GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[accura407]

My Idea for a Spur to Mississauga City Centre is this:

The Magenta Colored Line can be described like this...

A) Tunnel from Square One to the existing Milton Line @ West of Dundas where it transitions into Industrial.
B) 4-6 Track the Milton Line through the Industrial Lands expropriating as much land as necessary.
C) A 2 Track Elevated Deviation goes SW from the Line Near Etobicoke Creek Towards Sherway Gardens (Transport Hub)
D) Transition into a short tunnel which emerges into a portal in the median of Gardiner Expressway
E) Re-format Gardiner Expressway (remove collectors, 8 lanes) and have 2 tracks down the middle carrying this service.
F) At Humber Bay, The tracks leave the Gardiner median and join an expanded Lakeshore Line (6 Tracks)

It would be a big project but if done, it would mean that the milton line does not have to be upgraded in the most difficult sections, near residential areas. West of the spur, the line does face the same issues but it would be hoped that a MCC - Sherway - Union Express service would take away a LOT of traffic from the Milton Line to the point that the remaining line can perform adequately without major upgrades to the CP line.
It is not impossible...

 

[dunkalunk]

I actually quite like the idea of a rail corridor in the centre of the Gardiner, but if the objective is to connect the Milton and Lakeshore rail corridors, then there are certainly less expensive alternatives than trying to ram a rail corridor thorough the spaghetti interchange at the 427 and QEW.

 

[Markster]

Uh... so.... back on the topic of real GO Transit Service...

The first chance to ride the GO Train between Kitchener & Guelph is coming this Sunday!

John Milloy, MPP for Kitchener Centre, invites you to experience the new GO Train Service between Kitchener and Guelph for FREE this Sunday, December 18th.

Event begins at 12:30 p.m. at Kitchener Via Station, 126 Weber St. West.

GO Train Excursion Itinerary for Sunday, December 18th*

·****** Train leaves Kitchener at 1 p.m.

·****** Arrives in Guelph at 1:22 p.m.

·****** Leaves Guelph at 1:35 p.m.

·****** Returns to Kitchener at 1:57 p.m.

Train rides will be free for all on Sunday. All are welcome to attend.

 

[TOareaFan]

Uh... so.... back on the topic of real GO Transit Service...

The first chance to ride the GO Train between Kitchener & Guelph is coming this Sunday!

Who would have bet on Kitchener and Guelph being the first non-Lakeshore line communities to get "scheduled" train service on a Sunday!

 

[CDL.TO]

Who would have bet on Kitchener and Guelph being the first non-Lakeshore line communities to get "scheduled" traun service on a Sunday!

Not counting the Barrie line Santa Claus parade train?

 

[11th]

Who would have bet on Kitchener and Guelph being the first non-Lakeshore line communities to get "scheduled" traun service on a Sunday!

Is the scheduled run also the first to have both its destinations outside of Toronto?

 

[TOareaFan]

Not counting the Barrie line Santa Claus parade train?

Nice catch! Although I am gonna let my joke stand on the basis that that fell into "event" and this Kitchener run actually has a multi-trip published schedule.

Thinking about it though (and I don't know the traffic flows in the area) since the two trains that will start their runs in Kitchener are gonna sit idle every weekend.....can we ever see a time where that sort of use is contemplated? A two train shuttle back and forth on weekends between non-toronto destinations?

 

[gweed123]

I'm not sure what you mean, but I would assume it would operate as a separate line from the Milton one, kind of how the ARL is supposed to branch from the Georgetown line.

I think it would be even better to do a similar thing with Scarborough Centre and the Stouffville line. If it can be built before the RT goes out of service it could replace the need for running buses for 4 years. Actually it could even replace the need to rebuild the RT.

And it would be easier than a Mississauga one since the ROW is already there.

Interesting idea. I had never really considered that. It does pose some issues about how to get LRT deeper into Scarborough though. It would take some completely different routings in order to make sure that Scarborough is still adequately serviced. Hydro corridor alignment perhaps? Eglinton East/Kingston Rd? Eventually it would need to turn north and terminate in Malvern. Does it bypass STC entirely? A whole new can of worms just got opened up with that.

The way I envision the MCC spur working is that it would either be the terminus of the Midtown line, or a branch of the Milton line. In either case, you would have roughly double the frequency east of Hurontario heading into Toronto, which is where you would need the increased frequency.

The Berlin S-Bahn does much the same thing. It has "parent" lines that pass through downtown, and then branch out as they get further out. The further out you go, the less the frequency is, because the fewer routes there are. As you get closer to downtown, you can have 3 or 4 routes overlapping on the same line, that as long as you're travelling the central trunk portion, will take you where you need to go. It's only when you need to go way out into the suburbs that you really need to pay attention to which train you're getting onto. Come to think of it, Ottawa's Transitway also does pretty much the exact same thing.

 

[mpd618]

Thinking about it though (and I don't know the traffic flows in the area) since the two trains that will start their runs in Kitchener are gonna sit idle every weekend.....can we ever see a time where that sort of use is contemplated? A two train shuttle back and forth on weekends between non-toronto destinations?

I think a GO train shuttle back and forth between Kitchener and Guelph would be fantastically useful all the damn time, considering how busy Highway 7 is and how connected K-W and Guelph are. DMUs are ideal for this, but you might as well use the trains you have instead of them sitting at a layover somewhere all day.

 

[TOareaFan]

I think a GO train shuttle back and forth between Kitchener and Guelph would be fantastically useful all the damn time, considering how busy Highway 7 is and how connected K-W and Guelph are. DMUs are ideal for this, but you might as well use the trains you have instead of them sitting at a layover somewhere all day.

Well, Monday to Friday, they would not be sitting there "all day" just on weekends.

 

[mpd618]

Well, Monday to Friday, they would not be sitting there "all day" just on weekends.

Right, but they'd be sitting somewhere most of the day, since GO runs much less service mid-day.

 

[TOareaFan]

Right, but they'd be sitting somewhere most of the day, since GO runs much less service mid-day.

Sure, like most of the fleet they sit near Union waiting to take all the people home that they brought in that morning. They are not likely going to bring them all the way back to K-W on a deadhead run just so that they can spend a few trips shuttling a few people back and forth to Guelph then dead-head them back to Union to fulfill their true mandate in life.

If they could run trains through all the corridors like that they might just as well run all day service on the entire line(s)....and there are clearly limitations and reasons that is not happening. Some it is capacity, some it is construction work and, all, it is a limit on available crews.

I only brought up the KW-Guelph shuttle (kinda wish I hadn't now) as I keep hearing from people how much movement there is between the two towns and I thought, "geez, their close enough that two trains could provide a pretty good shuttle service on weekends...wonder if they would ever experiment with that".

 

[Ryan]

Interesting idea. I had never really considered that. It does pose some issues about how to get LRT deeper into Scarborough though. It would take some completely different routings in order to make sure that Scarborough is still adequately serviced. Hydro corridor alignment perhaps? Eglinton East/Kingston Rd? Eventually it would need to turn north and terminate in Malvern. Does it bypass STC entirely? A whole new can of worms just got opened up with that.

This is probably the wrong thread for this kind of discussion, but anyways, if something like this were implemented, how it is operated is dependent on whether (1) they're running bi-level diesel trains at rush hour, or electrified EMU's running all day service, and (2) how fares are integrated between GO and the subways/TTC.

If there is all-day service with integrated fares, then there's no reason to think of GO stations as any different than subway stations. LRT or local buses can still branch out from or connect between the stations.

 

[drum118]

Was in Georgetown today and looks like the south GO platform is going to be use for the KW runs. There was no train on that track, since it is now up in KW.

Signs are posted saying shelters will be install for riders waiting for the KW trains starting Dec 16 until Jan.

There was a small fresh pour concrete on the existing south GO platform, about 50cm thick with a small ramp. If this pad is for the shelter, very small shelters.

There will be no accessibility platform at Georgetown under the current setup. All the platforms have been rebuilt except the south one. The south one has seen its edges rebuilt.

No work has taken place on the existing VIA platform.

The bridge over the Credit River is in place and ballast. It is waiting tracks and switches.

The bridge supports have been cap for the 3rd track on the south side.

 

[gweed123]

This is probably the wrong thread for this kind of discussion, but anyways, if something like this were implemented, how it is operated is dependent on whether (1) they're running bi-level diesel trains at rush hour, or electrified EMU's running all day service, and (2) how fares are integrated between GO and the subways/TTC.

If there is all-day service with integrated fares, then there's no reason to think of GO stations as any different than subway stations. LRT or local buses can still branch out from or connect between the stations.

Very true. My worry with the spur to STC is that there is no clear open alignment from the rail corridor to STC, and that one would need to be made. The EA process for this would bring it into the same timeframe as the completion of the SLRT. If there was a rail corridor (even an abandoned one) still there, I'd say go for it. But without even a ROW existing, it would be pretty tough to whip that together in time.