GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[Northern Light]

A good reminder to flag these kinds of things with the CSA. The article says the person got on at Markham.

I assume if the CSA was told they would have taken the train out of service well before it reached the Union? Or maybe closed off that coach?

‘Just wondering how this is safe?’: Toronto-bound GO train makes journey to Union Station while missing a window

A Toronto resident says that he was shocked to find a window missing from a moving GO train as he made his way to Union Station over the weekend.

www.cp24.com

I agree with the advice, but I strongly suspect more than one passenger noticed and thought ' ya know, I just want to get home on time.....and chose to say nothing.

 

[Northern Light]

I've never seen CP24 paywalled. Are you outside the country?

He meant the earlier article from 'The Spec'.

And he's good now.

 

[Bordercollie]

He meant the earlier article from 'The Spec'.

And he's good now.

I cant read the article without paying but they couldnt back the train back to Aldershot and bus passengers to Hamilton.

 

[crs1026]

For what it's worth, the video of the missing window clearly shows that it is an emergency exit window, which is entirely within the average person's ability to open and remove if they felt the need (or perverse urge) to do so.
The video shows the window and its rubber gasket and emergency latches in a position that certainly suggests to this viewer that it did not fall open on its own.
And yeah, other passengers in the car seem to be more interested in continuing their journey than halting the proceedings.

- Paul

 

[smallspy]

I'll believe that the service is permanent when the Province actually invests any money to repair the railway west of Kitchener. Until then I'm assuming this is another election gimmick just like the last time they ran GO trains to Stratford.

Considering that they'd been working on this for over 2 years........it's as permanent as Niagara Falls.

*Easily resolved*, *dig a tunnel and lay down two tracks*

Well, you can say whatever you want, but clearly CPKC was not happy, as they were quick to launch an investigation and get the Feds involved.

No doubt if this were a GO train on MX owned tracks, it would have been entirely swept under the rug.

EDIT: If anything, this just goes to show how much CPKC must despise the fact that they share their Galt subdivision (Milton line) with GO and future negotiations to improve service on the Milton line will be hard pressed.

The TSB got involved because it was a signalling incident that involved CPKC tracks and signals.

CPKC would much rather that they had not gotten involved, because that incurs costs to them regarding interviewing staff, accessing RTC playbacks, etc.

If you think that any freight railroad enjoys when the regulator comes by and looks over their shoulder, you really do not have the slightest clue how the railways work.

Dan

 

[crs1026]

Considering that they'd been working on this for over 2 years........it's as permanent as Niagara Falls.

True - but how many years has ML been working on upgrading the Niagara Falls spur? And where did its funding go?

There is a huge inconsistency between announcing these services and investing to enable them for success. Niagara may be out of the woods, but Stratford is at risk unless it can be brought up to a higher standard. I don't see any political capital spent here that can't be walked back if the train doesn't impress..

It's a cheap shot, but.....I bet you could finish Niagara and do the Stratford track improvements for the price of a good used corporate jet plane.

- Paul

 

[Undead]

CPKC and the Government of Ontario already have an understanding on the future of their track and GO service in the GTA. You'll hear about it soon enough.

Midtown GO confirmed then.

 

[reaperexpress]

Considering that they'd been working on this for over 2 years........it's as permanent as Niagara Falls.

They may intend for it to be permanent, but the reality is that the next time the Province is looking for cost savings, a service that only gets 22 riders per train due to uncompetitive travel times will be top of the list to cut.

Niagara Falls station routinely has 1500 people disembarking from a single train in the summer. That's more people than the Stratford service is projected to carry in an entire month.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

I wish this wasn't happening in tandem with the hollowing out of VIA service along the line. We're still waiting for our second train of the day to come back from the Covid era.

 

[bpbpbpbp]

Midtown GO confirmed then.

I’m taking @Northern Light comment as sign of 2WAD electric express service to Cambridge on the Galt all the way to Agincourt and a full freight diversion lol

I don’t want to get my hopes up, could be some measly lower than hoped service level, could be dedicated tracks for infinite service. Hope we hear about it in the coming months.

 

[Sunnyside]

They may intend for it to be permanent, but the reality is that the next time the Province is looking for cost savings, a service that only gets 22 riders per train due to uncompetitive travel times will be top of the list to cut.

Niagara Falls station routinely has 1500 people disembarking from a single train in the summer. That's more people than the Stratford service is projected to carry in an entire month.

I get the feeling this extension to Stratford is a sort of 'making good' on the prior extension to London. Or, the original London service was a test for a more permanent service and investment. While it definitely tips toward an election gimmick as they never put any work in, you can't pull the same trick twice, I think. If it were simply a matter of "where can we physically run trains for votes" once more, it would go to London, again. Or somewhere more unproven.

Stratford is a viable destination as it is a tourist spot, meaning it punches above its population's weight for ridership. Capturing demand from KWC-G to Stratford alone will be good. If we think of the KW-London extension as being a test, one must realize the data will show whether ridership was good or bad, and if their staff/consultants are worth their money... extrapolate ridership along a demand curve of ridership:travel time.

Points being, A) they must have gotten some pretty good ridership relative to their abysmal travel times before to be considering this, and B) it's most viable as low hanging fruit, and this is a fairly easy corridor to work with.

Lastly, as much as I will be first to bat for more service to Hamilton-Niagara, it is the farthest thing from 'low hanging fruit'. There are multiple barriers to improving service to the region, all of which entail multiple billion-dollar projects to permanently resolve. One is the topic of discussion in this thread as we speak. Even incremental service improvements also entail rubbing elbows with the freight RRs more than we usually like.

We can argue whether CP's tunnel is Niagara's problem, but it is in competition with Niagara's interests. You have to think the Govt sees Hamilton-Niagara as a unified service area (demarked by Bayview Jct, lets say), but funds are scarce, and we certainly won't be spending all $10B needed to forget about all this forever. So, fixing it would be in place of improving the Grimsby Sub (for Niagara service). And the demand profile of Downtown Hamilton is not a weak competitor-- so who do you prioritize? Well, nobody, for now...