GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[unimaginative2]

The bilevel platform idea was just a fanciful thought for a system far busier than ours. European cities can move more people on one two track line than we do on the entire GO system, which makes the 8-track main they're building seem more than a little ridiculous. The Yamanote line in Tokyo moves 3.2 million people a day on a pair of tracks. There's absolutely no reason why Toronto can't adopt a similar service pattern to the RER in Paris, for example, and have way more capacity than we could ever need.

 

[drum118]

They can't put tracks 1 and 8 in service over Queen when there is only room on the bridge over Dufferin for 7 tracks. It is impossible. The city wanted to open their Dufferin underpass on schedule rather than add the 8th track that Metrolinx wanted built... so it is on the backburner.



There is a curve in the whole corridor between Queen and King. If the corridor had 4 tracks crossing King in the future position of tracks 5-8, and across Queen in track positions 2-5, nobody would notice in terms of speed.



There is already a bend between Queen and King so there is no need for a sharp turn... you start curving early or late to arrive at the bridge you want to cross.



Maybe for construction space on the north side of the corridor. They are installing bridges on Queen in the fall and they are going to need to put a proper railway bed on the north side because that side has never had mainline tracks.

First of all, there are 6 bridges on site today and when the other 2 show up, that will be 8 over Queen. As to what is going to happen at Dufferin is still up in the air for track 1 and only time will tell us what going to take place there.

I had a quick looked on Sat at the track work and no time for photos, but track 7 is the track that was installed a week ago. It matches with what was started a month ago. This means the Milton trains can operate a full speed for this area from Bathurst to Dupont with no interference from the other 2 lines now.

They will have to rebuilt the area for tracks 1 and 2 considering there were tracks there for track 1 decades ago. It was a switching lead into the yard and industries on the east side. Look for photos and maps for it.

Joe Blow may not notice the speed on the curves, but both GO and RR do.

RR want sweeping curves these days to cut down on low speed operation as well high speed crossovers

 

[drum118]

GO Transit has a consultant working on the Milton EA and it is flying below the radar until after the election in the fall.

The reason it flying so low, is the fact that this line is going to cost over a Billion Dollars and it may not proceed after the election, considering something has to be done for this line now.

There are many places where there serious issue getting 4 track in place and one reason for the high cost.

There will be no public meetings or impute until after the election.

 

[drum118]

GO Human Health Assessment for the Georgetown Line and Open House

GO Human Health Assessment for the Georgetown Line

GO Transit was to release today the findings of the Human Health Assessment for the Georgetown Line where the public will have impute for the next 30 days before going to MTO/MOE for final approval.

There will be 3 public meetings where the results from the report will be presented to the public for their feed back.

From my point of view, the report shows the background emissions are far higher than all GO service come 2031 using the current MP 40-3C, even thought I support the electrification of all lines. I have never support the claim by both the Weston group or Clean Train. One can only imagine what the claims would be if steam locomotives still exist today or this was none back in their time.

GO has an RFP closing this month for prototype testing of Tier 4 technology that will see 10 of the current MP 40-3C refurbish by 2015. I expect to see 600-609 being use, since they are the oldest in the current fleet at this time. Testing will start in 2012/13. The refurbish of the remaining fleet will start after 2015 as they come due for maintains.

By August, there will be 3 air quality monitoring station in service for the Georgetown line with one at the 401/Weston where CP line splits from the corridor, Toronto Diamond and Strachan. The 401 is expected to have the highest reading of the 3.

All standards are based on WHO.

Current VIA, CP and CN locomotives rating is based on no Tier Standards at this time.

Open houses will be:

Thu, 9 June, 18:30 – 20:30
York West Active Living Centre 1901 Weston Road, Toronto, ON M9N 3P5 (map)

Tue, 14 June, 18:30 – 20:30
Harbourfront Community Centre 627 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON M5V 3G3 (map)

Thu, 16 June, 18:30 – 20:30
Lithuanian House 1573 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M6P 1A6 (map)

West Toronto Diamond Grade Separation Open House Tue, 21 June, 18:30 – 20:30
Annette Street Public Library, 145 Annette Street, Toronto, ON M6P 1P3 (map)

The report can be read at
http://www.gotransit.com/gts/en/monitoring/hhmp.aspx

 

[APTA-2048]

The new Pickering GO station building opened two months ago. Some small things look like they still need to be finished. I'll try to get more photos when I'm not catching a connecting bus.

 

[TOareaFan]

The new Pickering GO station building opened two months ago. Some small things look like they still need to be finished. I'll try to get more photos when I'm not catching a connecting bus.

GO is doing a very good job (IMHO) with their new stations/buildings. They are similar enough to each other to give that sense of familiarity....yet different enough to not be ho hum....they are "fancy" enough to create a nice commuting environment but not so "fancy" that they give the sense of overspending/waste amongst those who count pennies!

I have yet to see one GO construction project like this that makes me think "what were they thinking?"....nice job all round....sure they could always be better but, they could be a lot, lot, worse!

 

[gweed123]

GO is doing a very good job (IMHO) with their new stations/buildings. They are similar enough to each other to give that sense of familiarity....yet different enough to not be ho hum....they are "fancy" enough to create a nice commuting environment but not so "fancy" that they give the sense of overspending/waste amongst those who count pennies!

I have yet to see one GO construction project like this that makes me think "what were they thinking?"....nice job all round....sure they could always be better but, they could be a lot, lot, worse!

I definitely agree with this. I only really travel the Lakeshore West line, but I've been seeing the gradual upgrades they've been doing to the stations (Burlington and Appleby are done, still working on Oakville and Clarkson). They aren't elaborate, but they don't feel like the current Bloor station on the Georgetown line (ie a slab of pavement with a few bus shelters on it). It's quite a nice balance. I'll try to snap a pic of the new bridge that is going in at Burlington station to connect the new parking garage to the platforms. I think it'll look pretty nice when it's done.

 

[TOareaFan]

I definitely agree with this. I only really travel the Lakeshore West line, but I've been seeing the gradual upgrades they've been doing to the stations (Burlington and Appleby are done, still working on Oakville and Clarkson). They aren't elaborate, but they don't feel like the current Bloor station on the Georgetown line (ie a slab of pavement with a few bus shelters on it). It's quite a nice balance. I'll try to snap a pic of the new bridge that is going in at Burlington station to connect the new parking garage to the platforms. I think it'll look pretty nice when it's done.

Yes....the word balance comes to mind in what they are doing......keeping in mind they are spending public money (and I tend to the fiscal conservative side of things) they should be receiving high praise on how they are doing that! You really get the sense that they care what they are delivering without the sense they are doing it with a blank chequebook!

 

[drum118]

I happen to be out at Clarkson Station today and it looks a hell lot better than it did before. Still a lot of work to be done.

The last reaming section of the south platform will be gone either this week or early next week.

As of Monday, June 13, AM Peak trains are using parts of the new platform, including the accessibility platform for the first 5 cars only. You are supposed to be able to use the new south entrance as well the tunnel to gain access to the #3 platform. It was closed off when I was there. South Elevator is months away from being in operation.

There is nothing stated on the notice about PM peak trains using the #3 platform, but would not be surprised if it happens.

The new section being used for AM Peak trains still has a lot of work to be done before the first section can be open all day.

As for Pickering, I have never visited the station to have a first hand look at it and be able to compare it to the new one, but it is a lot better than the Lisger station that only open a few years ago from the photo.

Since Pickering is an all day station, it will see more riders using it than Lisgar that only see 14 trains a day at this time. At the same time, Pickering is bigger than Oakville, which only open last year and that odd.

Having watched Aldershot, Bronte, Appleby being rebuilt also, none of the station are on a grand scale, function well and where built fairly cheap.

Photos to follow by Friday.

All 3 of the bike shelter are overflowing, including the old style ones.

The westbound train was 18 minutes late while the eastbound one sat for 2 minutes to depart on schedule, as the guard was looking at his watch before calling doors closing.

 

[Long Island Mike]

GO Transit Engineers and Conductors: Are more train crews needed?

I think the best way to decrease headways is to gradually move GO to a more S-Bahn type of system. Electrification is obviously a big part of that.

But in the short term, the biggest thing GO can do is to hire and train more conductors. You can't increase frequencies if you have nobody to drive the train.

Another thing they can do is to keep long trains for peak hours, but run shorter trainsets in off-peak hours. During peak hours, these trains can be used in between the currently scheduled trains, or as trains going outbound in the AM. This will reduce the amount of trains that are running 90% empty outside of peak hours (which would lead to lower operating costs). Because let's face it, a 4-5 car trainset is all you really need for the 8pm inbound Lakeshore West train.

And just to clarify, I don't mean separating and joining cars every AM and PM rush hour. I mean have dedicated trainsets that are 10 cars, and some that are 5 cars. Schedule the 10 car trains when you know there will be demand for them, and use the 5 car trains when you know the demand is limited. During rush hour for example, you can run large trains on the 00s and 30s, and small trains on the 15s and the 45s. Once rush hour is over, you drop of the 00s and 30s trains and keep the 15s and 45s trains until the PM rush hour, where the longer trains are inserted back into the rotation.

But without more conductors, all those plans are pretty much useless.

GW: There is a difference between the job titles "Engineer" and "Conductor"...

Locomotive Engineers operate trains and Conductors do not directly operate trains but they are in charge of a train and are responsible for a train's safe operation...

The thing that I am not sure about is if GO employs its own train crews or contracts with CN to supply them...and the Milton Line I believe uses CP crews again under contract...

A shortage of train crews would be a major potential problem for GO in this era of growing ridership and thoughts of major service expansions...

LI MIKE

 

[smallspy]

At the same time, Pickering is bigger than Oakville, which only open last year and that odd.

Oakville Station was built in 1967, for the opening of the line. It was the same age as the original Pickering Station.

The thing that I am not sure about is if GO employs its own train crews or contracts with CN to supply them...and the Milton Line I believe uses CP crews again under contract...

LI MIKE

GO contracts operation of all trains except for the Milton Line to Bombardier. They use two engineers, and the jobs of the conductor are split between one of them and the CSA, who operates the doors but is not considered a running trade.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[junctionist]

GO is doing a very good job (IMHO) with their new stations/buildings. They are similar enough to each other to give that sense of familiarity....yet different enough to not be ho hum....they are "fancy" enough to create a nice commuting environment but not so "fancy" that they give the sense of overspending/waste amongst those who count pennies!

I disagree. Many of their new stations feature some dull 90s'-style PoMo buildings like the new Pickering Station shown in the photo you quoted. Stairwells and underground corridors linking platforms are often nothing more than tunnels with bare concrete walls and a bunch of tubes tacked onto the ceiling for wiring. The only distraction from the rock bottom cheapness is the advertising. Even at Union Station, a national historic site, GO has new spaces with bare concrete halls and corridors. Platforms at new stations never have pavers, just asphalt, the cheapest paving that gets hot in the summer.

The urban design is still the same ambitionless suburban model of having large surface parking lots around stations. So much for those Places to Grow-type ideals of curbing sprawl with higher density transit development. In addition to these issues, there's no public art. GO is nowhere close to being in a position to be accused of overspending on stations and it shows in the dreck they build. A provincial agency doesn't even have that much to worry about in this regard.

I have yet to see one GO construction project like this that makes me think "what were they thinking?"....nice job all round....sure they could always be better but, they could be a lot, lot, worse!

Union Station's bare concrete corridors and that cheap arcade along Bay Street under the rail viaduct at the heart of their network and this important metropolitan region made me question what they were thinking. It doesn't get worse than bare concrete walls and floors, unless there's water leaking onto it. In fact, that Pickering Station's conservative building looks rock bottom too, though in the suburbs it's not noticeable since low design standards tend to be the norm unfortunately.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

A shortage of train crews would be a major potential problem for GO in this era of growing ridership and thoughts of major service expansions...
LI MIKE

They use two engineers, and the jobs of the conductor are split between one of them and the CSA, who operates the doors but is not considered a running trade.

Right now not a single GO train has 2 engineers. Even though they refer to us all as Train Operators only 1 is actually a qualified engineer. An engineer can work as a conductor but a conductor cannot work as an engineer A conductor can work as a CSA but a CSA cannot work as a conductor.

There is a total of 66 qualified engineers. Currently there are 54 jobs in operation. Provisions must be made for a 'spare board'. Those on the spare board are called in to work when another employee is off for vacation or a day of rest. We currently have 7 people on the spare board which is dangerously low, typically close to 20% is preferable, meaning there should really be around 11-12. The 5 others are off for various other reasons (health concerns, suspensions, unknown). The 7 on the spare board can only cover 5 days each (=35 man days total per week). On average 3 engineers per week are off on vacation for each week of the year (-15 man days) and we each get 2 sick days a year (66x2=132 total for work force/52 weeks = 2.5). That leaves 17.5 days. Meaning that over the course of a 7 day week the spare board is currently sufficient to cover for 2-3 unplanned absences per day. That's a pretty slim margin considering how GO prides itself on providing reliable service. Luckily there are many employees who are more than willing to take overtime by working on their off days.

The Niagara service added 2 jobs to the total, without which the base total for regular service is now 52. That number is down from last year when there was 55 jobs (57 or 58 with Niagara). Of course there have been no service cuts. So what gives? Efficiency? Definitely not. Not when you end up paying more for operations. By cutting off those 3 jobs (about 26 hrs total - the average job was 8:30) you just added on average 1/2hr in OT to every other job. The reason of course is the crewing shortage. The first batch of new conductors (meaning those who were hired without any prior railway experience and had to wait 2 years due to CN & transport Canada provisions) were Qualified at the start of the year. 6 new engineers were added, unfortunately 8 or 9 engineers left in that same period (retirement, VIA)

Bombardier has an open ad for engineers on their web site. Its been up for 3 years. However aside from a large batch of CP & ONR layoffs 18 or so months ago they have had difficultly recruiting any more experienced engineers.
Knowing this, they have continued to prod along with the training program. There is a group of 6 engineers in training that will be available come summer time. Following that another group of 4 will be ready 6 months later around the new year. However its expected that there will be a few more retirements and possibly a few more may leave for VIA. Considering that, its likely that in the course of 2011 they will have added a net total of 6-7 engineers (meaning 6-7 new jobs will be possible). Disappointing considering the plan was to train 12 at a time but unfortunately it seems that they didn't plan for any contingencies.

The 5th Barrie train will take one and the Kitchener trains will take 2 (unless they are simply extending 2 of the Georgetown trains). That would leave between 3-6. However I wouldn't expect any more runs since they really do need to top up the spare board to appropriate levels (10-13).

These new engineers could have been ready 9 months before they actually were (i.e. when they had gotten their 2 years in) But they couldn't allow the conductors to start training as engineers because there is shortage of conductors as well! Its much more easier train a conductor (6 months) than it is an engineer (2.5 years min) so the reason for this shortage is perplexing. Fortunately the training of new conductors has recently begun. Basically the training process is now in full swing and by the start of next year we should have 10-12 conductors begin their engineer training per class rather than 6 or so. After 6 month of training, they'll be added to the pool of engineers(next summer). Its only then will we likely see more significant service increases.

 

[Dan416]

Thanks for the behind-the-scenes info vegeta_skyline.

 

[nfitz]

Thanks for the behind-the-scenes info vegeta_skyline.

Indeed - great post!

I think I've heard that the Georgetown extension to Kitchener isn't adding any trains ... though I'd think it would have to add engineers given significant extra distance involved!