months to get back to that original strength - and a further q months to add enough staff to be ready to add new services. (I say that because When I was running a HR Shop we had people who did exactly that sort of analysis for our long lead time, highly trained and licensed workforce. I do believe that Alstom has a competent HR shop so they would have been doing much the same)
My further conspiracy theory is that between them, ML and QP may have ignored those constraints…. Or surprised Alstom with sudden increases in requirements that could not be met…. Or assured Alstom that their needs did not approach those limits and caused Alstom to back off hiring and training….
Or, Alstom may have dropped the ball.
I suspect we may never know.
- Paul
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lenaitch
Senior Member
It would also be interesting to know what the non-performance penalty terms are (if any). It might be that it is cheaper to pay the penalty than fill the salary gap. Or they rolled the dice on whether Mx would even enforce any performance penalties - which government agencies are notorious for.
Krypto98
Active Member
CN track
Bordercollie
Senior Member
Could it be a funding cut?
ARG1
Senior Member
Ok, this decision is a lot of things - virtually all of it negative, but treating transit riders like "second class citizens" is certainly not one of them. Don't need to exaggerate to make a valid point.
Felix An
New Member
I don't mind the station name sponsorships. In Hangzhou, China, the next station announcements are sponsored on all lines, each by a different company. The announcements in Chinese go something this, for example: "If you want to buy groceries, go on Dingdong Groceries. Dingdong Groceries reminds you that the next stop is Xialongwei..."
Felix An
New Member
Why was there a massive reduction in weekend Niagara service?
nfitz
Superstar
Massive? They cut one train a day on weekends. They cut 5 on the Stouffville line.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
Prior to this year there were 4 trains per day. This year it was been cut to 3 and now 2 trains per day. I think a 50% service cut does qualify as massive.
That said, I agree the Stouffville cuts are more severe. Niagara Falls still has its hourly bus service. The Stouffville line has no alternative. GO now runs more frequent weekend service between Niagara Falls and Grimsby than they do between Toronto and Markham.
canarob
Senior Member
Seeing these shiny new stations going up without more service is giving me VIVA Rapidway vibes. Hopefully better service is on the way eventually.
denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
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Brampton has mostly all day service. We complain about GO Transit but that is a commendable milestone.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
Brampton has no train service on weekends. And when buses are diverted to Port Credit (or stuck in traffic on Lakeshore), it doesn't have practical bus service either.
denfromoakvillemilton
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Fair enough. That needs to be fixed.
What was the point of the new union downtown terminal? It's done more for Megabus. They could at least extend those trips downtown. Feels like we should have kept the old terminal.
Again, London service needs to be cut until the GTHA is fully up and running.
ARG1
Senior Member
The problem isn't money, it's staff. Cutting London service isn't going to give you much in terms of staffing for any substantial service increase (it's a once per day extension of Kitchener service, not exactly something that can get you all day Kitchener line service).
For a weather protected terminal that can replace the old Toronto Coach Bus Terminal, and the old surface GO terminal, as well as leave room for busses when we have the staff to run more service? Just because we don't see it well used today doesn't mean it was a waste of time and money.