GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[nfitz]

West Harbour was a Wynne vanity project.... Pan Am games and all that.

Given that Metrolinx announced it in 2007, with a then-scheduled opening date in 2012, it's a bit more complicated than simply putting it all on Wynne who only became Premier in 2013. It was in the 2009 Pan Am bid book (unlike the subway extension to York which didn't open before the games).

I'd think Premier Peterson here would get as much, or more,of the blame!

 

[rbt]

From https://www.gotransit.com/en/travelling-with-us/promotions-and-events/rollingstones

GO will be running one special southbound train, departing from Allandale Waterfront GO Station at 1:00 am

The last northbound train arrives at Barrie South at 1:10am and Allandale 10 minutes later. Southbound, schedules allow 8 minutes between these two station, so the special SB train would arrive at Barrie South at 1:08am.

Anyone know how this turned out?

 

[joet00]

Anyone know how this turned out?

The SB special was delayed until 2am so no conflict on the tracks.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1145211549696569344

 

[Allandale25]

Go Train fuels Niagara housing boom

Developers and planners say current uptick is just the beginning as the commuter link to the GTA starts to pay dividends

nationalpost.com

 

[ShonTron]

Go Train fuels Niagara housing boom

Developers and planners say current uptick is just the beginning as the commuter link to the GTA starts to pay dividends

nationalpost.com

All dozen passengers would agree!

 

[lrt's friend]

All dozen passengers would agree!

GO Niagara would be much more successful if it served the tourist market and had all day service.

 

[Towered]

GO Niagara would be much more successful if it served the tourist market and had all day service.

Exactly as I said earlier. How this no-brainer has escaped the politicians and bureaucrats is baffling. I actually assumed that that was the motivation for extending GO to Niagara in the first place. Stupid.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Exactly as I said earlier. How this no-brainer has escaped the politicians and bureaucrats is baffling. I actually assumed that that was the motivation for extending GO to Niagara in the first place. Stupid.

Except it hasn't escaped them. Offering that level of service requires a lot more infrastructure than exists today - Metrolinx is in the process of constructing that infrastructure. The 2 trains a day is indeed stupid and a waste, but it is at least only a temporary measure until the permanent service plan can be implemented.

 

[crs1026]

Except it hasn't escaped them. Offering that level of service requires a lot more infrastructure than exists today - Metrolinx is in the process of constructing that infrastructure. The 2 trains a day is indeed stupid and a waste, but it is at least only a temporary measure until the permanent service plan can be implemented.

Until ML comes out with some town halls to lay out what their plan is and how/when it will unfold, I'm not betting any money on their being in the process of anything other than "wishing and hoping".

- Paul

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Exactly as I said earlier. How this no-brainer has escaped the politicians and bureaucrats is baffling. I actually assumed that that was the motivation for extending GO to Niagara in the first place. Stupid.

Actually the motivation is checking a box in that riding- I am sure THAT hasn't escaped the politicians. Actual usefulness? Pffttt.

AoD

 

[Richard White]

Except it hasn't escaped them. Offering that level of service requires a lot more infrastructure than exists today - Metrolinx is in the process of constructing that infrastructure. The 2 trains a day is indeed stupid and a waste, but it is at least only a temporary measure until the permanent service plan can be implemented.

It's not just about the trains but about getting to and from them. Places like Niagara Falls have limited transit service in the off season and even in the on season have a barrage of bus shuttles awaiting trains when they arrive.

Simply put the infrastructure isn't able to handle a year round influx of tourists coming on board trains.

 

[Krypto98]

Given from the Town Hall and Recent Board Meeting we are supposed to see a 15% train service increase in September I'm curious to hear what people think that will be?

1) Don't think Barrie can see significantly more service than it has now without more double tracking done.
2) Stouffville unlikely to see much extra service until the current construction is done, they utilize the nights and weekends for construction.

Given the LS Lines are mostly as well served as I ever expect them to be before RER or GO Expansion or whatever is implemented the only other thing that could hit that 15% increase target would be a two way all day service on Kitchener. That makes sense in my mind given Verster and Co have been saying that a major increase / exciting announcement RE Kitchener would be coming for a while now.

My guess for September is 30 minute 2WAD to Bramalea (maybe some additional trips to Kitchener too) and maybe a few extra trips per week on all the other lines.

My Guess on this is
1 New Trip to/from Kitchener
1 New Trip to/from Georgetown
30 minute 2WAD to Bramalea: I'll Make a Fantasy Schedule for that soon.
1 Trip on the Richmond Hill Line? They have 6 spots at the Gormley Layover and they are only using 5 trains
Probably Nothing for Barrie
Probably nothing for Stouffville
Milton can't do much there
LE/LW maybe some new trips

 

[mdrejhon]

If that missing connection in the Bayview Junction area for the new rail bridge is completed -- they could really ramp up the West Harbour service to much more useful levels.

Even more useful is if they can turn West Harbour into a through-station -- something I wrote about 4 years ago -- www.raisethehammer.org/article/2720

This should ideally have been included in the original budget for West Harbour. Bundle the pre-requisites for useful service. A nice, underused station, that needs the accompanying infrastructure upgrades that permits extending the allday Aldershot terminus to at least West Harbour or Stoney Creek.

 

[MisterF]

It would be shortsighted to dismiss the Niagara train based on current ridership. It's a brand new service offering a 2.5 hour ride and only two trains a day - of course ridership is going to be weak. But we're barely seeing the tip of the iceberg for ridership to Niagara. While it's spread out among several cities, it's a region of almost half a million people with millions of tourists every year. Many of those tourists are from Toronto or have Niagara included part of a Toronto trip. Plus the QEW is one of the most congested highways in the country. If trains were more frequent and faster way more people would take it.

Barrie is a good comparison. There has been substantial ridership growth to Barrie in the dozen years since that line was re-established, both because it takes a few years for ridership to grow and because of service increases. The same will happen with Niagara.

 

[Streety McCarface]

It would be shortsighted to dismiss the Niagara train based on current ridership. It's a brand new service offering a 2.5 hour ride and only two trains a day - of course ridership is going to be weak. But we're barely seeing the tip of the iceberg for ridership to Niagara. While it's spread out among several cities, it's a region of almost half a million people with millions of tourists every year. Many of those tourists are from Toronto or have Niagara included part of a Toronto trip. Plus the QEW is one of the most congested highways in the country. If trains were more frequent and faster way more people would take it.

Barrie is a good comparison. There has been substantial ridership growth to Barrie in the dozen years since that line was re-established, both because it takes a few years for ridership to grow and because of service increases. The same will happen with Niagara.

Maybe, but a few things need to happen before that:
1. West Harbor needs better service, and should be established as the western terminus of the Lakeshore West line, with hamilton as a spur connection.
2. The Welland canal needs a better crossing for rail vehicles
3. Service needs to speed up. We might even need express trains from Union to Aldershot/West Harbour to make the trip viable for many.
4. Track improvements and station improvements along the corridor.

It will cost at least 2 billion dollars to make all this possible, and as proven by the Kitchener corridor, that's a heavy bill the current government is not willing to swallow.