GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[RedRocket191]

There is a need for a 2nd tunnel and there are already a large number of NIMBY living above the area.

NIMBY is not an excuse for throwing your arms up. Politicians should take into account the community's opinion, but should not be afraid to push a good idea through. If politicians abandon a good idea due to community opposition, its a sign that they are either totally out of touch with the community, didn't bother to work with the community to address their concerns, or weren't very committed to the idea in the first place.

 

[Kiwi]

GO to boost morning service
April 12, 2008
Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton will have one additional morning commuter train by the end of the year.

The GO Transit board yesterday approved awarding a $6.1-million contract to a Markham company to build a new train layover facility east of the Hamilton GO Centre on Hunter Street West.

The facility will keep four 12-car GO trains in Hamilton each night, ending the shuttling of them back to the GO yard in Mimico, and allow GO to add one more morning train to Union Station in Toronto.

The facility, with realigned tracks and a maintenance building, is set for completion in spring 2009, but service is to start in December.

Councillor Bob Bratina, a member of the GO board, said the move will also end delays and cancellations of morning GO trains from Hamilton because sometimes the shuttling between Mimico and Hamilton was interrupted by freight train movement.

"This is great," said Bratina, an unabashed railway fan. "It's a further investment in rail passenger service in Hamilton."

He noted the province recently committed $3 million to build a GO train platform and ticket kiosk near the former CN station on James Street, which is now the LIUNA banquet centre. It will be used by GO and Via trains and might be the jump-start to GO train service to Grimsby, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls on a regular basis.

From the Hamilton GO Centre, there are now three GO trains to Union Station in the morning and four return trains in the evening.

The contract for the overnight storage yard has been awarded to Dagmar Construction Inc. and construction is set to begin next month. GO looked at six locations for the facility, between Kay Drage Park near Highway 403 and Vinemount in Upper Stoney Creek, before sticking, in July, 2006, with its preferred downtown station site.

GO says it took into account residents' concerns about noise and air quality. The trains will be parked parallel and in pairs to minimize impact. They will be parked on the CP Rail line between Catharine Street South and Baillie Street.

Meanwhile, Niagara politicians are expected to put a full-court press on Premier Dalton McGuinty and his cabinet for GO train service next week when they head en masse to Queen's Park. The week of April 21 will be Niagara Week at the legislature and GO train service will be one of the main items Niagara politicians will be lobbying the government for, Welland Regional Councillor Cindy Forster said yesterday.

 

[Le Gique]

Meanwhile, Niagara politicians are expected to put a full-court press on Premier Dalton McGuinty and his cabinet for GO train service next week when they head en masse to Queen's Park.

tanx for the Spec clips, Kiwi

so when's the Muskoka lobby week? how about ensuring the Northlander has decent OTP? how about a frickin Saturday GO train to cottage country (G-hurst, B-bridge, Huntsville and Sout' River)?

currently the Northlander leaves Union around 9am every day but Saturday. That's fine for folks heading wayy north, but weekend travellers either must leave Friday morning (good luck) or Sunday ... before the subway opens
http://www.northlander.ca/newnorthlander/schedORI.asp

sounds to me like we need a made-in-Ontario rail plan...

 

[EnviroTO]

I already mentioned this at some point but really the Ontario money which goes into running the Ontario Northland passenger service should instead go to a contract with VIA Rail to provide the service. It just isn't efficient to operate a one route system and it just isn't publicized enough. The equipment Ontario Northland operates also seems very dated.

 

[allabootmatt]

Agreed. It seems to me that the missing piece (at least explicitly) in current Ontario transport plans is building a better intercity rail network, ie one beyond Toronto and (admittedly increasingly distant) suburbs. A great investment by Queen's Park, for example, would be in ensuring faster and more frequent VIA service between places like London and Toronto or London and Niagara/Hamilton, or from Kingston to Barrie bypassing Toronto, etc. More of a network, I mean, than a hub-and-spoke simply centred on Union Station.

 

[Kiwi]

From the sounds of it any GO Train to the Niagara Region will be a complete different regional rail network than GO Train. It'll go from Hamilton to the Niagara Region. If residents from the Niagara Region wish to go to the GTA they'll have to hop on the GO Train in Hamilton to the GTA.

 

[Kiwi]

GO Transit on the move
Bulky rail service could be replaced by electric trains running like subways

April 15, 2008
Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator

Rob MacIsaac envisions shorter electric trains running like subways on GO's Lakeshore line between Oshawa and Hamilton.

The former Burlington mayor, now chair of Metrolinx, charged with coming up with a transportation plan for the Greater Toronto Area, says switching to self-propelled electric-powered train cars is a "very ambitious project that has the potential to transform GO from a big, bulky rail service to something much more like a subway."

"They could run as frequently as subway cars. You wouldn't necessarily be bound to a schedule, because you know a car will be there in a relatively short time."

But electrification of the Lakeshore line, which Premier Dalton McGuinty says could cut 15 minutes off Hamilton-Toronto travel time, is a long-term project that won't be a key element of the Metrolinx white paper next week or the draft plan due in June. They will focus on more immediate transit improvements such as an integrated GTA fare card and better notice of service delays.

MacIsaac told members of The Hamilton Spectator's editorial board yesterday that road tolls and other drastic changes may be needed to get people out of cars, but unless something is done, "We are moving toward having Los Angeles-style traffic congestion, the worst in North America, in a relatively short time."

At the same time, he said: "The car is not going away. A lot of trips will never be able to be serviced appropriately with public transit. We're not anti-car."

While electrification is still being studied, Mark Ciavarro, Metrolinx manager of project development, says the GO stop planned on the CN tracks near John Street North may lead to "all-day GO service, up to 50 trains a day, versus eight at Hunter Street ... with an opportunity to expand to Niagara."

When asked if Hamilton might have to decide between GO train service downtown or in the North End, MacIsaac said it's too soon to say, "it's something that will have to be addressed in terms of feasibility at the time."

For more information on Metrolinx and its planning effort, go to metrolinx.com

 

[RedRocket191]

From the sounds of it any GO Train to the Niagara Region will be a complete different regional rail network than GO Train. It'll go from Hamilton to the Niagara Region. If residents from the Niagara Region wish to go to the GTA they'll have to hop on the GO Train in Hamilton to the GTA.

That's extremely unlikely. Most trains will turn back at Hamilton, but the most likely scenario is an expansion of the Toronto-Niagara falls VIA service under GO colours.

Transferless rides are in vogue right now, where technology and intended consequence permit. Projects are just split into manageable chunks so that if one part gets shot down the greater proposal doesn't die with it.

 

[Hipster Duck]

MacIsaac told members of The Hamilton Spectator's editorial board yesterday that road tolls and other drastic changes may be needed to get people out of cars, but unless something is done, "We are moving toward having Los Angeles-style traffic congestion, the worst in North America, in a relatively short time."

I wouldn't be surprised if we're already there. Does anyone have stats on commuting times in the GTA? I wouldn't be surprised if we were among the five worst, along with LA, Atlanta, DC and probably Houston.

It seems to me that the missing piece (at least explicitly) in current Ontario transport plans is building a better intercity rail network, ie one beyond Toronto and (admittedly increasingly distant) suburbs. A great investment by Queen's Park, for example, would be in ensuring faster and more frequent VIA service between places like London and Toronto or London and Niagara/Hamilton, or from Kingston to Barrie bypassing Toronto, etc. More of a network, I mean, than a hub-and-spoke simply centred on Union Station

There definitely is massive room for improvement there. The almost total lack of transit between KW and Hamilton - two cities of over 400,000 barely 80km away from each other - is a major beef of mine, but they're hardly alone; Guelph and Kitchener, Cambridge and Brantford, London and Kitchener, and all of the Niagara Peninsula are decent-sized cities relatively close to one another that are woefully underserved.

 

[canrocks]

I wouldn't be surprised if we're already there. Does anyone have stats on commuting times in the GTA? I wouldn't be surprised if we were among the five worst, along with LA, Atlanta, DC and probably Houston.



There definitely is massive room for improvement there. The almost total lack of transit between KW and Hamilton - two cities of over 400,000 barely 80km away from each other - is a major beef of mine, but they're hardly alone; Guelph and Kitchener, Cambridge and Brantford, London and Kitchener, and all of the Niagara Peninsula are decent-sized cities relatively close to one another that are woefully underserved.

Also, the lack of transit (public or private) between Guelph (pop 115,000) and Milton (pop 54,000) is shameful - 40km from each other, both easily served along the 401 in around half an hour. One has to travel 50 mins to Square One, going past Milton, and then transfer to a 1+ hour bus trip back to Milton. That's better than when you used to have to take GO's milk run to Brampton and switch twice, or just take the Greyhound to Union. But still, I don't understand why this trip is simply not offered. . .

 

[nfitz]

The almost total lack of transit between KW and Hamilton - two cities of over 400,000 barely 80km away from each other - is a major beef of mine ...

There used to be a regular bus service from the Kitchener bus terminal to the Hamilton bus Terminal ... oh 20 years ago when I was a student at Waterloo. Still is according to Greyhound ... 5 direct buses a day ... and you can always change in Toronto.

And 10 buses a day from Kitchener to Guelph (not to mention 3 trains).

 

[unimaginative2]

Last time I was a passenger, Trentway Wagar operated the Kitchener-Hamilton route. They've got a fair number of trips per day, but it's unbelievably slow. I just can't understand how they can make a 50 minute drive take 2 hours.

Queen bridge will have to be widen. Main is 2 tracks now. The plan is to have only 2 tracks for the Brampton section with 3 tracks at each end.

Big mistake as it should be 3 with 4 at each end. This way would give GO it's own tracks and be free from CN operation other than the Brampton station.

That's a good point, Drum. The route west of Bramalea (Halwest) is a busy freight route, and CN will be a real pain for every expansion if there are only two tracks. It doesn't make sense to keep a bottleneck through downtown Brampton, especially if they're already widening bridges.

I suppose it's a good thing to get all-day service to Hamilton, even if it means a James North GO-shack. In the longer term, hopefully they'll be able to move back to the GO Centre downtown, perhaps with the CP downtown bypass that I've suggested.

I'm thrilled to hear MacIsaac's plan for basically an S-Bahn on the Lakeshore. It's way overdue, but I'm thrilled to hear them talking about it! Selling it as a subway is definitely the way to go, because people instantly understand what that means.

Here's my plan for reorganizing rail service in Hamilton.

GO/VIA would be strictly separated from freights throughout the downtown core, allowing GO to acquire the CP line past the GO Centre so that CP will no longer have a veto on any passenger rail expansion. The key to the entire reorganization is the reconstruction of the existing Belt Line to accommodate higher speeds and train frequencies. Double tracking would be ideal, and at least some grade separation would likely be necessary. The cost would not be astronomical, and certainly well within a reasonable range for providing decent transit service to the core of one of Canada's largest cities.

CP's existing trackage rights on CN from Bayview (the junction near the Botanical Gardens) to Toronto would be extended to East Hamilton, where CP freights could use the rebuilt Belt Line to return to their TH&B route. That's the red line on the map. GO Trains would leave the CN line as they do at present to serve the GO Centre. They would then continue east on an exclusively-passenger corridor until the Belt Line, which they would use to return to the CN corridor for further service to Niagara. VIA trains could also use this route to directly serve downtown Hamilton.

 

[jeicow]

Still is according to Greyhound ... 5 direct buses a day ... and you can always change in Toronto.

Unless I'm mistaken, Greyhound doesn't run direct between Hamilton and Kitchener. It requires a transfer in either London (4hr55min trip) or Toronto (shortest trip being 3hr10mins). Coach Canada does run direct between the two (9 trips a day) but unlike Greyhound doesn't garuntee another bus if the scheduled bus leaves full (at least from my experience from getting from Waterloo to McMaster). It's terrible getting between the two, especially since there is a fairly decent connection between them (though a bit congested most of the day).

 

[RedRocket191]

I would advocate for every rail line in Ontario to run some sort of passenger rail service. Even if its just an interurban-sized train running 2 round trips per day, it's a public service that we need.

 

[Dan416]

I would advocate for every rail line in Ontario to run some sort of passenger rail service. Even if its just an interurban-sized train running 2 round trips per day, it's a public service that we need.

That's a good idea, far better an idea than replacing buses with LRT which is only marginally better, if at all.