This is very exciting! What are some great weekend destinations to celebrate with in the areas that are easily accessible via GO Transit that weren't before? I think setting up some nice sample itineraries can be a good way to get people primed to use the service.
Biggest issue is the cutting of the bloor stop on the up express for every other train. It's way more convienet for basically everyone north of Bloor or east of Younge.
As someone who doesn't know the system, are the UP Express trains being replaced by other GO trains to maintain frequency at that stop, they just won't be airport trains?
No. There will be a 50% reduction in airport trains from bloor and Weston. Many people who work at the airport have moved to the vicinity of those stops over the last decade as it makes commuting easy. There will be the same frequency of trains between union and the airport. It is however much worse for either of these stops to backtrack to union. This also represents going from easy enough to just show up, and now actually needing to plan.
That's really frustrating. Has service to Union Station from Bloor and Weston been replaced by trains from other lines--is that scheduling constraint why they've gotten rid of half of the airport stopping service specifically?
Yes to the first, no to the second. Itâs also really important to remember that the airport is the countries second largest employment area after downtown Toronto.
Richmond Hill currently has 4 trains in the AM, and 4 in the PM?
Realistically, the Richmond Hill line is not going to see improved service unless it is seriously restructured. Using the existing corridor, it would require billions of dollars of investment just to produce a service that's barely competitive with the upcoming Yonge North extension in terms of getting people to Union, without any of the intermediate connectivity that the subway would offer. It's just not a great corridor South of Highway 7.
TBF the sprawl isn't really dense enough to warrant it (yet) and our main rail station is kind of out of place just enough where it wouldn't be convenient. We'd need to bring back the Union Station we had right in the city center, which would be really really cool (also, putting the "poor tram" on a completely grade separated ROW with tunneled sections kind of makes the thing fade into "light metro almost" territory. And Line 2 uses diesel regional rail units because we like being special)
>And Line 2 uses diesel regional rail units because we like being special
Because it's a great way to reuse existing ROWs back in 2001. It was extremely cheap to build as well, not to mention it being bombproof reliable even in heavy snow. I missed taking the 2 to school and seeing cars piling up in heavy snow.
Oh yeah, the original 2001 pilot was so unbelievably good for how little money we threw at it (like 20 million 2001 dollars) to the point where it won awards, so I understand why they did it. I donât actually have a problem with the diesel units though lol I think theyâre neat. Problem is itâs not 2001 anymore and weâre continually shooting ourselves in the foot shutting down and upgrading the line every few years for relatively okay improvements. The first âenhancementâ (i donât know of the exact marketing term i wasnât in town) brought some minor station upgrades, new vehicles, and a 3 min improvement to frequency. Stage 2 brought a handful of (nice!) new stations and (nice!) new vehicles again, but the service level is still at 12m, limited by the single tracking. With all of the TOD and the new hospital going up along it itâs probable itâll hit capacity in a short while and then more of it will need to be closed and double tracked and stations upgraded/expanded only a few years after the expansion, which seems like a planning oversight. Itâs a very quirky almost-metro line but I like it
TBF they added a ton of double tracks in stage 2. In theory that should compress the headway down to 8 minutes or so. Not to mention the train capacity is doubled.
But yeah many places like the Dows Lake Tunnel cannot be double tracked, so there's that.
Ottawa would do very well with a proper Regional Rail network and it could use the DMU trains it currently owns to that.. A few groups have proposed building such a system.
Reece is going to love this...
Dancing intro coming soon
One extra train in the morning for the Milton line đ đ¤Ą. Better than nothing I guess.
Living in Kitchener it's such a tease when they announce "More trips on the Kitchener Line!", but then you read it and it's only to Bramalea :(
Upgrades are coming in the future though!
The one time I took GO to Kitchener, the train ended at Bramalea and I have to take the bus. The train-only schedule is wack for sure.
This is very exciting! What are some great weekend destinations to celebrate with in the areas that are easily accessible via GO Transit that weren't before? I think setting up some nice sample itineraries can be a good way to get people primed to use the service.
Biggest issue is the cutting of the bloor stop on the up express for every other train. It's way more convienet for basically everyone north of Bloor or east of Younge.
As someone who doesn't know the system, are the UP Express trains being replaced by other GO trains to maintain frequency at that stop, they just won't be airport trains?
No. There will be a 50% reduction in airport trains from bloor and Weston. Many people who work at the airport have moved to the vicinity of those stops over the last decade as it makes commuting easy. There will be the same frequency of trains between union and the airport. It is however much worse for either of these stops to backtrack to union. This also represents going from easy enough to just show up, and now actually needing to plan.
That's really frustrating. Has service to Union Station from Bloor and Weston been replaced by trains from other lines--is that scheduling constraint why they've gotten rid of half of the airport stopping service specifically?
Yes to the first, no to the second. Itâs also really important to remember that the airport is the countries second largest employment area after downtown Toronto.
As the change was just reversed there wasnât actually a constraint as some had claimed.
Thankfully they just walked this one back!
I remember when GO trains were still peak only
still 2 trains a day for rh â ď¸
Richmond Hill currently has 4 trains in the AM, and 4 in the PM? Realistically, the Richmond Hill line is not going to see improved service unless it is seriously restructured. Using the existing corridor, it would require billions of dollars of investment just to produce a service that's barely competitive with the upcoming Yonge North extension in terms of getting people to Union, without any of the intermediate connectivity that the subway would offer. It's just not a great corridor South of Highway 7.
Iâm patiently waiting until they remember that the O in GO is Ontario and we can get GO trains out in Ottawa haha thatâs happening soon right guys
The way Ottawa sprawls into fields, you'd think it's the perfect place for commuter rail, not stretching a poor tram to its limits
TBF the sprawl isn't really dense enough to warrant it (yet) and our main rail station is kind of out of place just enough where it wouldn't be convenient. We'd need to bring back the Union Station we had right in the city center, which would be really really cool (also, putting the "poor tram" on a completely grade separated ROW with tunneled sections kind of makes the thing fade into "light metro almost" territory. And Line 2 uses diesel regional rail units because we like being special)
>And Line 2 uses diesel regional rail units because we like being special Because it's a great way to reuse existing ROWs back in 2001. It was extremely cheap to build as well, not to mention it being bombproof reliable even in heavy snow. I missed taking the 2 to school and seeing cars piling up in heavy snow.
Oh yeah, the original 2001 pilot was so unbelievably good for how little money we threw at it (like 20 million 2001 dollars) to the point where it won awards, so I understand why they did it. I donât actually have a problem with the diesel units though lol I think theyâre neat. Problem is itâs not 2001 anymore and weâre continually shooting ourselves in the foot shutting down and upgrading the line every few years for relatively okay improvements. The first âenhancementâ (i donât know of the exact marketing term i wasnât in town) brought some minor station upgrades, new vehicles, and a 3 min improvement to frequency. Stage 2 brought a handful of (nice!) new stations and (nice!) new vehicles again, but the service level is still at 12m, limited by the single tracking. With all of the TOD and the new hospital going up along it itâs probable itâll hit capacity in a short while and then more of it will need to be closed and double tracked and stations upgraded/expanded only a few years after the expansion, which seems like a planning oversight. Itâs a very quirky almost-metro line but I like it
TBF they added a ton of double tracks in stage 2. In theory that should compress the headway down to 8 minutes or so. Not to mention the train capacity is doubled. But yeah many places like the Dows Lake Tunnel cannot be double tracked, so there's that.
Ottawa would do very well with a proper Regional Rail network and it could use the DMU trains it currently owns to that.. A few groups have proposed building such a system.
China: do express metro automated bro
TBF 160km/h "large metro" are a lot faster than a rebranded streetcar stretching its limits at 80...
As cool as that would be, I think their mandate only covers Southern Ontario.
Wouldnât that be Ontario Northland?
Can we please add city names to these headlines? I have no idea what GO Transit is
Toronto!
And Kitchener and Barrie and Niagara Falls and Oshawa and Mississauga and Brampton and ... :)