MoveOntario 2020: GO Transit Electrification

[kEiThZ]

Electric locomotives are a quick fix, no secret. They'll use them until the money is there to start replacing bilevels with EMUs. GO and VIA should work together on the purchase of electrics; when GO's done with them, they can sign them over to VIA for a pre-arranged sum.

I don't think a quick fix is necessarily needed. They are talking about service expansion on several lines. They can simply displace the current trains to those lines and buy EMUs for expansion. Additionally, the speed of EMUs means you can buy fewer trains which means that purchasing EMUs for expansion is only marginally more expensive than buying a diesel or electric locomotive and additional bi-levels...and the cost savings from buying fewer trains and savings on maintenance and ops more than makes up for this difference over time. I am hopeful that a detailed study will help them reach this conclusion.

 

[Second_in_pie]

Electric locomotives are a quick fix, no secret. They'll use them until the money is there to start replacing bilevels with EMUs. GO and VIA should work together on the purchase of electrics; when GO's done with them, they can sign them over to VIA for a pre-arranged sum.

Wow, that's an awesome idea! I just wonder if VIA routes will actually get electrified even 10 years after Go starts using EMUs

 

[drum118]

I read this report and how much was paid for it??

I would charge 50% less and presented a real BCA with real numbers and comparison why EMU's is the way to go than what was in this report. How many time was the same thing repeated over and over when once was enough. Cost of the report must be based on the number of words.

The report talks about 10 car train when there are 12 car express trains today and the current 10 car trains will be upgraded to 12 cars next year after all the station are upgraded or rebuilt.

An EMU order can be place in 2010 or 2011 while the overhead been built. As these EMU's come on line, the existing fleet would move to other lines as expansion equipment. Some would stay for service outside this area.

30 minutes services is coming next summer.

CN will be able to start laying the 3rd track between Clarkson Rd and Mississauga by the end of Oct as pile 40 and the last one is been place just east of Clarkson Rd.

 

[RedRocket191]

Question to stimulate discussion:

The North American-spec EMUs are not accessible to the low floor platform. Since it's unlikely that every platform will be rebuilt to high floor, what would a GO EMU look like?

 

[Northern Light]

Thanks Drum

Thanks Drum,

As usual your full of interesting information!

***

Though, I thought you would kind of hard on the report (not that you wouldn't have done a better job!)

I thought it made a clear case for EMUs by effectively saying there is a serious capacity constraint both in the ROW and in Union itself, even after all the proposed improvements, even with EMU operation.

But clearly showing that w/diesel there is no hope; and electric is a huge, but incomplete improvement.

Consultants are known for bold language, but I thought there recommendations were fairly clear.

Maybe I'm being too nice! (though that's not really like me)

 

[kEiThZ]

Question to stimulate discussion:

The North American-spec EMUs are not accessible to the low floor platform. Since it's unlikely that every platform will be rebuilt to high floor, what would a GO EMU look like?

I assumed that deployment of EMUs would include project costs to raise the platforms along the Lakeshore lines. Or maybe GO can just pay someone to design and build a low floor EMU. Given the size of GO, it can actually throw its weight around a bit to get something like that done.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Question to stimulate discussion:

The North American-spec EMUs are not accessible to the low floor platform. Since it's unlikely that every platform will be rebuilt to high floor, what would a GO EMU look like?

Here's the vehicles the Stouffville line will use:

EMU eggs are green, too...

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Here's the vehicles the Stouffville line will use:

EMU eggs are green, too...

a wise choice. i don't think there will be any egrets..

 

[Voltz]

Green eggs, LOL,


Anyways, I would be happy with a EMU car based on the existing bi-level design, they might lose some floor space to fit in the equipment, but it would still allow for more capacity than a single level car.

I don't see GO ever moving to high floor platforms, there would be a rather large gap between the platform and the car in order to leave enough room for freight trains, and various other issues

 

[scarberiankhatru]

I should have said "Here's the vehicles the Stuffingville line will use"...but the forum no longer has the 'evil' emoticon and I doubt the government would appreciate getting such poultry returns on its investment in EMUs.

 

[ShonTron]

Green eggs, LOL,


Anyways, I would be happy with a EMU car based on the existing bi-level design, they might lose some floor space to fit in the equipment, but it would still allow for more capacity than a single level car.

I don't see GO ever moving to high floor platforms, there would be a rather large gap between the platform and the car in order to leave enough room for freight trains, and various other issues

Such bi-level EMUs exist, even under the FRA regime, in Chicago (Metra Electric) and New Jersey Transit. If you look at even the current UTDC/Hawker-Siddley/Bombardier bi-level design, there's room for pantographs above the mezzanine levels, though there would be some space lost to motors.

 

[RedRocket191]

The Metra electric cab cars look kinda funky, but they don't solve the platform issue unfortunatly. The diesel-hauled coaches work with low platforms but the electric fleet appears to be high-platform only...
I don't think NJ Transit runs multilevel EMUs through. They run EMUs and multilevels, but not multilevel EMUs

 

[EnviroTO]

NJ Transit operates multi-levels and electric locomotives and AMT in Montreal is getting the same type of multi-levels. The multi-levels NJT and AMT use are different in that they support both high and low platforms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:N..._leads_Train_3270_into_Middletown_Station.jpg

 

[kettal]

I assumed that deployment of EMUs would include project costs to raise the platforms along the Lakeshore lines. Or maybe GO can just pay someone to design and build a low floor EMU. Given the size of GO, it can actually throw its weight around a bit to get something like that done.

But are current GO Bilevels compatible with high platforms?

I predict a new EMU will be designed to GO's spec.

That's how the bilevel carriage came to be, and has since become a North American standard.

 

[Komiksulo]

But are current GO Bilevels compatible with high platforms?

What if they put the high-level doors in the mid-level areas at the ends?

It might break accessibility for the wheeled though.

And a mixed system with both high-level and low-level platforms would be a major pain in the butt. Could a bilevel have doors on both the lower level and the mid-level?