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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

innsertnamehere said:
those are the 2016 trains going in from Kitchener that we have known about for a while.
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Yes we have...although they are still using vague language so it is impossible to tell whether it is 2 additional return trips to the city of Kitchener (which could be satisfied by simply extending current trips from Georgetown out that way and not add any new trains) or if they are saying 2 additional return trips added to the line (ie. adding service to all municipalities served by the line).
 
I would suspect Metrolinx would use the additional capacity provided by the new train yards in Kitchener to add peak service, they aren't going to build two new layover tracks in Kitchener just to leave 2 layover tracks in Georgetown empty.
 
innsertnamehere said:
I would suspect Metrolinx would use the additional capacity provided by the new train yards in Kitchener to add peak service, they aren't going to build two new layover tracks in Kitchener just to leave 2 layover tracks in Georgetown empty.
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The new CTC along the line (London to Georgetown (Silver)) will be completed this summer.

Will it be an extention of exisiting Georgtown Trains all stops to Union or 2 new ones all stops to Union? Will GO put the mid morning train back in from Bramalea? Will 1 train be coming from Toronto in the AM to Kitchener and PM to Toronto? Will one train from Kitchener do all stops to Mount Pleasant then express to Union? All these options have all been raised/mentioned in the local media & by Metrolinx/Go Transit as options. It's still a long ways away to know what the plan is - obviously we are waiting for the other pieces (Georgetown South / UPX / CTC Install) to come into place and then they will have a better idea.
 
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AHK said:
Friday morning (February 27) while driving to Montreal, we saw two bi-level GO cars, in the new paint colours, on a CN train, heading towards Montreal.

If the cars were new, just out-shopped from the Bombardier Thunder Bay works, would they be heading to Montreal for final finishing / interiors? If so, would they not have gone via CP Rail? To get from Thunder Bay to Montreal via CN would involve some doubling back?

Had these two cars been previously refurbed (and repainted in the new colours) in Montreal, and being sent back to resolve deficiencies?

I thought the Montreal plant with the GO Transit refurbishment contract was served by CP and not CN?

Would anyone have any insight as to why the two cars would have been on the CN and not the CP line?
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The cars are being refurbished by CAD in Montreal. They happen to own a facility in Mimico however (the former Canadian Railcar Collision and Repair) that happens to have a paint booth that isn't overly well used right now. Thus, the cars are sandblasted and then painted in Toronto, and then shipped to Montreal to get refurbished. The way to tell while in transit is whether the cars have doors which match the paint - if they don't, then its on its way to be refurbished, whereas if they do, than it has been completed and is on its way back to GO.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
smallspy said:
The cars are being refurbished by CAD in Montreal. They happen to own a facility in Mimico however (the former Canadian Railcar Collision and Repair) that happens to have a paint booth that isn't overly well used right now. Thus, the cars are sandblasted and then painted in Toronto, and then shipped to Montreal to get refurbished. The way to tell while in transit is whether the cars have doors which match the paint - if they don't, then its on its way to be refurbished, whereas if they do, than it has been completed and is on its way back to GO.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
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Thanks Dan. The train was around a kilometer away - maybe a bit less - but as I was driving, I only had a quick glance, and did not notice whether the doors matched the rest of the exterior. Originating from Mimico would explain why the two cars were on a CN train, as it was the CN line which serviced the Mimico area - now Metrolinx, but CN has running rights on the line.

Andrew
 
The City of Guelph owes $3.15M to Metrolinx for new GO Station. payment is due by March 2016. Only funded $300,000 of this right now. City Staff are relying on a transfer of assets to fund the difference. Negotiations are ongoing right now. Speculation is the Train Building, which the City acquired but has delayed renovating, is on the table. Also could be the parking lot on Neeve St. Adjacent to where Platform 2 will be built. The city wants to build a parking garage there.
 
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TOareaFan said:
Seems Niagara is expecting commuter service (ie non seasonal) to begin as soon as 2016

http://m.niagarathisweek.com/news-s...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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That would be good news for Hamilton, and its economy too, plus it saves Metrolinx $750 million dollars.
They are making James North the "hub" for train transfers between the Niagara Express and the Lakeshore West line.

- This makes JamesNorth a more major hub station
- This makes frequent all day Lakeshore West service to Hamilton a higher priority, to maximize convenience.
- That brings people to Hamilton who may decide to spend time in the area (Hamilton/James Street businesses)
- Delays by Welland Canal will not interfere with downstream Lakeshore West service.

For all-day GO Niagara Express to be practical, they had to split it off separately from all-day Lakeshore West. The train transfer is somewhat of an inconvenience, but with 30-min all day service and 20-min peak service at JamesNorth (like Aldershot already has today, but shifting to JamesNorth instead), it would probably work fine. The train transfer saves Metrolinx $750 million dollars, since they won't start all-day Lakeshore West service to Niagara because random Welland canal delays will delay a Lakeshore West train. Commuters and transit users heading downtown from Burlington or Clarkson will be annoyed by a 14-minute-late train that started its commute in Niagara, and got delayed by Welland Canal. By splitting the Niagara Express and Lakeshore West into two separate routes that interchange at Hamilton's JamesNorth, that eliminates uncontrolled delays for Lakeshore West trains. They can grade-separate Welland later (someday) when it becomes practical.

As a result, I would think the capital cost of extending to Niagara (surge of trains at peak, plus 2 hourly all day) becomes almost the same as extending to Stoney Creek, e.g. approx $150M capital to Stoney Creek versus slightly above $200M capital all the way to Niagara. Hamiltonians can commute to Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls can go to Hamilton, Toronto can go to Hamilton, Hamilton can go to Toronto, or Niagara to Toronto via a transfer. Making JamesNorth a true hub. With Toronto Union, Hamilton JamesNorth, and Niagara Train station the city respective train hubs, especially when future Niagara )and Hamilton improves public transit to these stations. At certain times I do now see an increasing number of reverse commuters on Lakeshore West, such as McMaster students going from Toronto to Hamilton on Lakeshore West so 2-way pairs of train service between Toronto-Hamilton and Hamilton-Niagara, makes a whole lot of sense in the next 10 years especially when improving public transit to the respective city station hubs.
 
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TOareaFan said:
Seems Niagara is expecting commuter service (ie non seasonal) to begin as soon as 2016

http://m.niagarathisweek.com/news-s...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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I'm not reading "expecting" out of that. Hoping perhaps. The quote is "topics discussed at last week’s meeting included ... the idea of an expansion announcement this year with trains operational by 2016"

The meeting however was a "working group spearheading the push for bringing GO rail to Niagara" and not with GO Transit, Metrolinx, the Ministry, or the Premier's office.
 
nfitz said:
I'm not reading "expecting" out of that. Hoping perhaps. The quote is "topics discussed at last week’s meeting included ... the idea of an expansion announcement this year with trains operational by 2016"

The meeting however was a "working group spearheading the push for bringing GO rail to Niagara" and not with GO Transit, Metrolinx, the Ministry, or the Premier's office.
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Sorry, I typed that quickly....i meant a media outlet in Niagara is publishing a 2016 date...the media forms public opinion/expectations and anyone reading that in Niagara is now expecting 2016
 
TOareaFan said:
Sorry, I typed that quickly....i meant a media outlet in Niagara is publishing a 2016 date...the media forms public opinion/expectations and anyone reading that in Niagara is now expecting 2016
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The same way we are expecting the Sheppard LRT in 2013 or was the official provincial promise of 2014 ...
 
nfitz said:
The same way we are expecting the Sheppard LRT in 2013 or was the official provincial promise of 2014 ...
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and I think, at the time, the media did shape the public expectations around when/if it will be built.

but, at this time, the media is shaping public opinion/expectation in Niagara over service next year. That is all I was posting. TBH I would have just posted the link to the article I read but I have been "warned" about that (although I do see others doing it daily).
 
GO was running 10 & 12 car trains on Sat on the LS. Eastbound trains were late 10+ minutes and expects this would happen due to construction.

As for Sheppard, 9 year delay, what a mistake.

Before Metrolinx decides to expand and rebuild things, they need to clean up their act and get the work that being ongoing for years completed first, since they are years late, not months, as well funding this uncompleted projects as well.

Metrolinx is trying to please too many areas at the same time and doesn't have the manpower to run these projects in the first place. The system needs to be fix within the GTA first before going to NF, KW or any place outside the GTA. Yes it will piss people off, but you can't be all to everyone when you can't do it in the first place.

Hamilton will become its own Hub like Toronto which is the way it should happen, but it will take time and money that not there not now. You can run 4 rail lines out of Hamilton that will meet Hamilton Needs more than Toronto needs.
 
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