GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[Chris R.]

Re Hamilton West Harbour - will the switch be under/before the overbridge? I’ve been assuming the width of the graded area is one track and a service road because it seems hard to believe two parallel tracks will fit under the bridge span, but perhaps I’m mistaken?

I have to assume the 2 tracks will continue under James St and John St and will then have a switch to the east of John St. The entire point of the John St bridge rebuild a few years back was to fit two tracks under the bridge so it would be lind of pointless to have the switch before that bridge.

This great picture post by @tsm1072 provides in my opinion some obvious clarity on where the tracks will be going. If you're not familiar with the area I can draw on the photos to provide some additional context:

GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

Am I too much of a pessimist, or is it just a sad truth? Over that last 5 years or so, Billions have been spent, incredible amounts of new infrastructure is in place or on the cusp of coming online, however it looks like GO Transit is not much further ahead than it was when work was started? To...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Re Hamilton West Harbour - will the switch be under/before the overbridge? I’ve been assuming the width of the graded area is one track and a service road because it seems hard to believe two parallel tracks will fit under the bridge span, but perhaps I’m mistaken?

This work notice from 2023 is the only track diagram we have for the West Harbour tie-in. It is by no means a technical drawing but might give some clues. It shows station tracks converging just past James, and the mainline tie in just before Mary.

 

[Northern Light]

@Allandale25 posted this clip of the Mx Board Meeting elsewhere:

I'm not sure what's been reported out on timelines elsewhere and as a few are mentioned, I'm not going to search them all out.

But I made these notes:

1) Caledonia Station (Barrie GO) on target to start construction by year's end, with an in-service date of 3-4 years given.

2) Maple GO targeted for full-return of normal operations by Spring' 25

3) For Stouffville GO Line, there will be a major closure in July (this month) to upgrade signals at 5 at-grade crossings. New track near McNicoll has been commissioned.

There was a rather vague statement about a third and final commissioning phase for tracks works 'in the southern area, close to Scarborough Junction' (his words). That would be 'later this year'.

That would seem to suggest that the full twin track operation will be possible by late this year. @crs1026 may wish to listen to that bit at roughly 45:35 of the video.

The bolded above is:

From: https://www.gotransit.com/en/the-fu...touffville-line-service-adjustment-july-26-28

 

[felix123]

Am I too much of a pessimist, or is it just a sad truth? Over that last 5 years or so, Billions have been spent, incredible amounts of new infrastructure is in place or on the cusp of coming online, however it looks like GO Transit is not much further ahead than it was when work was started? To me it seems significant service improvement still requires one more major project to be completed before promised land is reached.
Even when that so called last major project hurdle is completed, there is always one more project to complete before frequent service can happen.
Again am I correct in this mindset, or am I being too negative and GO Transit has made great progress ?

In my opinion, you're right on the money. GO was crude when they started the expansion program, and years later, it's still crude. Services are nowhere near turn up and go, and even when they do achieve 30-minute all-day service on a line, there are numerous exceptions.

I hope that with all the concurrent projects, everything falls into place at the same time and all of a sudden we have something that's better than diesel trains lumbering into grass fields far from whichever town centre the station is named after. But after this many years of waiting, that seems like wishful thinking.

 

[canarob]

The bolded above is:

View attachment 580595


From: https://www.gotransit.com/en/the-fu...touffville-line-service-adjustment-july-26-28

I wonder if the final West Highland Creek bridge will also be worked on during this closure? Hopefully the new signals mean there are plans for some near-term service increases.

 

[Allandale25]

I wonder if the final West Highland Creek bridge will also be worked on during this closure? Hopefully the new signals mean there are plans for some near-term service increases.

Every time I see this specific location mentioned, I'm compelled to tag @crs1026 as it's one of his favourite projects.

 

[crs1026]

Every time I see this specific location mentioned, I'm compelled to tag @crs1026 as it's one of his favourite projects.

Lol, sure....fire me up..... it's definitely a project that will live in infamy ;-)

Someone I know who monitors the site regularly has not reported any sign of mobilization. But if the signals crew have found a way to cut in the interlocking that is immediately to the south, it will finally enable a bit of double track from Kennedy north to the creek. That task is more consistent with a single short weekend outage.

Alas, without the bridge, the new second track platforms at Agincourt and Milliken remain white elephants....

- Paul