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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Willybru21 said:
I can’t wait to see what the future brings!
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The big next move has to be counter peak rush hour trains. The first Kitchener train out of Toronto is not til after 09:00, arriving too close to noon.
Watch to see if the Guelph and Acton sidings get done this year. And CN may not approve bidirectional service at peak until more work gets done east of Silver.
Frankly, adding a few rush hour trains and Bramalea turns is not that impressive for a line that had its last major upgrade ten years ago.
But maybe we are getting close….

- Paul
 
Bordercollie said:
But wouldn't RTC know that the train ran a red light
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They would get an indication on their panel, but its meaning would be ambiguous and would need a radio call or two to find out what was going on. And that’s if they had nothing else distracting them. By then, the worst would have happened.

- Paul
 
not_taylor said:
April service changes: ...
  • More train service is coming to the Kitchener GO Line, including more express options between Kitchener GO and Union Station, and six new trips between Malton/Bramalea GO and Union Station.
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That's good to see. After the delay in the transfer of operations to the new operator, I'd assumed there'd not be new staff to add new services.

Also, I've noticed a surprising number of platform misses lately, where the train stops, and then has to start moving again to get the accessible door in the right place. Which I assume is a symptom of new operators.
 
crs1026 said:
The big next move has to be counter peak rush hour trains. The first Kitchener train out of Toronto is not til after 09:00, arriving too close to noon.
Watch to see if the Guelph and Acton sidings get done this year. And CN may not approve bidirectional service at peak until more work gets done east of Silver.
Frankly, adding a few rush hour trains and Bramalea turns is not that impressive for a line that had its last major upgrade ten years ago.
But maybe we are getting close….

- Paul
Click to expand...
I would love to see 30 minute weekend service, even if only as far as Bramalea (alternating Bramalea and Mount Pleasant terminuses) in the short-to-medium term. I mean, if Lakeshore can get up to 15 minute frequencies weekend afternoons, why not....? Also start of weekend train service earlier, say 6 or 7am...
 
cbrown2009 said:
I would love to see 30 minute weekend service, even if only as far as Bramalea (alternating Bramalea and Mount Pleasant terminuses) in the short-to-medium term. I mean, if Lakeshore can get up to 15 minute frequencies weekend afternoons, why not....? Also start of weekend train service earlier, say 6 or 7am...
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It boils down to ridership numbers with the Lakeshore being #1. If the numbers are not there to justify 30 minutes, then it has to be hourly regardless you want more.

Service should start earlier on all lines as there are things going on on the weekend that you may miss something with service starting later, especially if you are taking part in it.

Until there are shorter trains for weekend with good ridership, it is the cost of the crews as well the equipment to put more service on line for a small number of riders.
 
smallspy said:
Sure.

But if there is a fault drops a red on a train, the RTC wouldn't see that - only the alarm that a train had run a red.

Dan
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To nitpick a bit on a technical level..... what the RTC would see is simply an indication that the track beyond the red signal has become occupied. And possibly, if the train entered an interlocking and ran through one or more switches that were not aligned, a further indication that the switches are now out of correspondence.

If a second train were already lined and cleared into the route that the errant train has now occupied, the occupancy event would force the permissive signal the second train is approaching to red. This happens in the field equipment and not in the office. The field equipment would then inform the RTC's panel, and the RTC would see that the signal which they had previously cleared has now changed to red.

If the second train were already close to the interlocking, it would not be clear to the RTC that the first train was the one that overshot. The panle would simply show that the interlocking, and the blocks on either side of it, are all occupied. If the RTC was not watching when the indications were changing, they would not have noticed how things played out.

The RTC might surmise that the explanation for this is that the first train overshot the red signal, but that is not the only explanation. And this might happen while the RTC is concentrating on some other task or part of their territory, so the penny might not drop right away. And if it did, they would likely make a radio call to investigate. But in real time, the overshooting train or the approaching second train might already be initiating an emergency radio broadcast, or bad things might already have happened. There may be nothing the RTC could do except watch and listen and react.

- Paul
 
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drum118 said:
If the numbers are not there to justify 30 minutes
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Boarded the 08:42 Kitchener to Union at Georgetown on Thursday. It was a 6-car consist and almost all seats were already full. By the time we reached Brampton all the standing space was also full and the CS guy was berating people for holding the doors open. "Please get the next train". Sure folks are going to let the train leave and wait 3 full hours for the next one. /s

Which is to say, there's already demand and it will continue to increase as more housing is added all along the line.
 
^I live adjacent to Bloor UPX/GO and can testify that many of the late night trains are standing room only both ways. The thing is that this line is basically treated as a ‘new’ subway by most people from Brampton south as I do with the combination of airport and regional trains basically every 7-10 minutes and this will only increase when Mt. Dennis opens!
 
It is difficult to imagine that in a region like the GTA that is constantly growing, that there is any GO line where there ISN'T demand for 30 minutes or better service.

We are too hung up on raw ridership numbers, and too little attention is paid to inducing demand. Who in their right mind is going to willingly wait an hour for a GO train, when there is almost no journey to or from Union to another point along the GO train network that wouldn't take a similar or lesser amount of time by car? Of course the numbers will never bear out the justification for a service increase, when almost everyone is going to utilize alternatives. And that's just wait time, and doesn't take into account the travel time.

Wait 3 hours for a Barrie train at Allandale Waterfront that then takes almost 2 hours to get to Union? Or drive 1 h 8 minutes? Wait 3 hours at Kitchener for a train that also takes 2 hours to get to Union, or drive 1 h 12 minutes? Decisions, decisions...
 
drum118 said:
It boils down to ridership numbers with the Lakeshore being #1. If the numbers are not there to justify 30 minutes, then it has to be hourly regardless you want more.

Service should start earlier on all lines as there are things going on on the weekend that you may miss something with service starting later, especially if you are taking part in it.

Until there are shorter trains for weekend with good ridership, it is the cost of the crews as well the equipment to put more service on line for a small number of riders.
Click to expand...

We have to ask the question, why is Lakeshore #1. Certainly helps that it gets by far the most service along the network, with 50+ years to develop that ridership.

If we were to take LSW service levels and put it on every line along the system, I don't see how Kitchener doesn't get far and away the most ridership. The destinations along the line, including KW with WLU and UW, Guelph having a major university as well, ALL OF BRAMPTON, the West Toronto stations, it could really justify 15 minute service, at least to Mount Pleasant service all day, everyday, starting today.

Anyone who has gotten on a train at Mount Pleasant, Brampton Innovation District, Bramalea knows. Speaking of Bramalea, the way people move through the station during peak times is a marvel. The bus connections at that station are next level. Massive throughfare. How about all that discourse about those packed 30 and 30As skipping everything along the line from Bramalea except Kitchener, where 4 buses an hour are sometimes not enough.

Anyways, the point is, for the Kitchener Line, and likely other lines, the reason there is lower ridership is due to the level of service, the lower ridership should not justify lesser service. Corridor ownership, costs and staffing aside. If we wait for the "until" when the shorter trains for the weekend come, we may have to wait forever, ridership won't come unless service comes with it.

Anyways it is clear that I am passionate about the Kitchener Line and it's absolutely monumental potential. If deployed correctly, it could solve so many issues on the 401, and may someday in the far future host high speed rail. Though I'm not holding my breath for that.
 
not_taylor said:
I think the issue with removing Aldershot from the route is that the busiest portions of the route are McMaster - Aldershot and Guelph - Aldershot (from what I've observed riding the 17). Lots of latent demand for travel between Guelph and Halton and McMaster to Burlington/Oakville that this route unintentionally partially fulfilled. The only way they could get away with removing Aldershot from 17 is boosting 15A service or making 17B run year-round.
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If Aldershot-McMaster needs a boost in service while cutting the connection on the 17, they could easily make the 41/47 stop there and call it a day. These routes have express branches anyway during weekdays so it wouldn’t be that much of a hassle and it would be a lot more frequent between the two points.

It helps that the 41/47 passes Aldershot along the way unlike the 17 which has to detour there in both directions and it eats up time.
 
The problem with Route 17 is that it is forced to do too much on a single, limited service route. It’s three bus routes in one. There’s.a need for regular KW-Guelph service, which the 17 doesn’t do well. There’s a need for direct Hamilton-KW service, which the 17 doesn’t go well either.

There’s also a need for direct Guelph-Hamilton service, which it actually does okay.
 
crs1026 said:
To nitpick a bit on a technical level..... what the RTC would see is simply an indication that the track beyond the red signal has become occupied.
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Not true.

If a train has overrun its limits, an pop-up alarm will display on the RTC's screen. It's not just the block indication. They get informed within seconds of the incident happening.

A similar alarm will also appear on the Chief RTC's screen as well.

Dan
 
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