innsertnamehere
Superstar
Similarly the Niagara Weekend service trains run "super-express" along the Lakeshore West line, making Toronto-Burlington in 40 minutes, a trip that is normally 1:01 off peak and 0:51 with a normal express train.
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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
Richard White
Senior Member
What GO really needs is dedicated tracks. Once you get past Burlington the trains slow considerably.
Richard White
Senior Member
Anyone here know what the maximum, all out speed of a GO train is? I am thinking along the lines of hitting the red line, about to blow the engine, etc.
lenaitch
Senior Member
I believe the equipment is designed/geared to 150 kph but, of course, there are many other factors that affect train speed.
Richard White
Senior Member
If they topped out they could make it from Toronto to Niagara in just under an hour..
lenaitch
Senior Member
Like I said though, things like track speeds, turnouts, signalling, etc. all come into play. I could probably drive it in an hour, too, but probably not more than once
crs1026
Superstar
Richard, you’ve been bingeing Top Gear again, have you?
“Red-lining” the diesel is load related, not speed related..... but it’s pretty hard to do in an AC locomotive. Like any internal combustion engine, you could remove the governor and exceed RPM’s, but even that won’t necessarily get you speed. What will blow the internals is generated power that isn’t translated into turned wheels.
As noted, curvature plus excess speed will cause a train to tip over, but that depends on the curvature. You could tip over at 30 mph is the curvature is tight enough.
- Paul
robmausser
Senior Member
The new dual engined MPI locomotives can do 110mph.
However the bilevel coaches have a maximum speed of 95mph
Richard White
Senior Member
<Insert back to the future III joke here>
smallspy
Senior Member
The MP54 locos have the same top speed as the MP40s - 93mph. (Their gearing is different, however, due to the different operating characteristics of an AC traction motor when compared to a DC one.)
You are correct that the BiLevel coaches have a maximum service speed of 95mph.
The biggest issue with the trip to Niagara Falls is that CN's Grimsby Sub - the line from Hamilton to Niagara Falls - is limited to 65mph for passenger trains. If this was raised to something more reasonable - say, 80mph - that would result in a pretty substantial time savings on the trip to Niagara Falls not just for GO, but for VIA as well.
(There is of course the issue of the slow speeds around the canal and harbour, and through Hamilton, but those are much harder to fix.)
Dan
Fritter
Active Member
Is this due to track conditions, or is it just an arbitrary speed restriction?
innsertnamehere
Superstar
I'd imagine that they are at least raising speeds to Confederation GO as a part of that work? That's only 9km, and might only save a minute or so, but it's an improvement. I imagine as the Niagara GO expansion program moves east, it'll bring upgraded speeds with it..
robmausser
Senior Member
The numbers I quoted?
The 95mph is the maximum speed the GO coaches can handle safely. Any faster and the wheels could suffer issues, they could derail, the brakes could overheat etc. No amount of higher class track can fix that, its a limitation of the coaches.
For the locomotive, the top speed is generally governed for the same reason. Usually the traction motors could offer faster speeds, but the wheels, gears etc have been engineered for those tolerances. Often more powerful traction motors that could offer more speed are governed because they offer better acceleration. Just like your car, it can go probably 200kmh, but its unsafe. However people buy cars that go double the top speed limit because they offer better acceleration for passing etc.
Then of course there are track classes that offer speeds
There are other limitations too. Transport Canada limits a top speed of 177mph for tracks with level grade crossings. Thats not an engineering limitation, but a safety limit imposed due to the potential lethality of a collision with a vehicle crossing the tracks at speeds any higher.
smallspy
Senior Member
For the 65mph limit, completely arbitrary. Freights are limited to 60mph, which means that the track is already being maintained to a Class 4 standard.
What this means is that the crossing circuits along the line are all "dumb" circuits, and not designed to calculate the speed of the train passing over them in order to trigger the crossing protection in the appropriate amount of time. This isn't an insurmountable problem, but with only 1 pair of VIA trains per day, there hasn't been any incentive for them to pay for the improvements necessary.
They are not. That section of the line is bound by a zone speed of 30mph due to the numerous grade crossings. (For the record, the lower speed limits cover from mile 39.0 - about Woodward Ave. - to 43.7, which is at James St. N. Centennial Station is being built at about mile 38, which is outside of the 30mph zone, but only by a mile. That speed limit continues around the harbour all the way to mile 36.9 of the Oakville Sub - Bayview Junction.) Fixing that section will cost a lot more money than raising the speeds further east.
Dan