GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[anb]

It’s ludacris that Metrolinx’s solution to heavy weekend traffic in Toronto is to reroute Kitchener Line buses to Port Credit. These bandit solutions won’t work and will get worse especially during situations such as last Friday.

A weekend train will help alleviate this.

I’d also route a 21 Milton-Meadowvale bus branch to Bramalea GO as well. Port Credit can be for Streetsville-Erindale and Square One-Cooksville buses only, where they’re not routed far out of their way.

Port Credit does not, and will not ever work at all. The Hurontario LRT construction on top of the QEW traffic makes this option one of the worst detour options which is especially unbearable if you’re coming from Milton or Acton/Georgetown. The atrocity of the weekend service throughout the whole summer was mainly due to this detour.

If they allowed buses to head to Kipling or Yorkdale or even Highway 407 Station at the very least, it would’ve been miles better in comparison to what Port Credit will ever offer in this environment. The obsession over that station needs to stop and Metrolinx should know way better. Even the Square One/Cooksville branch would probably have a better time heading to Kipling instead, despite there being local options and the 29 GO bus already heading there from Sq One, but it still works.

Great catch. I wonder what hourly service on the Kitchener Line on weekends means? To Bramalea or to Mount Pleasant? Exciting to see.

Guessing that it might be to Mount Pleasant if that saying about 2-3 hours to Kitchener are true. Then again there’s also the possibility that they could just have the CN tracks booked for the Kitchener runs only and play it safe at Bramalea. The Caribana special service earlier this summer had the line running to Mount Pleasant every 2 hours so the latter is more of a possibility given that things probably haven’t been changed at all that much yet.

 

[smallspy]

Dan,

Any idea if thought has been given to cutting ties with Alstom?

At least with those that I talk to, there seems to be no indication of that.

Dan

 

[allengeorge]

At least with those that I talk to, there seems to be no indication of that.

Dan

Understandable, but frustrating.

It’s a tough line to walk, but if Alstom is at the root of the service issues (and that’s a big “if”) I would like to see a suit and damages around that.

Some of the biggest advantages proponents give for outsourcing contracts is the ability to shop for options and the ability to hold your partners to account. What’s the use of you can’t do either? It all seems to be a way to get benefits off the books and avoid responsibility.

 

[smallspy]

Understandable, but frustrating.

It’s a tough line to walk, but if Alstom is at the root of the service issues (and that’s a big “if”) I would like to see a suit and damages around that.

Some of the biggest advantages proponents give for outsourcing contracts is the ability to shop for options and the ability to hold your partners to account. What’s the use of you can’t do either? It all seems to be a way to get benefits off the books and avoid responsibility.

I have no doubt that there are discussions underway between Metrolinx and Alstom. And I do know that the higher-ups at Metrolinx are not happy with what is going on.

But ultimately, the whole point of the exercise seems to be to allow Metrolinx to point their finger at someone else and say "Look, it's not our fault!!1!" Which, if I'm being honest, seems to be a pretty standard operating practice around there. Crosslinx, anyone? Bombardier? I'm sure that we can think of others while we're here.....

Dan

 

[innsertnamehere]

I have no doubt that there are discussions underway between Metrolinx and Alstom. And I do know that the higher-ups at Metrolinx are not happy with what is going on.

But ultimately, the whole point of the exercise seems to be to allow Metrolinx to point their finger at someone else and say "Look, it's not our fault!!1!" Which, if I'm being honest, seems to be a pretty standard operating practice around there. Crosslinx, anyone? Bombardier? I'm sure that we can think of others while we're here.....

Dan

I mean that's government in general. Basically the entire point of P3s is to make it so when projects go over budget and run late, the government has someone to point a finger at that isn't themselves.. and the government pays literally of billions of dollars a year to have that privilege..

 

[Krypto98]

Why can't Metrolinx negotiate with CP to use the Canpa and Midtown Subs to divert around the Ex during construction? Is this feasible? Because if not, they might just break the most profitable GO line for years to come.

GO owns the canpa... it would just be the small section of the Galt they need to negotiate

 

[Krypto98]

Any chance of this being true? View attachment 426818

It does coinside with that Bramalea 30 minutes leak that happened last September

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

You could still park a train on the adjacent track and transfer customers in less than 3 hours.

Who says there isn't blood/body parts/emergency workers on the adjacent tracks?

 

[crs1026]

But ultimately, the whole point of the exercise seems to be to allow Metrolinx to point their finger at someone else and say "Look, it's not our fault!!1!" Which, if I'm being honest, seems to be a pretty standard operating practice around there. Crosslinx, anyone? Bombardier? I'm sure that we can think of others while we're here.....

Don't forget the contractual non-disclosure provisions that prevent ML or the Province from even asking for the full story on any screw-up, let alone answering to the Legislature or the media about them. Can't ask, so can't tell. Commercial sensitivity, you know.

I am actually impressed about what a well-designed and impermeable accountability firewall the whole thing is. If the seawall around the Fukushima Nuclear Plant had been this well constructed......

- Paul

 

[Krypto98]

Who says there isn't blood/body parts/emergency workers on the adjacent tracks?

Correct, haven't hit anyone yet on my trips (good thing I'm a low senority yard dude) but from coworkers that have,

*graphic warning*


people are quite squishy and basically go splat/explode

 

[Krypto98]

I have no doubt that there are discussions underway between Metrolinx and Alstom. And I do know that the higher-ups at Metrolinx are not happy with what is going on.

But ultimately, the whole point of the exercise seems to be to allow Metrolinx to point their finger at someone else and say "Look, it's not our fault!!1!" Which, if I'm being honest, seems to be a pretty standard operating practice around there. Crosslinx, anyone? Bombardier? I'm sure that we can think of others while we're here.....

Dan

So what happens to the current Alstom employees if metrolinx decides to go with someone else?

 

[Richard White]

Correct, haven't hit anyone yet on my trips (good thing I'm a low senority yard dude) but from coworkers that have,

*graphic warning*


people are quite squishy and basically go splat/explode

Spoiler: INSERT DESCRIPTION HERE

Like a meat filled balloon.

 

[T3G]

Spoiler

Perhaps some spoiler tags to accomodate the above descriptions would not go amiss? Particularly for those of us unfortunate enough to have been eating while scrolling...

 

[smallspy]

So what happens to the current Alstom employees if metrolinx decides to go with someone else?

It's unknown at this point.

Prior history may be an indication, however: Bombardier did hire on some CN crews for the operation of the trains, as well as poach some additional crews from VIA and CP. They also brought up employees from other divisions to operate the trains too, although they had to go through the normal training process.

No matter what though, it will not be an overnight type of thing.

Dan

 

[Richard White]

It's unknown at this point.

Prior history may be an indication, however: Bombardier did hire on some CN crews for the operation of the trains, as well as poach some additional crews from VIA and CP. They also brought up employees from other divisions to operate the trains too, although they had to go through the normal training process.

No matter what though, it will not be an overnight type of thing.

Dan

I wonder if GO would do the absolute unthinkable and hire an in-house staff.