GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[RedRocket191]

Wasn't that supposed to be Barrie station anyway? Hence why we have Barrie South?

Yes, it was supposed to be Barrie station. Council, though, had other plans.

Amtrak typically ignores local names for railway stations. Should we ever decide to expand our national passenger rail network (or be forced to because of an oil crisis) I hope that the national railway agency takes a page out of their book.

 

[gweed123]

Yes, it was supposed to be Barrie station. Council, though, had other plans.

Amtrak typically ignores local names for railway stations. Should we ever decide to expand our national passenger rail network (or be forced to because of an oil crisis) I hope that the national railway agency takes a page out of their book.

Why would a City council have the authority to decide the name of a Provincially-owned transit station? Just seems a bit odd to me, that's all.

 

[TOareaFan]

I was, simultaneously, impressed and bemused by this email that I just got from GO....

"With the extreme cold weather that we are experiencing tonight, for your comfort, we are pleased to inform you that your station will remain open until the last train has arrived. Thank you for choosing GO Transit."

Impressed, I guess, that they are on the ball and aware enough to make this change on the fly......bemused because it just seems it should be the norm for a company operating trains to keep their stations open until the last train has arrived.

 

[RedRocket191]

Why would a City council have the authority to decide the name of a Provincially-owned transit station? Just seems a bit odd to me, that's all.

Can't agree with you more. I suspect that there's just a desire to play nice...

The problem I found a while ago was that if you googled "______ Amtrak" on Google Maps you wouldn't always get accurate results if the station was named after someone. With more and more people looking for their information on Google instead of the agency website one needs to make sure there is consistency between the information that the various agencies put online.

 

[Allandale25]

May have missed this but is there a specific date when service will be extended to the new train station in Barrie (Allandale)?

 

[canarob]

I was, simultaneously, impressed and bemused by this email that I just got from GO....

"With the extreme cold weather that we are experiencing tonight, for your comfort, we are pleased to inform you that your station will remain open until the last train has arrived. Thank you for choosing GO Transit."

Impressed, I guess, that they are on the ball and aware enough to make this change on the fly......bemused because it just seems it should be the norm for a company operating trains to keep their stations open until the last train has arrived.

Yeah, most of the stations on my line are only open in the morning until the last train leaves for Union (so for about 3 hours total), except for the last few days of the month when people are buying monthly passes, which might end now because of Presto and people auto-reloading their cards. For the most part having the station open is not really needed, although I do appreciate the cold weather being taken into account.

 

[CDL.TO]

GO Fare Hike

On Monday, January 9, GO Transit will be requesting Metrolinx Board approval to implement a fare increase effective February 18, 2012. As of that date, the cost of an adult single fare will increase incrementally as follows:

• 30 cent increase on current fares between $4.20 and $5.50;
• 35 cent increase on current fares between $5.51 and $7.00; and
• 40 cent increase on current fares greater than $7.00.

Proposed changes to the fare discount structure

• Purchasing an adult monthly pass would now save 15% off the cost of 40 single-ride tickets. PRESTO users will continue to save 17.5% off the cost of 40 single-ride tickets.
• For students, purchasing a monthly pass would now save 30% off the cost of 40 single-ride tickets. PRESTO student users will continue to save 35% off the cost of 40 single-ride tickets.

Further details will be available following the Metrolinx Board of Director’s meeting on January 9, 2012.

http://gotransit.com/public/en/fares/fareinfo.aspx

 

[nfitz]

Another GO increase that increases fares more for those with shorter commuters than longer. A short commute into downtown goes up 7% ... but it's only 3% or so for those with longer commutes.

Totally bizarre ... when they raise gas prices, do they offer a discount to those that have to drive further?

 

[RedRocket191]

Another GO increase that increases fares more for those with shorter commuters than longer. A short commute into downtown goes up 7% ... but it's only 3% or so for those with longer commutes.

Totally bizarre ... when they raise gas prices, do they offer a discount to those that have to drive further?

For what it's worth, the old method of increasing fares was much worse in this respect.

 

[Dan416]

Another GO increase that increases fares more for those with shorter commuters than longer. A short commute into downtown goes up 7% ... but it's only 3% or so for those with longer commutes.

Totally bizarre ... when they raise gas prices, do they offer a discount to those that have to drive further?

The article I read said that before this they had done price increases the same across the board and this time they were doing it by distance.

 

[RedRocket191]

The article I read said that before this they had done price increases the same across the board and this time they were doing it by distance.

Correct. They used to add 10 or 15 cents to the base fare, meaning that the people with the shortest trips saw the largest percentage increase. This method isn't perfect, but it's much closer to ensuring that everyone sees the same percentage increase than the old method.

 

[canarob]

I guess this is the cost of expanding to all these far-flung destinations. Existing inner 905 and outer 416 stations had better get more service this year.

 

[raptor]

Also, for everyday GO riders, it will be cheaper to use Presto than to use a monthly pass (by 2.5%). neat

 

[Markster]

I guess this is the cost of expanding to all these far-flung destinations. Existing inner 905 and outer 416 stations had better get more service this year.

The Georgetown line got an extra am train a couple weeks ago.

 

[leopetr]

Existing inner 905 and outer 416 stations had better get more service this year.

GO's ability to significantly expand service during rush hour is limited without either getting an exemption from federal railroad regulation for Europe/Asia-style rolling stock, or perhaps demolishing three tracks worth of space through the Metro Toronto Convention Centre/Hotel Intercontinental and running trains through that space. There's currently a bottleneck between the Skydome and the convention centre that limits track expansion.

Union Station Railway Corridor Track Study: http://stevemunro.ca/?p=5797

Outside of rush hour, GO could run a lot more service.