GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[Metroscapes]

This reminds me of a time at work.

A metal bar that was part of a gate mechanism on a small dam got bent out of shape and rendered inoperable until it was replaced. It was raised during a regular weekly engineering meeting, and most people around the table rolled their eyes and vented that a junior employee had probably overextended it by operating the motor too far. The upper level manager shut down the chatter, and told everyone that a full investigation was needed before jumping to conclusions. After a few weeks, turns out the bar had overextended itself due to thermal expansion of the sun, and the junior employee had done everything right.

I carry that lesson with me to this day. Jumping to 'logical conclusions' can leave unforeseen and systematic issues uncovered.

Yet again why I think the TSB is well-equipped to investigate.

 

[ScreamingViking]

Still no email from GO about delays, never mind the issue itself. The website does note "disabled train" but that's really not the problem here.

Communications this winter have been awful.

 

[yrt+viva=1system]

Don't you just love it when Metrolinx is caught lying to the public. They tell the public its a signalling issue when in reality it is a derailment plain and simple. Metrolinx is so concerned about their squeaky clean record that they will twist themselves to the max to control the PR event. New outlets are now starting to call the event a derailment while Metrolinx still insists its a signalling issue.

Off topic but tangentially related to Metrolinx's PR and image obsession; they use "schedule adjustments" as a means to coverup all the cancelled bus runs as it sounds better than "cancelled service due to a shortage of buses."

 

[Allandale25]

Another angle here from a comment in r/Toronto

 

[Voltz]

I’m curious to know what triggered the train to stop, like if a passenger pulled the emergency stop handle, it occurred far away from the operators who might not have noticed.

 

[lastcommodore]

Don't you just love it when Metrolinx is caught lying to the public. They tell the public its a signalling issue when in reality it is a derailment plain and simple. Metrolinx is so concerned about their squeaky clean record that they will twist themselves to the max to control the PR event. New outlets are now starting to call the event a derailment while Metrolinx still insists its a signalling issue.

Off topic but tangentially related to Metrolinx's PR and image obsession; they use "schedule adjustments" as a means to coverup all the cancelled bus runs as it sounds better than "cancelled service due to a shortage of buses."

Though i'm not going to run cover for MX's PR, they did update it to a disabled train by update 2 which had shown by the time I boarded at 10.

 

[generalcanada]

I’m curious to know what triggered the train to stop, like if a passenger pulled the emergency stop handle, it occurred far away from the operators who might not have noticed.

the ground?

 

[tsm1072]

I think people are being a little unreasonable with what they expect from communications in situations like these. The employees dealing with this are focused on 2 things:
1. Resolving the issue
2. Communicating scheduling impacts to customers

The person in charge of posting alerts probably heard from dispatch that there was an issue in the USRC and it was effecting all trains. This was likely before they had confirmation of the derailment or a disabled train. The priority is get an alert out, and getting details isn't that important to customers, so saying a signalling issue is fine on first release as they likely don't have confirmation of the base issue.

They soon updated that to a disabled train, which is correct and less alarmist than saying derailment. They may not have even known it was a derailment as that detail isn't important to the message. Announcing a derailment will likely lead to people assuming something much more serious (think train on its side, or a collision), which isn't really a good communication strategy


Scheduling impacts and shuttles are likely being arranged on the fly and constantly changing as the situation evolves, so relying on local station staff and CSAs to communicate will allow more accurate information transfer than trying to get every detail in the online post.

 

[ScreamingViking]

Saying *anything* is better than saying nothing. The GO email "alerts" have been very spotty.

 

[ScreamingViking]

As of now I'd still have no idea there was a problem if I wasn't following this thread and didn't know others in the office who were directly affected by the problem, but made it home for work.

 

[Allandale25]

As of now I'd still have no idea there was a problem if I wasn't following this thread and didn't know others in the office who were directly affected by the problem, but made it home for work.

Perks of UT. cc @Northern Light

 

[Allandale25]

Overhead shot via this post on r/gotransit

 

[Richard White]

I’m curious to know what triggered the train to stop, like if a passenger pulled the emergency stop handle, it occurred far away from the operators who might not have noticed.

The Operators would know. If the sound did not alert them, the sudden jolt would.

That said the train was enroute to Bramalea on the Kitchener line so the derailed train was directly behind the locomotive.

Looks like there was a yard derailment

It is interesting to note that earlier last week there was a derailment in a GO yard. It has you wondering if there is a SOGR issue that they may be trying to keep under wraps.

 

[johntauren]

Well, directly in front of the loco based on direction of travel (see other views).

So the last passenger car derailed after all the others successfully negotiated that piece of track.

 

[Metroscapes]

It is interesting to note that earlier last week there was a derailment in a GO yard. It has you wondering if there is a SOGR issue that they may be trying to keep under wraps.

This is a significant cold snap, one that has pushed the Great Lakes beyond the max ice cover seen around February 21 last year (~52%), and it's climbing at a very fast rate compared to other years. I think it's plausible that it's going to drive some issues.