GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[nfitz]

These had letters to make the reader know which line was which on a black and white printed version. The letters were never used in times tables, on departure boards, or by word.

I believe they were on the website though - and if I remember correctly were the ones that were posted on the map inside the GO Train coaches.

I’m not going to participate in the debate of transitioning to lettered lines from the inconstant Geographic based (LE LW), End City based, KI MI RH BR ST)/and Destination based (UP) line names, because I’ve already done it a dozen times elsewhere and I can’t go through arguing about this again.

But I will add that no reasonable person today is against the concept of the subway lines being numbered, why be against the concept of regional rail lines being lettered?

Fair enough - and I'm somewhat agnostic. I just find the current scheme more intuitive, and don't think anything is gained by going to an arbitrary letter.

I can see a case for having a letter (or number), but unlike subway lines, GO train lines are very identifiable by a single destination.

I suppose you could go with something like W, E, K, M, B, S, and R. Or something like OS (BM? ) and HA for LE/LW.

But it all seems to be very obvious and clear right now. I don't think it becomes clearer or more obvious than changing it.

I can see that if we get to the proposed 8-station UP line, I'd guess we may be seeing a rename. It would hardly be Express anymore. Heck, it would be more metro-like and maybe we could call it Line 7? (or mayble Blue 37 ).

 

[Metroscapes]

I'm just glad we're far past that ugly pale yellow 1990s MSPaint-looking map.

 

[Metroscapes]

More from Michael Lindsay on LinkedIn.

Monday’s incident in the Union Station Rail Corridor had a significant impact across our network - requiring significant work to bring four platforms back into service.

On top of that, we experienced two separate incidents last night on the Lakeshore lines around 17:30, with two separate trains encountering main engine reservoir failures, delaying roughly 2,300 customers for hours as we sought to fix trains in place to allow for service to continue around these trains.

 

[cplchanb]

The 8:09 stoufville train got totally jammed up for a mysterious reason at unionville... they claim it's for a northbound train but there's no scheduled train going north until 940.... it finally started moving 30 min later. See.... this is what happens when they lag on finishing double tracking and trains need to go zig zag across eachother....

 

[PShells]

The 8:09 stoufville train got totally jammed up for a mysterious reason at unionville... they claim it's for a northbound train but there's no scheduled train going north until 940.... it finally started moving 30 min later. See.... this is what happens when they lag on finishing double tracking and trains need to go zig zag across eachother....

The “well will run express from Milliken to Union” doesn’t materially change much given the slow order at Finch, crawling through Agincourt, slow order at Progress and crawling through Kennedy before getting into queue to crawl into a platform at Union because we missed our original slot.

 

[cplchanb]

The “well will run express from Milliken to Union” doesn’t materially change much given the slow order at Finch, crawling through Agincourt, slow order at Progress and crawling through Kennedy before getting into queue to crawl into a platform at Union because we missed our original slot.

Didnt help my cause since I had to get kicked off to the next train for agincourt.....

 

[JasonParis]

Personally, I am not in favour of abandoning the GO naming scheme where the ref and name reflect where the train goes... I think it would be very boring to do so too
The only reforms I think I would bring onto GO is to change naming from terminal -> corridor (So that if it ever gets extended it doesn't need renaming) and to put different services as part of the naming scheme, as an example, LW-HA for trains that terminate to Hamilton GO, or LW-NI for Niagara, or LW-EX for express. Granted, LW has too many service patterns which really should be coalesced.

The current scheme prevents any potential naming conflicts with local transit, which is good.

That said, the nomenclature isn’t always consistent. Many lines aren’t named after their terminal stations at all—Lakeshore East and West, Barrie, Richmond Hill, and Stouffville among them. Kitchener is the main exception. You could argue that Lakeshore West should be the Niagara Line and Lakeshore East the Oshawa Line. The apparent logic seems to be naming lines after what they’re best known for, but the result is uneven.

I’m not religious about this, but I do think lettered designations still make sense, especially when GO appears on other system maps. A simple lettered emblem at a TTC–GO interchange is far cleaner and more legible than a long line name.

Branching introduces another layer of complexity. Do you designate an A1 to Hamilton Centre and an A2 to Niagara Falls? That could also apply to Kitchener, with a C1 to Kitchener and a C2 to Pearson. It’s workable, but it opens up a lot of edge cases.

Interlining complicates things further—and some lines already effectively interline today. If you’re travelling from Hamilton Centre to Oshawa, is that an A1–F service? Is a Malton to Unionville train a C1–E? At that point, the system risks becoming more confusing than helpful.

 

[Allandale25]

Article is paywalled so not sure of the details.

 

[Northern Light]

Article is paywalled so not sure of the details.

View attachment 714689

The issue, as I understand it, is that Presto has been charging people the cash fare rather than the Presto fare when they tap their cards, in some/all circumstances. (one person's account was this experience on GO)

Mx/Presto have been rather quiet about this........

Hmmmm.

@atakagi1

 

[Northern Light]

Michael Lindsay, speaking this morning at the Mx Board meeting very thoroughly went over what happened in the USRC incident last week.

Discussion begins at ~24M in to the video.

Short version, a number of lag screws failed and were sheered off due to fatigue, the rail was out by 1 and 1/8th inches causing the derailment. Lots more detail to be had though, including info on a problematic finding that the number of screws required at some locations to keeps the rails working as they should was 1/2 what it was supposed to be.

 

[Allandale25]

Refunds coming:

Metrolinx issuing refunds following GO train disruption

Refunds coming for GO train customers who travelled Feb. 2-4.

www.metrolinx.com

 

[nfitz]

Article is paywalled so not sure of the details.

I couldn't find anything out about this anywhere, and tough even to find the URL of the paywalled article - which is https://www.thetrillium.ca/insider-...zes-for-overcharging-riders-on-feb-1-11862958

They want $750 for me to read the article? It's a bit rich that it's Metrolinx they think has been overcharging!

The issue, as I understand it, is that Presto has been charging people the cash fare rather than the Presto fare when they tap their cards, in some/all circumstances. (one person's account was this experience on GO)

Mx/Presto have been rather quiet about this........Article is paywalled so not sure of the details.

I frequently check what I'm charged, especially when doing something out-of-the-ordinary. I've never noticed an issue of charging the cash vs Presto fare. Is there any information on when and where?

 

[Allandale25]

Michael Lindsay, speaking this morning at the Mx Board meeting very thoroughly went over what happened in the USRC incident last week.

Discussion begins at ~24M in to the video.

Short version, a number of lag screws failed and were sheered off due to fatigue, the rail was out by 1 and 1/8th inches causing the derailment. Lots more detail to be had though, including info on a problematic finding that the number of screws required at some locations to keeps the rails working as they should was 1/2 what it was supposed to be.

By lag screws, does he mean spike in the ties? cc @smallspy @crs1026

 

[WB62]

The amount incorrectly charged to individual riders wasn’t a lot, but the lack of transparency about this is a problem, even if it only affected a small portion of riders.

Emails to affected riders or a banner should have been placed on the GO transit website just clarifying that a small overcharge may have occurred on February 1st to some riders, and automatic refunds will be issued within X amount of days.

Leaving customers questioning what happened and needing to phone to get answers is another way the public looses confidence in Metrolinx.

 

[ShonTron]

Article is paywalled so not sure of the details.

View attachment 714689

I couldn't find anything out about this anywhere, and tough even to find the URL of the paywalled article - which is https://www.thetrillium.ca/insider-...zes-for-overcharging-riders-on-feb-1-11862958

They want $750 for me to read the article? It's a bit rich that it's Metrolinx they think has been overcharging!

I frequently check what I'm charged, especially when doing something out-of-the-ordinary. I've never noticed an issue of charging the cash vs Presto fare. Is there any information on when and where?

The Trillium is a digital publication geared to politicians, QP journalists, lobby groups, political insiders, and the like and is not geared for general audiences like newspapers. Sometimes they do publish articles free to the public (and can be very informative!) and often partner with mainstream news outlets who will report on the Trillium’s work. That’s why the prices are the way they are.

That’s said, if you’re going to post an article link, especially to a paywalled site, it’s good to include a short summary.