GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[ShonTron]

The problem isn't just that no one wants to pay for the upgrades, though CN has been more than happy to upgrade track if someone else is willing to pay for it; it's that GEXR (part of RailAmerica), which leases the track from CN doesn't want to maintain upgraded track so it has been kicking and screaming against planned upgrades, which CN itself does not.

 

[TOareaFan]

Maybe it will be for Santa and the EX.

Well, the Ex is here and, again, there is extra service on the only line that has any off-peak service...but no service on the lines with, well, no service.........even the discounted entry tickets to the Ex are only available at Lakeshore stations (and Union).....GO just repeatedly seems to go out of its way to exhibit their belief that they are a service for the Lakeshore and they reluctantly provide some service to others.



I guess if you don't live on the Lakeshore you really have to believe in Santa now!

 

[smallspy]

Well, the Ex is here and, again, there is extra service on the only line that has any off-peak service...but no service on the lines with, well, no service.........even the discounted entry tickets to the Ex are only available at Lakeshore stations (and Union).....GO just repeatedly seems to go out of its way to exhibit their belief that they are a service for the Lakeshore and they reluctantly provide some service to others.

Well, considering that GO has so much construction going on right now on some of the lines that they've had to reroute the Canadian off of the Newmarket Sub, how do you expect them to run their own trains on weekends too?

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[liamdevlin02]

Well, considering that GO has so much construction going on right now on some of the lines that they've had to reroute the Canadian off of the Newmarket Sub, how do you expect them to run their own trains on weekends too?

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

What route is The Canadian taking out of Toronto now?

 

[TOareaFan]

Well, considering that GO has so much construction going on right now on some of the lines that they've had to reroute the Canadian off of the Newmarket Sub, how do you expect them to run their own trains on weekends too?

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

They (not I) suggested that this year they would try out off peak service on non-lakeshore lines for special events....they named 4 events and added "and others" 3 of the named events (Caribana, Indy & Ex) have come and gone and no special event, off peak, service has been offered on any line other than the Lakeshore line which already has off peak service.

They cannot re-route any lines to the Ex.....but families in Milton, Richmond Hill, Barrie or Georgetown (and points in between) might appreciate a train ride to Union connecting to a train ride to the Ex....they might, also, have appreciated the same opportunity to purchase discounted Ex tickets that was given to all the people living near Lakeshore stations....that is all I am saying

Heck...even saying something like "we can't add trains but weekend and evening buses on the Milton and Georgetown corridors will get to Union with an additional stop at the Ex so that Ex bound passengers on those corridors don't have to go to Union and double back and pay an additional fare on the TTC" would, at least, end the notion that GO thinks only their Lakeshore passengers ever go out on the weekend.

 

[Dan416]

They (not I) suggested that this year they would try out off peak service on non-lakeshore lines for special events....they named 4 events and added "and others" 3 of the named events (Caribana, Indy & Ex) have come and gone and no special event, off peak, service has been offered on any line other than the Lakeshore line which already has off peak service.

They cannot re-route any lines to the Ex.....but families in Milton, Richmond Hill, Barrie or Georgetown (and points in between) might appreciate a train ride to Union connecting to a train ride to the Ex....they might, also, have appreciated the same opportunity to purchase discounted Ex tickets that was given to all the people living near Lakeshore stations....that is all I am saying

Heck...even saying something like "we can't add trains but weekend and evening buses on the Milton and Georgetown corridors will get to Union with an additional stop at the Ex so that Ex bound passengers on those corridors don't have to go to Union and double back and pay an additional fare on the TTC" would, at least, end the notion that GO thinks only their Lakeshore passengers ever go out on the weekend.

Well said. Hear, hear.

 

[Northern Light]

They cannot re-route any lines to the Ex...

Hmmm, now I'm not so sure about that........

Trains from Stouffville or Richmond Hill could easily be through-routed onto the Ex as their final stop.

Train traffic outside of rush hours is not so heavy that conflicts are not manageable.

Now for trains approaching from Georgetown, best you can do in on to Union then do a transfer.

But.....in theory (the way the track are aligned may not allow for this currently) you could route Milton trains via Canpa to Lakeshore, then eastbound to the CNE. If track layout currently doesn't permit this, it certainly is do-able to fix that.

****

As for construction, there isn't much going on, that I'm aware of in the RH Corridor or the Stouffville corridor at the moment; nor Milton for that matter, except for its intersection with the Junction.

GO is chock full of excuses for not getting to 30min, off-peak Lakeshore service sooner, same for adding off-peak on other routes. Lack of organizational will is the biggest obstacle, followed by provincial funding.

Neither the managers, nor the government should be let off the hook, time to get on with adding to and improving of services across all corridors, wherever the infrastructure allows. Where it does not allow, time to get on with the relevant construction.

 

[EnviroTO]

Well, considering that GO has so much construction going on right now on some of the lines that they've had to reroute the Canadian off of the Newmarket Sub, how do you expect them to run their own trains on weekends too?

I'm curious about this one. What construction is GO doing in the Newmarket Sub between Union Station and the York Sub?

 

[liamdevlin02]

But.....in theory (the way the track are aligned may not allow for this currently) you could route Milton trains via Canpa to Lakeshore, then eastbound to the CNE. If track layout currently doesn't permit this, it certainly is do-able to fix that.

I love this idea, but based on the Google Maps layout of the existing track, there's no connection to the Oakville sub from the Canpa sub that would direct a train east right now. As you say though, it's certainly fixable.

 

[unimaginative2]

The problem isn't just that no one wants to pay for the upgrades, though CN has been more than happy to upgrade track if someone else is willing to pay for it; it's that GEXR (part of RailAmerica), which leases the track from CN doesn't want to maintain upgraded track so it has been kicking and screaming against planned upgrades, which CN itself does not.

I've always thought it terrible that VIA never jumped on the opportunity to take over the Guelph Sub when it was offered to them, like they did with the Alexandria and Smiths Falls subs.

The Canpa routing is definitely interesting, but that track would need a lot of upgrades to handle frequent passenger traffic.

 

[SGHA504]

I love this idea, but based on the Google Maps layout of the existing track, there's no connection to the Oakville sub from the Canpa sub that would direct a train east right now. As you say though, it's certainly fixable.

Isnt there a connector running north/south just west of Kipling, coming out just west of the maintenance yards on the Oakville sub? I think trains would exit heading west though, so they would have to change direction to continue eastbound to the Ex.

 

[ShonTron]

That's the Canpa Sub.

 

[EnviroTO]

Anyone on here live in Guelph. I'm wondering how the transportation center at the Guelph Station is proceeding.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

That's the Canpa Sub.

CP thought long and hard before naming that one

 

[Komiksulo]

CP thought long and hard before naming that one

I thought it came from a now-defunct company, "Canadian Paper".