GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[ShonTron]

What would really help weekend utilization on the Milton and GT lines (assuming they are considering/testing weekend trains) would be a shared station in/around Liberty Village. I have been on this for years and it just does not seem to rise up on anyone's priority list. A station near West Elm/Mildred Pearce would serve the Exhibition area very well. The Ex grounds have seen a very large amount of growth and the combination of BMO/the QE theatre/the convention centre/Ricoh have meant that more and more of the large scale "avoid traffic take the train" sort of events in the city take place here......giving two additional high traffic rail corridors the ability to serve that area is the sort of traffic driver that could make weekend/off-peak service more financially viable........asking those customers to take the train past the event they are going to and taking the streetcar back might just make the thing unpalitable to some and drive usage down and make people think "see, we did not need to give them trains".

Pretty sure it would not have to be an overly fancy station either....and could be utilized as just a "special events stop" (ie. the weekday core service would not have to be slowed down by stopping there - well, perhaps during the ex they should).

Once you get to the old CN Parkdale Station area (Queen/Dufferin) or Liberty Village, you also add the Bradford/Barrie line, itself about to get another peak round trip. GO has been unfortunately characteristically myopic in ignoring the potential of a station at Dufferin/Queen or at King/Liberty Village.

 

[nfitz]

GO has been unfortunately characteristically myopic in ignoring the potential of a station at Dufferin/Queen or at King/Liberty Village.

Their study said it wouldn't fit.

 

[doady]

Their study said it wouldn't fit.

Why? Not enough space for a parking lot?

 

[smallspy]

Why? Not enough space for a parking lot?

A combination of not enough straight track and not enough available land.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[gweed123]

A combination of not enough straight track and not enough available land.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

I know they prefer to have straight track, but is it really a requirement? It's a pretty gentle curve.

 

[smallspy]

I know they prefer to have straight track, but is it really a requirement? It's a pretty gentle curve.

Yup, it is.

They are really not happy with the platforms at Danforth, but they are willing to work with them as they are not very well used. And at Streetsville and Union platforms 26 and 27 they have installed a video system to allow the CSAs to keep tabs on the whole length of the train. In fact, they had to delay the inauguration of 12-car service on the Milton Line because the video system wasn't installed.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[TOareaFan]

Yup, it is.

They are really not happy with the platforms at Danforth, but they are willing to work with them as they are not very well used. And at Streetsville and Union platforms 26 and 27 they have installed a video system to allow the CSAs to keep tabs on the whole length of the train. In fact, they had to delay the inauguration of 12-car service on the Milton Line because the video system wasn't installed.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Considering the potential here for a station that could serve 3 (i thought 2 but someone pointed out a 3rd) different lines, near major attractions creating off-peak demand.....wouldn't a similar video system make sense and be justified?

 

[gweed123]

Considering the potential here for a station that could serve 3 (i thought 2 but someone pointed out a 3rd) different lines, near major attractions creating off-peak demand.....wouldn't a similar video system make sense and be justified?

That is very true. I would think this station would be a great thing for both the neighbourhood and for GO. I can only think of 1 other spot on the entire GO network where they could build a station that would serve 3 lines with 1 station (that would be a station just east of the Distillery District, which would probably be too close to Union).

 

[TOareaFan]

That is very true. I would think this station would be a great thing for both the neighbourhood and for GO. I can only think of 1 other spot on the entire GO network where they could build a station that would serve 3 lines with 1 station (that would be a station just east of the Distillery District, which would probably be too close to Union).

To be fair, this one would be a bit close to Union (although, no closer than the Ex station is) but would be really valuable (IMHO) in driving weekend/evenings off peak ridership once it is introduced. Anyone who has ever stood on the Exhibition Station's platform before or after a TFC match or during the Indy or the Ex itself must realize this.

 

[Platform 27]

I remember hearing--maybe it was during the Georgetown EA---that the community's request to lower the tracks at Strachan to reduce the height of the bridge hump there basically scotched the possibility of a station in Liberty Village: there's the needed 300 m of straightish track south of King alongside the the retail development there, but the tracks will now be sloping up at something like a 1.5% or 2% grade to get up from the lowered spot under Strachan to meet the existing King bridge spans. While you wouldn't think much of a slope like that on foot or in a car, in railway physics that's a "hill", and hills and stations don't mix.

 

[Jonny5]

Yup, it is.

They are really not happy with the platforms at Danforth, but they are willing to work with them as they are not very well used. And at Streetsville and Union platforms 26 and 27 they have installed a video system to allow the CSAs to keep tabs on the whole length of the train. In fact, they had to delay the inauguration of 12-car service on the Milton Line because the video system wasn't installed.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

So I get the impression that if someone up high said "build a station here and build it now" then it would be done, as there is no law or regulation that prevents it, only GO's preferences.

Also, is the space problem at Liberty that there isn't enough room for a 12-car station? What about 10 cars or 8 or less? Can't the curve problem be solved by only having doors open on the side of the train that faces inwards to the curve so all doors are always visible?

 

[nfitz]

Considering the potential here for a station that could serve 3 (i thought 2 but someone pointed out a 3rd) different lines, near major attractions creating off-peak demand.....wouldn't a similar video system make sense and be justified?

Ultimately they'll should be putting a station somewhere on this line where the DRT line crosses it. Perhaps we'll learn something if and when that study comes out.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

I know they prefer to have straight track, but is it really a requirement? It's a pretty gentle curve.

Its a requirement now. Bardford & Newmarket are both situated on more severe curvatures. From a safety standpoint however it does make sense to no longer build stations like that.

but the tracks will now be sloping up at something like a 1.5% or 2% grade to get up from the lowered spot under Strachan to meet the existing King bridge spans. While you wouldn't think much of a slope like that on foot or in a car, in railway physics that's a "hill", and hills and stations don't mix.

Agreed, hills & stations don't mix, except at Unionville apparently. I don't know the exact grade but I'm certain its close to if not 1.5% as its only slightly less steep then the flyunder just beyond it. It definitely would be wise of them not to repeat it this situation elsewhere.

 

[TOareaFan]

Where does it start sloping? This just seems like a such a lost opportunity to put in a mult-line useful station. Just looked on a map and after the tracks cross over from the north side of King to the South side they seem pretty straight there. There is almost 1,500 feet of straightness between King and intersection of Pindarello and Western Battery then about another 875 feet before they get to Strachan.

So, how much straight track do they need to put in a fairly simple one platform "station" and how much space do they need for the incline due to Strachan? is 2,375' anywhere close enough to do both?

(now that I look at it, they are fairly straight as the cross King too....can you use the bridge in station/platform?

 

[leopetr]

Ultimately they'll should be putting a station somewhere on this line where the DRT line crosses it. Perhaps we'll learn something if and when that study comes out.

I'll be amazed if the DRT proposal goes any further west than University Ave, and I very much hope there'll be more GO stations downtown before a hypothetical DRT starts getting extensions.