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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Whats taking them so long to resolve a relatively simple single train derailment? In Japan the entire yamanote and tobu line were knocked out a couple weeks ago and they still managed to get everything running back by the end of the day.
 
cplchanb said:
Whats taking them so long to resolve a relatively simple single train derailment? In Japan the entire yamanote and tobu line were knocked out a couple weeks ago and they still managed to get everything running back by the end of the day.
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I assume the location and the need to bring in cranes/trucks to lift it. The northside is a building, the MTCC north building/hotel.
 
Allandale25 said:
I assume the location and the need to bring in cranes/trucks to lift it. The northside is a building, the MTCC north building/hotel.
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Lots of telecom and power cables, and gas pipes for the switch heaters….and the double slip switches themselves need to be protected from further damage..
Can’t just drag things. Finding jacking points etc must be tricky. Plus the need to repair whatever was damaged, and inspect and test everything.
Definitely a very tricky spot to work in, really happened in a critical location.

- Paul
 

The derailment happened at 8:16 a.m. as a train was leaving Union Station, the provincial transit agency said in a statement to CBC News.

Metrolinx said the rear of the train came off the track and made contact with a track switch. The impact caused signal issues, the agency said.

At 9 p.m., Metrolinx said the derailed train remains in place as crews work to remove it from the tracks.

The agency said GO train routes would be running on the following service levels Tuesday morning:

Lakeshore East: 60-minute service, outside of 15 to 30-minute peak AM and PM service.
Lakeshore West: 60-minute service, outside of 15to 30-minute peak AM and PM service.
UP Express: operating on 30-minute service.
Kitchener: 60-minute service, outside of 30-minute peak AM and PM service.
Milton: 30-minute AM and PM peak service.
Richmond Hill: 60-minute AM and PM peak service.
Stouffville: 30-minute AM and PM peak service.
Barrie: 30-minute AM and PM peak service.
 
Michael Lindsay out with a statement late last night on his Linkedin, confirming the derailed train is again on the rails, and should be gone before morning rush.

www.linkedin.com

Evening Ontario. Tonight the Metrolinx team is hard at work near Union Station as they safely recover a GO Train that came off the track at low speed at 8:16am this morning. Thankfully, no… | Michael Lindsay

Evening Ontario. Tonight the Metrolinx team is hard at work near Union Station as they safely recover a GO Train that came off the track at low speed at 8:16am this morning. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. As you can see in the attached photo, the train became disabled at a location...
www.linkedin.com www.linkedin.com
 
Richard White said:
This is why I miss the old system. Granted that the interlocking towers are anqtiuated tech now but at least they locked out the switches..
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Not sure that's entirely true as all the switches used to be thrown manually by large levers. There was a story one of the "older timers" told me long ago who used to work in the TTR in the 80's. Apparently they had very peculiar system in place that involved the use of bean or soup cans which somehow helped lock the levers out or something to that effect. Needless to say it didn't sound safe, but apparently it did work since there wasn't any major incidents in his time there.

Allandale25 said:
:They're lying. It's physically not possible for a switch to be moved remotely when a train is occupying the switch. Anyone who says otherwise has no understanding of a conventional signalling system.
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Well something weird happened with that switch and it sure as heck wasn't the crews fault, because those switches cannot be thrown by crews period. They're called power operated switches and only TTR personal can line them up in case they won't go over electronically. Edit* apparently it was a track gauge issue, so nothing to do with the switch being thrown somehow.

Voltz said:
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.
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generalcanada said:
the ground?
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It was an engineer on another train, he saw what was happening and made an emergency broadcast on the standy channel to notify the crew and other trains in the vicinity.

Naturally a derailed train usually stops fairly quickly on it's own due ofc to the extreme tractive effort required to move on the ground, but that's not always the case. Freight trains have been known to operate for miles with derailed wheels, tearing up the track bed behind them as they go along without anyone knowing. Understandably in this instance with the train attempting to go down two separate tracks with wheels also on the ground it likely did stop on its own, or in the very least slowed down to a crawl before the crew on the other end heard the emergency transmission calling on all trains in the area to immediately stop.

lastcommodore said:
I think as a temporary measure GO should build a platform on the south of Kipling on their side of the track, so LSW can be rerouted to Kipling in worst case scenario until OL is built.
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Sad thing is that's not even necessary. Trains can simply reverse at the light once theyre on the Galt sub(Milton line). All one needs to do is drop off the cndr, pull ahead to clear the light and then have him jump on the rear and count the engineer down to the spot on either track one or two - assuming of course all the arrangements had been made with the CPKC RTC ahead of time. Problem is CPKC doesn't always play ball with Metrolinx and their operational needs, especially last minute ones. But technically there's nothing difficult or even that time consuming about it, as is.
 
Last edited:
Recovery seems to be still ongoing. Metrolinx has announced a reduced schedule for today.

  • Lakeshore East: 60-minute service, outside of 15 to 30-minute peak morning and evening service.
  • Lakeshore West: 60-minute service, outside of 15 to 30-minute peak morning and evening service.
  • UP Express: operating on 30-minute service.
  • Kitchener: 60-minute service, outside of 30-minute peak morning and evening service.
  • Milton: 30-minute morning and evening peak service.
  • Richmond Hill: 60-minute morning and evening peak service.
  • Stouffville: 30-minute morning and evening peak service.
  • Barrie: 30-minute morning and evening peak service.
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Jonny5 said:
Recovery seems to be still ongoing. Metrolinx has announced a reduced schedule for today.
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Wild considering this is the heart of the entire go train operation. I really hope they were on site all night to work on it. Still...the fact that the entire system was paralyzed due to this single incident and its taking them this long to fix it just shows how incompetent their redundancies and recovery procedures are.
 
This photo from Mr Lindsay's post is interesting - note the cluster of workers gathered around the switch to the east of the engine.

If the last coach and loco were already off the rails by the time they passed over that switch, any amount of damage could have been done...and then again to the switch that the locomotive came to a stop on.

Those double slip switches have lots of moving parts, and it's understandable that it will take time to get everything fixed and back in adjustment.

It would be interesting to find out where exactly the original derailment happened, and what the dynamcs of that initial event were.

- Paul

1770124436081.png
 
cplchanb said:
Wild considering this is the heart of the entire go train operation. I really hope they were on site all night to work on it. Still...the fact that the entire system was paralyzed due to this single incident and its taking them this long to fix it just shows how incompetent their redundancies and recovery procedures are.
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This would be contracted out to Toronto Terminals Railways, right? Maybe they couldn't ramp up staff as quickly as needed for this incident.
 
SkylineHorizons said:
Apparently they had very peculiar system in place that involved the use of bean or soup cans which somehow helped lock the levers out or something to that effect. Needless to say it didn't sound safe, but apparently it did work since there wasn't any major incidents in his time there.
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Sounds like they were just ersatz sleeves to me... which is a sign of a not great physical plant and part availability, but not especially problematic in and of itself....
 
Bureaucromancer said:
Sounds like they were just ersatz sleeves to me... which is a sign of a not great physical plant and part availability, but not especially problematic in and of itself....
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Unless the cans were hung on the levers as an operator workaround meaning "do not touch"......... a heritage version of a yellow sticky on a control panel - which in safety space is never a good thing.

- Paul
 
cplchanb said:
Whats taking them so long to resolve a relatively simple single train derailment? In Japan the entire yamanote and tobu line were knocked out a couple weeks ago and they still managed to get everything running back by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
A train derailed fouling 2 of the ladders and 3 platform accesses in the USRC damaging a bunch of components and the signal system, and in a location where they can not access the equipment by crane.

There is no world in which this is a "simple" derailment.

crs1026 said:
This photo from Mr Lindsay's post is interesting - note the cluster of workers gathered around the switch to the east of the engine.

If the last coach and loco were already off the rails by the time they passed over that switch, any amount of damage could have been done...and then again to the switch that the locomotive came to a stop on.

Those double slip switches have lots of moving parts, and it's understandable that it will take time to get everything fixed and back in adjustment.

It would be interesting to find out where exactly the original derailment happened, and what the dynamcs of that initial event were.

- Paul

View attachment 712515
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This is precisely what happened.

The rails rolled under the loco and last coach as the two of them were approaching the double-slip on Depot 3 / A1. The outside rails of the double-slip guided the two over to A2, and it contacted the double-slip there.

Other than a couple of hundred feet of track on Depot 3, I don't know yet how much more is going to have to be replaced.

Dan
 
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