GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[Willybru21]

All Kitchener trains last weekend were 12 cars long, on top of that they are only opening late evening outbound trains on platform 11 (not 11 & 12), and having staff walk up and down the platform checking how many bikes are in each coach.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Has any thought been given to a dedicated bike service? Something like a train dedicated for bikes only.

Can we get Uber Eats, Skip, Instacart, et al to sponsor it?

 

[E•MO•TION]

Has any thought been given to a dedicated bike service? Something like a train dedicated for bikes only.

Like the train they’ve been quietly operating behind 3937 for several months now?

 

[Krypto98]

Like the train they’ve been quietly operating behind 3937 for several months now?

3539?

 

[Allandale25]

 

[ShonTron]

There’s also a new late-evening train from Union to Mount Pleasant at 11:34 pm on weekdays. It’s 12 cars long.

Service Related Updates

Check this page to see if there are any current delays on GO Transit.

www.gotransit.com

 

[anb]

The changes are up on the site. At this point, just like BT, MiWay, YRT, HSR, etc, I just knew that GO would also have extremely underwhelming sets of changes as well.

It’s funny how they ran much better service during the middle of the pandemic in September of 2021.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

There’s also a new late-evening train from Union to Mount Pleasant at 11:34 pm on weekdays. It’s 12 cars long.

Service Related Updates

Check this page to see if there are any current delays on GO Transit.

www.gotransit.com

Need a 12:34 and midday service to Mt Pleasant, and I think Kitchener is good until the other upgrades are finished.

 

[Garuda]

Can we get Uber Eats, Skip, Instacart, et al to sponsor it?

sponsorship / IT and admin support. You have all your “staff” in one place might as well have a business meeting.

 

[reaperexpress]

Really great to see the new express services (30A and 56A), the resumption of regular hourly off-peak service on Barrie and Stouffville (though Stouffville still has no evening train service) and the much-needed additional evening train on Kitchener.

With 25 trains per day, the Kitchener line now has two more round trips than pre-pandemic, and is only one train short of the all-time high from September 2021.

On Kitchener, it looks they could use another counter-peak train from Bramalea around 19:15. There are two buses arriving there from UW, Laurier & Kitchener (3 on Fridays) but the only onward connection to Union is a route 33 bus which already has passengers on board from Guelph, Acton, Georgetown and Brampton. The next eastbound train from Bramalea isn't until 19:54.

A fun feature of the new Route 30 Express is that some of them get to Kitchener faster than the train they connected with at Bramalea:

 

[anb]

Really great to see the new express services (30A and 56A), the resumption of regular hourly off-peak service on Barrie and Stouffville (though Stouffville still has no evening train service) and the much-needed additional evening train on Kitchener.

With 25 trains per day, the Kitchener line now has two more round trips than pre-pandemic, and is only one train short of the all-time high from September 2021.

On Kitchener, it looks they could use another counter-peak train from Bramalea around 19:15. There are two buses arriving there from UW, Laurier & Kitchener (3 on Fridays) but the only onward connection to Union is a route 33 bus which already has passengers on board from Guelph, Acton, Georgetown and Brampton. The next eastbound train from Bramalea isn't until 19:54.
View attachment 502539

A fun feature of the new Route 30 Express is that some of them get to Kitchener faster than the train they connected with at Bramalea:
View attachment 502563

Fun facts, 30A is just the old routing of the 30 before the Syntex and Financial Dr stops got implemented. 56A is what the old 52A route was just now with Sq One and Bramalea added to it.

Definitely agree with needing another counter peak train around that time. If they could also fix the 90 min gaps between the 15:55 and the 17:23, as well as the 18:23 and 19:54 trains all leaving Bramalea that could also be great. Maybe trains around 16:40 and 19:10 could fit in well giving the counter peak a rough 45 min frequency at least.

 

[reaperexpress]

Fun facts, 30A is just the old routing of the 30 before the Syntex and Financial Dr stops got implemented. 56A is what the old 52A route was just now with Sq One and Bramalea added to it.

The 30A not quite the old routing - the Laurier and UWaterloo stops are new. It's like a cross between the old 30 and the old 25F.

Definitely agree with needing another counter peak train around that time. If they could also fix the 90 min gaps between the 15:55 and the 17:23, as well as the 18:23 and 19:54 trains all leaving Bramalea that could also be great. Maybe trains around 16:40 and 19:10 could fit in well giving the counter peak a rough 45 min frequency at least.

Yeah exactly, those 90-minute gaps are quite awkward. If we added a new train to run the 18:04 westbound local schedule from Union to Bramalea, it could turn back and run an eastbound service around 19:00 or so, filling the 90-minute gap between the 18:23 and 19:54 trains and providing a train connection for the group of buses arriving around then. The existing 18:04 train to Kitchener could be shifted about 10 minutes later, running express and connecting to the local service at Bramalea.

Proposed changes to current westbound schedule:

 

[dowlingm]

What’s been bugging me is this: is there something out there which resembles a bike transportation service - a flatbed or panel truck where the bikes are tagged and loaded, the owners with the other end of the tag board a GO coach, and then both vehicles travel to an off boarding location? Seems cheaper in the round than refitting GO coaches in a panic as bike coaches which still does nothing about the suitability of stations at either end to handle large numbers of bikes

 

[reaperexpress]

What’s been bugging me is this: is there something out there which resembles a bike transportation service - a flatbed or panel truck where the bikes are tagged and loaded, the owners with the other end of the tag board a GO coach, and then both vehicles travel to an off boarding location?

The Stuttgart Rack Railway has a flatbed car for bikes which is self-serve. But I don't know if this kind of operation would be approved by Transport Canada for a 95 mph mainline.

Seems cheaper in the round than refitting GO coaches in a panic as bike coaches which still does nothing about the suitability of stations at either end to handle large numbers of bikes

I don't think acquiring new flatbed trucks would be cheaper than retrofitting the bilevel coaches we already have, especially since we already have more coaches than we know what to do with post- level boarding and electrification.

I'm also not sure how introducing effectively a checked baggage system (with staff, presumably) would reduce the required changes to stations. It certainly wouldn't reduce operating costs.

As always I must reiterate that the bike problem will solve itself if GO charges a fee to bring a bike aboard, even a very small trivial fee. (As long as the City increases that 48h max stay at the Union Bike Station).

 

[dowlingm]

The Stuttgart Rack Railway has a flatbed for bikes which is self-serve. But I don't know if this kind of operation would be approved by Transport Canada for a 95 mph mainline.

neither do I - for clarity I was thinking of road based service here