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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

innsertnamehere said:
Cookesville GO is on the Milton Line, which is not planned to have RER service, unfortunately.

While the Milton GO line is one of the highest ridership GO lines, Metrolinx does not own the corridor, which limits what it can do. GO RER as planned today is primarily on corridors Metrolinx owns.

The Milton Line is owned by CP Rail, which does not permit off peak service on the line in order to prevent it interfering with their freight movements. As it is today they only permit service during narrow peak periods, where Metrolinx runs as many trains as it possibly can to meet demand.

Metrolinx has potential long term plans to add new dedicated tracks along the corridor to allow for 15 minute service, but this is heavily dependant on CP agreeing to the plan. Which again, is totally up to CP. No funding for the plan has been identified at this time and it should be considered a longe range plan.
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Even a train once an hour in both directions would be enough for me. It’s strange since my kid likes to go for walks by Fairview park so he can see the trains. But it is not that often a freight trains comes around. We’re super lucky if we catch one on the way home from watching the go trains come in.
 
robmausser said:
The existing bridge plan was not only much larger and more expensive, but it created a spur situation rather than running through the existing Oshawa GO station.

There will still be a station in downtown Oshawa (Knotts Berry Farm location) with this plan, the previous plan of another station North on Thickson Road was simply because the tracks ran there, it would have been a bad idea imo.

The best plan was to use the existing bridge, but thats not on the table anymore. This is still a better plan than what was originally intended.
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Was it going to be a spur? i thought it was basically moving the Go station to across the 401... which is a much better position for it

Thats basically why i was a fan of it. The Oshawa Go station as we know it is just the worst position for any go train station that exists. Its nowhere near any residential neighborhood
 
generalcanada said:
Thats basically why i was a fan of it. The Oshawa Go station as we know it is just the worst position for any go train station that exists. Its nowhere near any residential neighborhood
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The current (ie new) station has one thing (and only one thing) going for it.... enormous tracts of parking next to the 401. It serves Oshawa poorly. That parking will be much less important once service is extended to Bowmanville (where many current parkers live).

If money were no object, I would revert to the original plan for the larger overpass further west and the GO station on the CP line closer to downtown Oshawa. I would add a bypass track out by the GM office facility, to bring VIA onto the GO/CP line so VIA could use the same "downtown" station. Retain the existing station as a stub facility for 5 or 6 peak trains to downtown, for those who don't want to park at the new Bowmanville segment stations. That way the GO/VIA station remains a hub, but in a more developable location.

Sadly, GO and the Province will never admit that the new station is a white elephant. Let's hope that the bus connections remain good.

And frankly, VIA could easily relocate its station to Whitby or Ajax, as that station serves all of Durham Region.

- Paul
 
The parking is so full that any demand that is removed from the expansion will likely fill right back up again. Especially with the amount of growth going on in North Oshawa right now, though I imagine a lot of those GO users may be driving on the 407 / 412 to access parking at Ajax or Pickering stations.
 
generalcanada said:
Was it going to be a spur? i thought it was basically moving the Go station to across the 401... which is a much better position for it

Thats basically why i was a fan of it. The Oshawa Go station as we know it is just the worst position for any go train station that exists. Its nowhere near any residential neighborhood
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It was a spur. There was going to be the existing GO station as well as a new one on Thickson, north of the existing GO station.

They just spent a large chunk of change upgrading the existing GO station. But thats not my reasoning or why im saying that, it was in the plans to have both stations at the same time, like Hamilton GO and West Harbour.
 
crs1026 said:
If money were no object, I would revert to the original plan for the larger overpass further west and the GO station on the CP line closer to downtown Oshawa.

- Paul
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Why though? The plan we have now already has a new station in downtown Oshawa. Why do you want so badly to revert to the original plan?

That has no effect on the downtown Oshawa station. The downtown station is being built. It was being built with the original plan, and its still being built with this plan.
 
A lot of people seem to be confused so ill post the last renderings by Metrolinx here, and the original plan:

blog.metrolinx.com

Metrolinx Press Room

Find the latest Metrolinx news, project updates and more.
blog.metrolinx.com

1612560336337.png


This is the new plan, with the through-station routing of Oshawa GO. Note the station in downtown Oshawa (Ritson Road Station)

Albeit this plan still was considering using the GM plant bridge, but the new bridge will be adjacent to that bridge, and will not change the routing much (certainly not enough to disallow the Ritson station)


This is the old plan

1612560461993.png


All that is being gained is another station at Thorton's Corner. Which is also far out of Oshawa and will be a commuter parking lot type station. The only advantage is that its "slighty" closer to some low density housing.

The disadvantage is now you have a spur line with the existing GO Oshawa station serving some trains, and the Thorton Station routing serving others.

1612560704367.png


Heres a graphic from 2016 showing the spur service plan.

From the link

oshawaexpress.ca

GO Transit goes east | The Oshawa Express

The province has announced it will be going forward with the long-promised project of extending GO Transit’s train services to Bowmanville, resulting in two new stations for Oshawa. Plans to expand the Lakeshore East line past Oshawa to Bowmanville were first announced as part of the province’s...
oshawaexpress.ca oshawaexpress.ca

Future of the current station

However, one thing that remains uncertain is what will happen with the current GO Transit station on Bloor Street West. The current site has been undergoing work since August 2015, when Metrolinx announced that it, along with VIA Rail, would be constructing a new station at the site at a cost of $12 million. The new station is currently scheduled to open next year.

When asked by The Oshawa Express as to the future of the current site, Nichols says there are currently no plans to shut it down.

“Our plans to date for the Lakeshore East GO corridor involve bringing frequent two-way, all-day electric train service to the existing Oshawa GO station. In light of the announcement this morning regarding the extension of GO rail service between Oshawa and Bowmanville, MTO and Metrolinx will be reviewing these plans to determine how we can best ensure enhanced transit service for Oshawa – and, more broadly, Durham Region – residents,” Nichols states in an emailed response.

“Once further technical analysis and the negotiations with CP Rail are completed, we will be in a position to confirm service levels at each of the existing or proposed stations in Oshawa. There are no plans to close the existing Oshawa GO Station at this time.”
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Totally not worth it imo.
 
crs1026 said:

A bridge and a deal: Metrolinx’s plan to get GO trains across Hwy. 401​

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​
"The GO rail from Toronto to Bowmanville will change from electric to diesel, however the GO trains will be outfitted for both and riders will be able to embark on one train and stay on until they arrive at their destination, according to Verster."​
​
I really hope this doesn't mean dual-mode locomotives are going to be the standard train format for all lines. Performance like a diesel despite being electric. Gah.
 
robmausser said:
Does anyone know the distance to Bowmanville from Oshawa on this route?

Maybe a battery EMU that charges when its on the electrified portion of the track would be better suited.
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Oshawa Wye - CP Belleville Sub MP 175.08, Martin Road MP 164.80 = 10.28 miles

I never get behind a particular brand of railcar, but certainly one hears about this type of dual mode operation.

With no timeframe as yet for wires to reach Oshawa, we may be left using diesels for a while yet.

- Paul
 
Just a quick question but is york university GO open? On the GO website, they have two maps, and only one of them includes the station. It's also really difficult to find it on the plan my trip part of the site too. These are found on the same page on the GO site and they both are dated Jan 2021 so it's not like on is outdated.
train-map-large.png
system-map-large (1).png
 
KhalilHeron said:
Just a quick question but is york university GO open? On the GO website, they have two maps, and only one of them includes the station. It's also really difficult to find it on the plan my trip part of the site too. These are found on the same page on the GO site and they both are dated Jan 2021 so it's not like on is outdated.View attachment 298584View attachment 298585
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The full schedule for the Barrie Corridor, eff Jan 23, 2021 does not show any stop at York University:

1612637252597.png




York University has a notice on its website from March of this past year:

1612637369357.png
 
KhalilHeron said:
Just a quick question but is york university GO open? On the GO website, they have two maps, and only one of them includes the station. It's also really difficult to find it on the plan my trip part of the site too. These are found on the same page on the GO site and they both are dated Jan 2021 so it's not like on is outdated.View attachment 298584View attachment 298585
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No it’s closed in all but name. I’m just waiting for Metrolinx to come in overnight and demolish the platform.
 
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