GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[reaperexpress]

Buried at the bottom of the Toronto West email newsletter is this big news:

Starting Sunday, April 28, GO rail will see the largest service expansion since 2013, with increased service on Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Kitchener, Stouffville and Milton lines. There will be 308 new weekly rail trips, which is a 15% increase (from 1,999 to 2,307 total weekly trips) from current state. See below for details by line.


Bus and some rail services will change on April 27; however, most rail service changes will take place on April 28 to align with our operating crew’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, as a result of such a large weekend service enhancement.

Overview of GO train service changes (April 28)

· On the Lakeshore West line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Oakville GO and Union Station.
· On the Lakeshore East line, service will increase to 15-minute frequency on weekend afternoons and evenings between Durham College Oshawa GO and Union Station.
· On the Kitchener line, we’re introducing approximately 30-minute weekday service in the midday and evenings between Bramalea GO and Union Station.
· On the Stouffville line, evening train service after 7 p.m. returns seven days a week.
· On the Milton line, one additional morning rush hour trip to Union Station and one afternoon rush hour trip to Milton GO.
· Some trips on the following lines will be adjusted to depart up to nine minutes earlier or later to better align with actual travel times, and new and connecting services: Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, Stouffville.
· Some weekend Kitchener line service trips will be increased to 10 cars long to provide more space for customers.

This is very positive news. But that claim of this being the largest service expansion since 2013 seems suspicious. They note that it's a 15% increase, but between August 2021 and September 2021 there was an enormous increase that was almost certainly more than that. I didn't specifically summarize the August 2021 and September 2021 GO service, but I did summarize the January 2021 and January 2022 service (the latter of which largely dated from September or October 2021).

Between January 2021 and January 2022, there was a 49% increase in train service. My data doesn't show exactly how much of this change happened in a single schedule change, but as I recall, almost all of the increases occurred overnight at the start of the September 2021 schedules. If someone has more time than me they could tally up the service in August 2021 vs September 2021, but until then I'm pretty confident in saying that there was more than a 15% increase in service as part of that service change.

My data is also approximate since I only counted inbound trips and multiplied them by two. So lines with asymmetrical service like Richmond Hill have incorrect totals. But generally speaking lines tend to be relatively symmetrical so the totals are roughly correct. I am therefore fairly confident that the number of weekly GO train trips in September 2021 (roughly 2480) was more than the number of weekly GO train trips in the upcoming April schedule (2307). The main service that existed in 2021 that is still missing in the upcoming schedule is the 15-minute weekday midday and counter-peak service on Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West. Weekend 15-minute service has never before existed but since it only runs 2 days per week it has a lower impact on the weekly totals than the weekday service.

 

[oakvilleBee]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Lakeshore west daily rider.

Great to see more Go service, but I find it confusing that the boost for LSW is on the weekend rather than extending the rush hour service. Right now the last weekday express train on LSW out of Union is at 5:51 pm, after that the next trains are 6:17 and 6:47. The 617 train in particular is packed Tuesday through Thursday, and the 647 is pretty busy as well. Does anyone know if there is a technical reason why 15 minute service has to end before 6 pm, when there is consistently lots of demand for another hour?

 

[Allandale25]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Lakeshore west daily rider.

Great to see more Go service, but I find it confusing that the boost for LSW is on the weekend rather than extending the rush hour service. Right now the last weekday express train on LSW out of Union is at 5:51 pm, after that the next trains are 6:17 and 6:47. The 617 train in particular is packed Tuesday through Thursday, and the 647 is pretty busy as well. Does anyone know if there is a technical reason why 15 minute service has to end before 6 pm, when there is consistently lots of demand for another hour?

Congrats on your first UT post!

 

[wopchop]

PS - my impression is that the QEW is basically full all the way from Hamilton to Toronto.

This is no longer completely true. COVID and remote work has probably changed QEW traffic patterns moreso than any other highway in the GTA. The route from Oakville to 427 has improved significantly in both directions, AM and PM rush. Especially on certain days of the week when there are more people working remotely.

For example, previously it could take 15-25 minutes to get from 427 ramp to QEW westbound at PM rush. This is very rarely an issue anymore.

Is it busy? Yes, of course. But the days of crawling through Mississauga at less than 50kph are a lot rarer.

 

[tmustudent9]

From what I'm reading, 15-min service along the Lakeshore lines is only happening during weekend afternoon & evening times? If so it would be odd that they're not doing weekday 15-min service as well.

 

[Northern Light]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Lakeshore west daily rider.

Great to see more Go service, but I find it confusing that the boost for LSW is on the weekend rather than extending the rush hour service. Right now the last weekday express train on LSW out of Union is at 5:51 pm, after that the next trains are 6:17 and 6:47. The 617 train in particular is packed Tuesday through Thursday, and the 647 is pretty busy as well. Does anyone know if there is a technical reason why 15 minute service has to end before 6 pm, when there is consistently lots of demand for another hour?

From what I'm reading, 15-min service along the Lakeshore lines is only happening during weekend afternoon & evening times? If so it would be odd that they're not doing weekday 15-min service as well.

While I'm not in on the internal conservation at Mx; I can share a couple of things.

1) Weekend service demand is actually higher than weekday off-peak at this point, particularly on Mondays and Fridays. That's a shift from commute-driven demand to event-driven demand (Jays game, concert, club hopping etc.)

2) Weekday mid-day on the LSE side is still very much impacted by the Ontario Line work.; I'm not sure how much work they're doing in the post-rush evenings, but I imagine its just easier to leave things open there, with fewer conflicts.

***

I myself look forward to the return of 15M off-peak on weekdays, but that may require that corridor works be a bit more advanced.

 

[tmustudent9]

While I'm not in on the internal conservation at Mx; I can share a couple of things.

1) Weekend service demand is actually higher than weekday off-peak at this point, particularly on Mondays and Fridays. That's a shift from commute-driven demand to event-driven demand (Jays game, concert, club hopping etc.)

2) Weekday mid-day on the LSE side is still very much impacted by the Ontario Line work.; I'm not sure how much work they're doing in the post-rush evenings, but I imagine its just easier to leave things open there, with fewer conflicts.

***

I myself look forward to the return of 15M off-peak on weekdays, but that may require that corridor works be a bit more advanced.

Very fair points. I'm assuming once the fourth track on the LSE gets completed we'll see a ramp-up of service to weekday 15M + express trains coming back.

 

[Northern Light]

Very fair points. I'm assuming once the fourth track on the LSE gets completed we'll see a ramp-up of service to weekday 15M + express trains coming back.

3, unimpeded, non-slow ordered tracks should be sufficient to support 15M service w/o issue; frankly, it can almost certainly be done with 2 tracks, but it may peripherally impact some work, when crews need to move or move goods across active rail.

The 3rd track is, however, quite important for any type of express service.

 

[generalcanada]

speaking of which how far behind are they on the bridge replacements and corridor work? im assuming the original timeline of late 2024 is going to be missed?

 

[canarob]

This is very positive news. But that claim of this being the largest service expansion since 2013 seems suspicious. They note that it's a 15% increase, but between August 2021 and September 2021 there was an enormous increase that was almost certainly more than that. I didn't specifically summarize the August 2021 and September 2021 GO service, but I did summarize the January 2021 and January 2022 service (the latter of which largely dated from September or October 2021).

It's a strange claim to make if they are including evening Stouffville service that is being returned. I'm happy to have the service back and get that there's a lot of construction happening across the line, but positioning it as new service is a huge stretch.

 

[mdrejhon]

Buried at the bottom of the Toronto West email newsletter is this big news [...]

Someone on X-Twitter (@_ChanFace) just made a good infographic of the expansions!

 

[Northern Light]

Someone on X-Twitter (@_ChanFace) just made a good infographic of the expansions!

View attachment 547020

Squints.... @mdrejhon is that you? Making your first post since Nov' 23? Welcome back, for as long as it lasts!

 

[Bojaxs]

3, unimpeded, non-slow ordered tracks should be sufficient to support 15M service w/o issue; frankly, it can almost certainly be done with 2 tracks, but it may peripherally impact some work, when crews need to move or move goods across active rail.

The 3rd track is, however, quite important for any type of express service.

If MX continues to increase service on the Stouffville line, won't they eventually have to add a fourth track east of Union through Danforth and Scarborough?
Looking at Google maps, I only see 3 tracks running through these stations.

 

[Northern Light]

If MX continues to increase service on the Stouffville line, won't they eventually have to add a fourth track east of Union through Danforth and Scarborough?
Looking at Google maps, I only see 3 tracks running through these stations.

The plan for the LSE corridor does call for 4 tracks from Scarborough Junction (where the Stouffville and Lakeshore lines meet) to the USRC.

That includes adding one through Danforth Station, and Scarborough Station. This would require extensive changes.

 

[bpbpbpbp]

Hey guys, making my first post here to learn more about Kitchener Line upgrades. It's been somewhat hard to get updates about 2WAD and weekend service on the line all the way to Kitchener, and since Metrolinx doesn't seem to want to share information (which I think is ridiculous), I just don't have much a great understanding of how improvements are going. My understanding is that Metrolinx is adding passing tracks in spots like Breslau (and other areas), the second platform in Guelph (which appears to be almost complete) among other upgrades to bring more service. And from what I gather, the reason we don't get proper weekend service past Mount Pleasant is that a lot of the upgrade work takes place on the Weekends when there is less traffic. Can someone confirm the issues with weekend service, and if CN has any control over it? Another thing I was wondering is what's going on with Silver Junction, and that third track through Brampton. Anyone know how those projects are going/when construction should start and end? And the last thing I was hoping was to get word on when you guys think we'll get at least some Weekend service past Mount Pleasant, and more ambitiously, 2WAD (30 minute freq. each way??) service. It would mean the world for those of us who make the trip on the KI train, and us 30/30A riders (especially UW and WLU students), because those buses are PACKED. Thanks to anyone who has any insight, I know I've got way too many questions.