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GO Transit - Printable Version

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RE: GO Transit - jgsz - 03-31-2017

(03-31-2017, 04:47 PM)SammyOES2 Wrote: I think Guelph has problems other than just as a stop, right?  Like having a lot of at grade crossings that they'll be unable to remove cheaply?

Can't do a grade separation on Kent St.  The tracks go down the middle of the street.


RE: GO Transit - KevinL - 03-31-2017

(03-31-2017, 05:57 PM)jgsz Wrote:
(03-31-2017, 04:47 PM)SammyOES2 Wrote: I think Guelph has problems other than just as a stop, right?  Like having a lot of at grade crossings that they'll be unable to remove cheaply?

Can't do a grade separation on Kent St.  The tracks go down the middle of the street.

Not easily, no. I have heard bits of a plan (not sure how official) to expropriate the houses on the south side between Glasgow and Dublin; and have the ones beyond Dublin be accessible from Waterloo Avenue only. Then the rails can be shifted slightly southward and movement can be freer, even if they don't actually separate the grade.


RE: GO Transit - darts - 03-31-2017

(03-31-2017, 04:11 PM)Drake Wrote: Would there be any advantage to bypassing Guelph to speed up the overall route?

There are plans to build a Breslau GO station and Acton has a GO stop. That is about a 10-15 minute drive from the Guelph location to these areas.

It seems to me that whenever I ride that train one of the slowest sections is the crawl into and out of Guelph.

The plans for the Hi Speed "magic" train that we like to dream about has bypassed Guelph. Would there be a political appetite to do it with GO as well?

Why bypass Guelph? They could say the same thing about the downtown Kitchener stop


RE: GO Transit - danbrotherston - 03-31-2017

(03-31-2017, 07:53 PM)darts Wrote: Why bypass Guelph? They could say the same thing about the downtown Kitchener stop

I'm guessing it has to do with the walking pace crawl down Kent St. GO maintains far higher average speeds through KW than it does through Guelph. Still, doesn't make it a good idea, a Guelph stop is a big population base added to the line, and a downtown station is going to spur the right type of development. It might be expensive to fix Kent St., but it's worth it IMO.


RE: GO Transit - Drake - 04-01-2017

(03-31-2017, 07:53 PM)darts Wrote:
(03-31-2017, 04:11 PM)Drake Wrote: Would there be any advantage to bypassing Guelph to speed up the overall route?

There are plans to build a Breslau GO station and Acton has a GO stop. That is about a 10-15 minute drive from the Guelph location to these areas.

It seems to me that whenever I ride that train one of the slowest sections is the crawl into and out of Guelph.

The plans for the Hi Speed "magic" train that we like to dream about has bypassed Guelph. Would there be a political appetite to do it with GO as well?

Why bypass Guelph? They could say the same thing about the downtown Kitchener stop

Not really. The whole Toronto - Waterloo comparison to SF - Silicon Valley couldn't be made without the Kitchener stop, and that was the point of the line coming out this far. If it wasn't for Kitchener that line would arguably still end in Georgetown (or wherever it formally ended).

The Guelph area is a bottleneck to that line and if there were a bypass all the grade separation issues may be more easily resolved. I was only asking the question for discussion. Driving 10-20 minutes to a GO train station is not an unreasonable distance. If there was no Guelph, there would be that option in either direction.


RE: GO Transit - SammyOES2 - 04-01-2017

I agree KW is more important than Guelph, but I still think its a pretty crappy precedent to skip a city of 120,000+ people for a commuter line like GO is.


RE: GO Transit - panamaniac - 04-01-2017

I must be missing something - I thought it was the HSR line that might bypass Guelph. Is it being considered for GO as well? That would surprise me greatly.


RE: GO Transit - Drake - 04-01-2017

No there is no danger of that thought. I just brought up the idea for the purpose of discussion. I proposed it as an option to shorten the trip time.


RE: GO Transit - MacBerry - 04-02-2017

(03-31-2017, 08:05 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(03-31-2017, 07:53 PM)darts Wrote: Why bypass Guelph? They could say the same thing about the downtown Kitchener stop

I'm guessing it has to do with the walking pace crawl down Kent St.  GO maintains far higher average speeds through KW than it does through Guelph.  Still, doesn't make it a good idea, a Guelph stop is a big population base added to the line, and a downtown station is going to spur the right type of development.  It might be expensive to fix Kent St., but it's worth it IMO.

I could be very wrong ... but believe I read something quite a long time ago, where Guelph has local ordinances that require any train to travel below 20 kph because of the downtown location of the station and the effect that faster trains could have on the many businesses/neighbourhoods that back onto the main line. 

As others have noted Guelph has not been able (or willing?)  to build grade separation as these are built with a majority of federally funded $$$ based on a formula involving the amount of train traffic and vehicle traffic. The permits are not given out by the Feds even if cities/towns want to build them.


RE: GO Transit - KevinL - 04-02-2017

The line is grade-separated in most of Guelph, it's just the one segment west of Downtown that has numerous level crossings (W-E: Alma, Edinburgh, Yorkshire, Glasgow, Dublin). And that's pretty much impossible to change due to the yard and junctions in the Alma-Edinburgh area.

As I mentioned above, this could be streamlined by expropriating and closing the south side of Kent; the Dublin crossing could probably be closed as well. If some hard fencing goes up around the tracks otherwise, that should hopefully ease the residential concerns and allow speeds to come up and double tracks to be properly installed.


RE: GO Transit - jamincan - 04-02-2017

(04-02-2017, 01:10 AM)MacBerry Wrote:
(03-31-2017, 08:05 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: I'm guessing it has to do with the walking pace crawl down Kent St.  GO maintains far higher average speeds through KW than it does through Guelph.  Still, doesn't make it a good idea, a Guelph stop is a big population base added to the line, and a downtown station is going to spur the right type of development.  It might be expensive to fix Kent St., but it's worth it IMO.

I could be very wrong ... but believe I read something quite a long time ago, where Guelph has local ordinances that require any train to travel below 20 kph because of the downtown location of the station and the effect that faster trains could have on the many businesses/neighbourhoods that back onto the main line. 

As others have noted Guelph has not been able (or willing?)  to build grade separation as these are built with a majority of federally funded $$$ based on a formula involving the amount of train traffic and vehicle traffic. The permits are not given out by the Feds even if cities/towns want to build them.

Aren't railways federally regulated and therefore exempt from municipal rules?


RE: GO Transit - DHLawrence - 04-02-2017

I think they're federally regulated unless they operate entirely within the confines of a province. Could be remembering this wrongly, though.


RE: GO Transit - yige_t - 04-08-2017

GO Buses returned to Charles Street Terminal today, with the added stops at King / Victoria.

Interesting observation - looks like the existing (8100-series) double deckers are now banned on routes 25 (local only) and 30 - Only the SuperLo (8300-series) double decker buses or highway coaches are allowed, according to GO's GTFS data. 

Sure enough, all buses I saw today on route 25 were of the SuperLo variety. Any reason for the ban would have to be height clearance issues in Kitchener. It can't be at Charles Street Terminal, though, since GO buses stop on the farthest lane, where there is no overhead bridge.

Perhaps the LRT overhead wires in downtown Kitchener are too low for the older decker buses?

Bus height (for reference)

8100-series double decker - 4.15 m
[Image: 33093301236_eb75ea49d2.jpg]

8300-series SuperLo double decker - 3.9 m
[Image: 33497664085_5a72d67624.jpg]


RE: GO Transit - Canard - 04-08-2017

That's a great guess, and I could totally imagine that that's the case. I didn't realize there were different height variants of the double deckers - cool!

You seem to know a lot about them - I'm quite curious and would like to take one some time for a run into Toronto and back, and try to get a "front seat ride" on the upper deck. Is there generally a "rush" to get the best seat up there? If one were to board at the Charles St. Terminal on a run headed to Toronto, is it already full from the previous stops?


RE: GO Transit - KevinL - 04-08-2017

(04-08-2017, 09:56 PM)Canard Wrote: Is there generally a "rush" to get the best seat up there?  If one were to board at the Charles St. Terminal on a run headed to Toronto, is it already full from the previous stops?

Your best chance at a choice of seat is when there are fewer university passengers aboard. Choose a time when fewer of them would be travelling (not on evenings, Fridays, weekends generally). Alternately, board at the first stop at UW.