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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Lakeshore West – Temporary weekend service changes taking place May 21-24
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Lakeshore West passengers: Beginning at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 21 and lasting until end of service on Monday, May 24, GO train service between Union Station and Port Credit GO on the Lakeshore West line will be suspended due to critical work to upgrade our rail infrastructure.

Please note, Monday, May 24 is Victoria Day – A Sunday hourly service schedule will be in place on that day.

Here’s what you need to know:


- Buses will operate directly between Union Station Bus Terminal and Port Credit GO.
- Trains will continue to operate between Port Credit and Aldershot GO stations throughout the entire weekend.
- Customers connecting at Union Station between Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West may experience 50-55 minute delays due to the schedule changes required to accommodate this work.
- Customers connecting to bus routes 12, 15 and 18 at Port Credit GO will not be impacted due to service changes – buses will wait for you during bus replacements.
- Complete details can be found on gotransit.com.

Friday, May 21:
- The last eastbound train toward Union Station will arrive at Long Branch GO, Mimico GO and Exhibition GO at 7:37, 7:44 and 7:50 p.m.
- The last westbound train toward Aldershot GO will arrive at Exhibition GO, Mimico GO and Long Branch GO at 6:52, 7:00 and 7:06 p.m.
- Eastbound GO bus service will leave Port Credit GO 4 minutes later than regular train times.
- Westbound GO bus service will leave Union Station Bus Terminal 10-15 minutes earlier than regular train times.
- Trains departing Port Credit GO to Aldershot GO will depart 5 minutes later.

Saturday, May 22 – Monday, May 24:
- There will be no train service between Port Credit GO and Union Station. GO bus service will pick up customers at Port Credit or Union Station Bus Terminal and travel direct.
- Eastbound GO bus service will leave Port Credit GO 4-9 minutes later than regular train times.
- Westbound GO bus service will leave Union Station Bus Terminal 10-15 minutes earlier than regular train times.
- Trains departing Port Credit GO to Aldershot GO will depart 5 minutes later.
- Regular train service will resume on Tuesday, May 25.

There will be no train service at Long Branch, Mimico and Exhibition GO stations while this track work takes place. If you need to get to/from these stations during this time, we encourage customers to explore alternative transit options through our partners at MiWay and TTC.

How to use PRESTO during service impacts on Lakeshore West:

For customers travelling to the Union Station Bus Terminal:
- Tap on at their origin station
- Tap off at Port Credit GO
- Tap on the replacement bus heading to Union
- Tap off when arriving at the Union Station Bus Terminal

For customers travelling to Aldershot GO:
- Tap on at Union Station Bus Terminal
- Tap off on the bus when arriving at Port Credit GO
- Tap on at Port Credit GO
- Tap off at station destination

Customers with default trips on their Presto Card will need to override their default by pressing the "Override" button on the PRESTO device, then tap your card as you normally would.

The new GO bus terminal at Union Station is located at 81 Bay Street in Toronto at the north-east corner of Bay and Lake Shore Blvd.
- To access the new terminal from outside – enter via the main entrance on Lake Shore Blvd., just east of Bay Street or the entrance on the east side of Bay Street, across from Scotiabank Arena.
- If you’re coming from Union Station, you can take the indoor pedestrian bridge over Bay Street that connects to the bus terminal from Scotiabank Arena.
- Learn more about boarding at the new Union Station Bus Terminal.
- Please check departure boards before proceeding to your boarding zone and gate.

You should also know:
- Customers with accessibility needs can access the south platform at Port Credit GO using the accessibility ramp located beside the Kiss & Ride on the east side of the platform.
- Parking is currently limited at Port Credit GO due to construction related to the Hurontario LRT. If you are travelling from this area and have issues finding parking, please park at Clarkson GO.
- For customers with bicycles, please note the option to bring a bike on the bus will be limited as buses can only accommodate two bikes per bus coach.​
 
Study to be presented Tuesday.



GO Train from Cambridge to Guelph has ‘strong potential,’ study says
By Catherine Thompson Record Reporter
Fri., May 7, 2021
 
Study to be presented Tuesday.



GO Train from Cambridge to Guelph has ‘strong potential,’ study says
By Catherine Thompson Record Reporter
Fri., May 7, 2021
This is great news. But wherever the station in Cambridge is it needs to be right next to any future LRT station.
 
This is great news. But wherever the station in Cambridge is it needs to be right next to any future LRT station.
It is, no? FTA:

“ Trains would run out of the future Pinebush Ion station, but the LRT to Cambridge hasn’t yet been funded or approved by the province. Ridership for the Cambridge GO service would also “be heavily influenced” by how frequent and fast Kitchener GO service is.”

So, the problem is that this depends on two unfunded plans. At least we’re now considering the Kitchener line, which I think is a better call.
 
It is, no? FTA:

“ Trains would run out of the future Pinebush Ion station, but the LRT to Cambridge hasn’t yet been funded or approved by the province. Ridership for the Cambridge GO service would also “be heavily influenced” by how frequent and fast Kitchener GO service is.”

So, the problem is that this depends on two unfunded plans. At least we’re now considering the Kitchener line, which I think is a better call.

My first version of this post, was to follow-up on this by asking how much room CN was allowing for GO on its Brampton trackage.

But in reading the report, I see that this proposal is now about a Cambridge to Guelph service after when passengers will have to disembark and board a K-W-Toronto train to continue their journey.

I'm dubious on adding a 10 minute penalty (which is what they allow for in their model) for transfers when the overall trip time still skews high.

I think if you want to impose a transfer, you need to take more time out of the Guelph-Toronto trip segment.
 
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This brings us back to another question.

Exactly how much frequency is CN permitting to GO in this corridor?

I agree. This is a plan that makes sense if the 407 freight by-pass goes through because there would be no contention on the Georgetown line and CP freight to deal with on the Milton line. But without the 407 freight by-pass how does a Guelph to Cambridge extension become favourable to a Milton extension? By what measure is a Union-Guelph-Cambridge preferable to Union-Milton-Cambridge?
 
I agree. This is a plan that makes sense if the 407 freight by-pass goes through because there would be no contention on the Georgetown line and CP freight to deal with on the Milton line. But without the 407 freight by-pass how does a Guelph to Cambridge extension become favourable to a Milton extension? By what measure is a Union-Guelph-Cambridge preferable to Union-Milton-Cambridge?

I just edited that post.

The proposal in the report is not a Toronto-Cambridge service.

But Toronto-Guelph, Transfer to a separate Guelph to Cambridge service.

The follow-on post I made has many of the details (though by no means all) from the report.
 
^I cannot imagine a 2WAD direct service to Toronto on top of Kitchener service. At best one might see 3 or 4 peak trains that lay over in Preston/Galt at night.

The challenge is that anything less than frequent through trains will not compete with a frequent express bus to Bramalea, or even driving there. Once the 401 expansion is finished, and especially if there are HOV lanes, bus to Bramalea will be faster and could address last mile in Cambridge.

The romantic in me thinks that a xMU service puttering up and down the G&G and connecting to Kitchener trains at Guelph would be kind of cool, but I cannot envision a business case that beats bus on this route for time, cost, and ridership.

A more direct service on the CP line is clearly a decade and $1B ormore away, but this particular proposal strikes me as a bit desperate. I can’t imagine it becoming all that popular. But those 3 or 4 peak trains might attract some folks, and they would add to the business case for the Silver flyover to ensure GO capacity on CN’s turf.

- Paul
 
The proposal in the report is not a Toronto-Cambridge service.

But Toronto-Guelph, Transfer to a separate Guelph to Cambridge service.
I'm not sure that makes anything better. How much pure Cambridge to Guelph traffic is there, and how much of that can be realistically converted to transit ridership from a few stations on an existing railway line? Then how many people in Cambridge who are going to Toronto can be convinced to take a train to Guelph to then transfer to another train to Toronto? I could be convinced that with the 407 freight by-pass in place that with express trains to Guelph that terminate in Cambridge would make sense because you could get the time down to a reasonable time for a commute to Toronto plus have Cambridge-Guelph local traffic. Building it entirely on a local demand doesn't seem like it would work well. Admittedly with the rails already there, you might be able to run the line so cheaply that unimpressive ridership numbers still get to a reasonable fare box to subsidy ratio.
 

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