drum118
Superstar
Platform For Rotterdam about the same as Union from what I saw first hand this year and are wider
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GO Transit: Union Station Shed Replacement & Track Upgrades (Zeidler)
reaperexpress
Senior Member
The current phase of the Union Station Expansion Project, whose scope is to rebuild the south part of the station - not the USRC - plays up the future 45 mph track speed in virtually every announcement. The work does include a couple hundred metres of new track on either side of the platform to connect to the existing USRC tracks, but it would be bizarre of them to play up a 45 mph track speed on a short segment adjacent where trains wouldn't be able to reach more than 15 mph or so due to the adjacent 10 mph limit.
Trains can currently pass directly by GO platforms at up to 160 km/h without platform doors, so I personally don't find it so absurd to imagine that trains could exceed 16 km/h within Union Station if its platforms were widened.
Rotterdam Centraal is not equipped with ETCS either. High Speed trains switch from ETCS to the legacy ATB signalling system approaching the station, then back to ETCS when they rejoin the high speed line on the other side.
The platform lengths on the through tracks at Rotterdam Centraal range from 354 m to 495 m. A 12-car GO train platform is only 314 m.
Most trains enter Rotterdam Centraal with a 40 km/h speed restriction, since they are usually entering the platform via a yellow signal, with a red signal at the end of the platform. It would be wasteful to clear the train onto the junction beyond the station before they are ready to depart.
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SkylineHorizon
Active Member
The speed through the shed has never been more than 15 in GO's existence. IIRC the speed was further reduced to 10mph after Daniel Panacci tragic death on Apr 29th, 2015(RIP). After that incident GO transit was criticized for unsafe platform conditions and rightfully so. They absolutely had to respond with some kind of safety measure. Certainly wider platforms will make for a much safer environment but unless they rebuild all the stairwells there will still be several 'pinch points' along the plaforms. And even with that big increase in capacity there will always be occasional situations where at least psome ortions of the platforms get dangerously crowded. Anyone who's been through Union after a big event knows how huge those crowds can be. Knowing how sensitive they are to bad publicity I seriously doubt they would ever take the chance and allow the speeds to increase above 15mph.
Also is Union Station even structurally sound enough to support increased speeds? We've all heard the rumble of a train passing over top while we're in the concourse underneath. I don't know about you guys but it's always a bit unnerving to me. While I have no reason to believe the structure is unsound, at higher speeds the impact forces and vibrations would naturally be much greater. I'm no expert in the field but perhaps that is another limiting factor at play.
crs1026
Superstar
The new tracks and platform are to the south of the old trainshed, so perhaps they will be anchored differently to make faster track speeds possible. You raise a good point about the original structure. I suspect that after all these years, it is pretty much indestructible, but there will be physical limits to how much stress the design will take.
Back when GO frequencies were much lower and there were fewer intercity trains, that rumble marked the arrival of a train, which created activity in the station and felt more like an “event”. I have always loved that particular experience…. one of the few nice things about the VIA departures concourse. At today’s train throughput, it’s much less dramatic and more routine.
- Paul
superelevation
Active Member
EMUs in particular will likely be much lighter axle load wise . . . .
mburrrrr
Senior Member
Some excavation and lots of dump trucks today.
Feb 1
The Scott St station refurbishment looks done.
Sept 20, 2023
April 2022
March 2022
Feb 1
The Scott St station refurbishment looks done.
Sept 20, 2023
April 2022
March 2022
Allandale25
Senior Member
Popular pedestrian connection at Union Station to close Feb. 8
The accessible indoor ramp connecting Union Station to 25 York Street is set to close permanently.
www.metrolinx.com
polesingularity
New Member
This is going to be one long concourse.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
Clongcourse.
mburrrrr
Senior Member
Picture from Tuesday.
Leo_Chan
Senior Member
Is this an example of the cut and cover tunnelling method?
T3G
Senior Member
Well... yes and no.
In the most literal sense, it is a visual representation of the idea behind cut-and-cover. A structure is built, and then stuff is built on top of it to give the illusion that it's a natural street and that there wasn't previously a big trench built in it.
But it's being built above the Union station, which is not a tunnel. It's just things on a rooftop.
mburrrrr
Senior Member
Saturday morning.
Coolibop
Active Member
rbt
Senior Member
That unfortunately is incorrect or wasn't the policy last summer when I used a couple dozen outbound AM-rush trains. Perhaps it's an old policy that hasn't been corrected on schedules because very few people use the PDF. These are the policies that their fare-enforcement teams were enforcing last summer/fall:
Biking and GO Transit
Riding a bike is another convenient way to get to GO stops & stations. Bring it onboard with ease!
www.gotransit.com
"You may not bring bikes on GO trains arriving at Union Station between 6:30am to 9:30am, or on trains leaving Union Station between 3:30pm to 6:30pm."
I even had discussions with fare-enforcement who was fitting out their own bike regarding the panniers (bags) as I had a couple days worth of water, food, and clothing: they didn't miss the bike.
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