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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Don't know if anyone caught this, but Caledon council received a staff report about the Caledon GO Rail Line to Bolton.


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I immediately find it interesting that they seem to plan on terminating the line at Weston rather than running it down all the way to Union, requiring a linear transfer onto the Kitchener Line which... honestly isn't great. There really isn't much at Weston in terms of connections into other lines, so effectively what will be seen is a massive amount of people are changing from 1 train to another during rush hours. According to the IBC for GO expansion, The current plan is to run 6TPHPD, plus the 1 train per hour coming from Kitchener will run express to Union except stop at Weston (for some reason). I'm wondering if maybe the reason they put that there is to have a timeslot to pick up Bolton Line passengers from? Other than that this is a very weird routing choice (well assuming this isn't an error in the design).
 

I don't understand the whole Bolton GO concept. If Orangeville can't support a GO rail line, what makes Bolton a good fit?
I suspect this Caledon Station GO community is actually being pushed because of the regional Growth Plan demands. Caledon doesn't want development and sprawl. Their logic is probably if they can concentrate high-density development around a GO station, then they can meet a lot of their Growth Plan mandate without upsetting residents/voters elsewhere in the municipality.

Can Bolton support GO ridership? For me that question is inconsequential as I am more interested in seeing the ridership numbers for Kleinberg, Woodbridge, and northwest Toronto. Bolton is just a logical line terminus due to availability for maintenance facilities, potential TOD, and providing one final catchment area.
 
I immediately find it interesting that they seem to plan on terminating the line at Weston rather than running it down all the way to Union, requiring a linear transfer onto the Kitchener Line which... honestly isn't great. There really isn't much at Weston in terms of connections into other lines, so effectively what will be seen is a massive amount of people are changing from 1 train to another during rush hours. According to the IBC for GO expansion, The current plan is to run 6TPHPD, plus the 1 train per hour coming from Kitchener will run express to Union except stop at Weston (for some reason). I'm wondering if maybe the reason they put that there is to have a timeslot to pick up Bolton Line passengers from? Other than that this is a very weird routing choice (well assuming this isn't an error in the design).

From my post here: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/go-studies-bolton-rail-service.6512/post-1663272

The last feasibility study seemed to rule out the service model that stopped at Weston.

There were two models moved forward, both terminating at Union.
 
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I don't understand the whole Bolton GO concept. If Orangeville can't support a GO rail line, what makes Bolton a good fit?
There's a ton of housing going up in West Vaughan/Kleinburg and NE Brampton. Getting to a Barrie or Kitchener Line station will become an arduous trek so this is excellent news.
 
I don't understand the whole Bolton GO concept. If Orangeville can't support a GO rail line, what makes Bolton a good fit?
Bolton to Weston is almost entirely land.which has development on it, which can be developed, or on which development can be intensified. Brampton to Orangeville is a longer trip through a lot of land that is protected from development. Not to say they shouldn't protect the line for future use, but it definitely isn't ready.
 

I don't understand the whole Bolton GO concept. If Orangeville can't support a GO rail line, what makes Bolton a good fit?
From a commuting perspective, the line to/from Orangeville is not, and will never be, in an alignment which will allow it to compete with the road network.

The line to/from Bolton is far more direct by comparison, and thus allows the potential for substantial time savings versus the use of the road network.

Most importantly however, at least from GO's viewpoint, a line running up to and ending in Bolton is simply a convenient excuse to be able to run trains to and from Woodbridge. That's their real goal.

Dan
 
Brampton to Orangeville is a longer trip through a lot of land that is protected from development. Not to say they shouldn't protect the line for future use, but it definitely isn't ready.
This is indeed the case. But the problem is that this will never change, and hence the reason why the OBRY corridor isn't necessarily worth protecting, especially given the high costs associated with doing so.
 
And here's the new schedule. (PDF)

Absolutely no connections from Bloomington Station when it opens, so make good use of that Garage Mahal! The bus loop will only see off-peak Route 61 buses, but nothing on weekends or inbound in the late afternoon/evening.

Gormley, too, lost any scheduled transit connections when YRT eliminated Route 15 as part of its regular cutbacks (before COVID).
Also what’s with the lack of counter peak service? Imagine if any transit fans or counter peak commuters who don’t have a car wanted to check this new station out then to find out they have no way to go back unless taking rideshare or i guess walking/biking. Better pack some hiking gear just in case!
 
Also what’s with the lack of counter peak service? Imagine if any transit fans or counter peak commuters who don’t have a car wanted to check this new station out then to find out they have no way to go back unless taking rideshare or i guess walking/biking. Better pack some hiking gear just in case!

The closest bus stop for a return trip is at Yonge Street and Bloomington Road, along a narrow paved shoulder on a busy five lane road.
 

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