GO Transit

[KevinL]

Ooh, that's convenient. (Though York U will have its own subway station then, anyway...)

[KevinL]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Success! My motion calling for a firm funding commitment and clear timeline for the delivery of all-day, two-way <a href="https://twitter.com/GOtransitKT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GOtransitKT</a> to Kitchener received all-party support &amp; passed unanimously. I don't intend to let the government disappoint <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kwawesome?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#kwawesome</a> families again. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/onpoli?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#onpoli</a></p>&mdash; Catherine Fife (@CFifeKW) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFifeKW/status/938884488007962626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2017</a></blockquote>

[Viewfromthe42]

Now if only you could support your constituents with issues that are neither newsworthy nor granting of bully pulpits 

[timio]

Update-ish on corridor improvements from KW to Georgetown, from the recent Metrolinx Townhall, as summarized by Steve Munro:

"Metrolinx bought the KW corridor and fully takes it over in October of 2018. There are 30 grade crossings between Georgetown and Kitchener that must be reviewed. Metrolinx plans to double track and signal the line after they own it, but this needs to be synced with other work. [Greg Percy, COO] agrees that Metrolinx needs to do this work, but feels it is about five years before completion."

Biggest news from this is a date when Metrolinx assumes full control of the corridor from CN(GEXR).  I hope they go for the incremental improvement approach instead of years of study for the whole corridor.

[Canard]

Wow, that's pretty huge, no? So that means they own the entire line, from Kitchener to Toronto, now?!

[ijmorlan]

Wow, that's pretty huge, no?  So that means they own the entire line, from Kitchener to Toronto, now?!

Isn’t there still the part from Georgetown to Brampton? I thought that was the part they weren’t going to be able to buy before building the freight bypass.

[taylortbb]

No, they still don't own the entire line. They've owned from Union to Bramlea for a while, it was one of their earlier purchases. Kitchener to Georgetown was added a few years ago, but CN had leased the line to GEXR (via Rail America IIRC). That left Metrolinx owning the line, but not in operational control of the line. This is the expiry of the GEXR lease, and returning of control to Metrolinx. The Georgetown to Brampton section is still owned by CN, and will be for a while.

Still very good news though. A lot of the travel time from KW to Toronto is the slow section before Georgetown. So even if they can't add trains they can still significantly improve speeds without getting the Brampton situation resolved.

[KevinL]

And we have that key phrase - double track. It's hugely important for both speed and throughput, and the faster we get started, the better.

The Grand River crossing near Breslau is probably the most challenging, though central Guelph will also be interesting. At least the viaduct over the Eramosa has supports for two tracks, they just have to build the spans.

[ijmorlan]

And we have that key phrase - double track. It's hugely important for both speed and throughput, and the faster we get started, the better.

The Grand River crossing near Breslau is probably the most challenging, though central Guelph will also be interesting. At least the viaduct over the Eramosa has supports for two tracks, they just have to build the spans.

Central Guelph is easy. There used to be two tracks from the junction to the station, and in fact the second track is still there for most of the route, just not everywhere in very good shape. The tricky bit is needing to double-track the bridge east of the station. Except that it should be OK for there to be the occasional single-track bridge. Until we have many more trains, the two directions can take turns going through single-track segments. Personally if I were planning it I probably wouldn’t double-track any bridges at all until substantially more service was planned. There are lots of railways in Europe that are single-track with passing sidings and I’m pretty sure they have more service than is planned anytime soon on this line.

And before the Kent St. thing comes up again, the problematic bit is one and a half blocks long, has precisely two crossings, and is sufficiently close to the station that train speeds will be extremely low no matter how much improvement is done to the right of way. So it’s not really a problem — they should be able to just re-instate the second track and fix up the crossings a bit.

Or not re-instate the second track — the last (speed * headway / 2) of a line can be single-tracked, so depending on the exact assumptions hourly service can probably be supported with only single track west of Guelph as long as the right of way is upgraded significantly.

[urbd]

Starting 2018, Route 25F (UW-York U Express) will connect with the Subway at Highway 407 Station.

I looked through the schedules and can't find this! When in 2018 does it start?

[urbd]

Starting 2018, Route 25F (UW-York U Express) will connect with the Subway at Highway 407 Station.

I looked through the schedules and can't find this! When in 2018 does it start?

Nevermind, found it. It will run Fridays and Sundays.

[KevinL]

Does anyone else find the premise of this story odd? There seems to be some expectation of an 'imminent' announcement of GO trains to Cambridge - something I was led to understand is some time off, based on CP's foot-dragging.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/807...cambridge/

[DHLawrence]

I think it's more the latest chapter in the "Hurry up and wait" saga of trains for Cambridge.

Incidentally, that "beefed up schedule of GO buses" isn't always convenient. I was coming home from Toronto yesterday in rush hour, having parked at Sportsworld, and found that the next bus to Square One wasn't until 7:30. Checking the GO schedules revealed that the bus connection to Milton Line trains is apparently no longer a thing. Faced with a long wait downtown or uncertain transfers in Aberfoyle, I ended up taking the GO train to Port Credit, the 19 north to Square One, and the 25 GO bus back to Sportsworld. Added an extra hour and a half to my trip.

[danbrotherston]

I think it's more the latest chapter in the "Hurry up and wait" saga of trains for Cambridge.

Incidentally, that "beefed up schedule of GO buses" isn't always convenient. I was coming home from Toronto yesterday in rush hour, having parked at Sportsworld, and found that the next bus to Square One wasn't until 7:30. Checking the GO schedules revealed that the bus connection to Milton Line trains is apparently no longer a thing. Faced with a long wait downtown or uncertain transfers in Aberfoyle, I ended up taking the GO train to Port Credit, the 19 north to Square One, and the 25 GO bus back to Sportsworld. Added an extra hour and a half to my trip.

They do appear to run, but perhaps, not that late into the evening.

http://www.gotransit.com/timetables/en/s...parentid=1

[DHLawrence]

That's the Cambridge route - it goes to SmartCentres, Cambridge Centre, and Galt, but not to Sportsworld.