GO Transit

[PrimeTio]

1 minute ago, Doppelkupplung said:

Wow, some of those were only 7-8 years old...I wonder why they got rid of them. 

Less ridership?? I heard they were stored for a very long time at one of the garages. One of them were parked at the streetsville garage, but I have no idea if it's still their or not. @Joshuamumblespotted it their.

[smallspy]

6 minutes ago, Doppelkupplung said:

Wow, some of those were only 7-8 years old...I wonder why they got rid of them. 

Because they were junk. Maybe not as much as the first batch of double-deckers, but junk nonetheless. Their mean time between failures was atrocious.

 

On top of that, they've received another 100 or so SuperLo models in the past couple of years which have fewer operating restrictions and are more reliable, so it makes no sense to keep them.

 

Dan

[Shaun]

So are all future orders going to be SuperLo's? no need for single deck coaches?

[Articulated]

1 hour ago, Shaun said:

So are all future orders going to be SuperLo's? no need for single deck coaches?

GO just completed a 5-year contract with Alexander Dennis. They were locked into receiving about ~250 buses over that 5 year timespan, and accepted somewhere around 15-16 of their option units (out of a possible 150 IIRC). Not taking all of the options indicates that there might not be a full satisfaction with the SuperLo units, or at least that they are looking to nudge their unit mix in another direction. Also note that MCI's D45 CRT LE model was not available when GO locked into the 5 year contract with Alexander Dennis... I have an extremely strong suspicion that MCI developed that model specifically to win back GO's contract. After all, that was basically a guaranteed average of 50 buses per year that they lost over the lifetime of that contract.

There are still places in GO's network that either cannot run SuperLo buses due to height or other physical constraints, or where ridership does not justify using an 81-seat vehicle to offset the additional operating costs of the larger vehicle.

[TRENT_TRANSIT_SYSTEM]

Hey, I'm interested in buying used GO buses. I need MCI buses for my company (single level). Some GO staff suggested that I can buy them in batches of 10 or so for a flat rate when units come up for retirement, but they were drivers and supervisors.

Is there anyone here who might know who the best person to contact may be regarding used equipment?

 

I'm looking to buy between March and June, and have them road ready for July.

[ZümmyZüm]

21 hours ago, TRENT_TRANSIT_SYSTEM said:

Hey, I'm interested in buying used GO buses. I need MCI buses for my company (single level). Some GO staff suggested that I can buy them in batches of 10 or so for a flat rate when units come up for retirement, but they were drivers and supervisors.

Is there anyone here who might know who the best person to contact may be regarding used equipment?

 

I'm looking to buy between March and June, and have them road ready for July.

They come and go, usually bus to surplus auctions, govdeals.ca comes to mind. From there it’s a bidding war that GO Transit has no control over. 
 

best bet is sites like that before someone buys one and tries to up-sell it for 16,000$ on Kijiji after. 
 

Alternatively, on Govdeals.com there is a couple American MCI’s that are similar spec. If you’re able to import it may be an option 

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=32980&acctid=357

[Doppelkupplung]

21 hours ago, TRENT_TRANSIT_SYSTEM said:

Hey, I'm interested in buying used GO buses. I need MCI buses for my company (single level). Some GO staff suggested that I can buy them in batches of 10 or so for a flat rate when units come up for retirement, but they were drivers and supervisors.

Is there anyone here who might know who the best person to contact may be regarding used equipment?

 

I'm looking to buy between March and June, and have them road ready for July.

You can always try autotrader. Found this on quick search:

https://www.autotrader.ca/a/mci/d4500/niagara falls/ontario/19_11555474_/?ms=heavy_trucks&showcpo=ShowCpo&ncse=no&orup=35_60_60&pc=L5C 2Z1&sprx=-1

of the CAT generation

On multiple occasions I've found the company selling them usually has a few, but given that MCI retirements have probably thinned out in the last little while I'm not sure if that's the case still. 

[Shaun]

Where those the first to have new end caps?

I'm surprised they bothered to repaint them. 

[Doppelkupplung]

12 hours ago, Shaun said:

Where those the first to have new end caps?

I'm surprised they bothered to repaint them. 

No, I believe the late 2200s were the first to get new endcaps, and in their time post-rebuild the scheme was the swoop. When the 2300s like the one above were rebuilt the current scheme was the two-tone. 

[G.A]

38 minutes ago, Doppelkupplung said:

No, I believe the late 2200s were the first to get new endcaps, and in their time post-rebuild the scheme was the swoop. When the 2300s like the one above were rebuilt the current scheme was the two-tone. 

2327 (built March 2007) was the last to have the old rear and 2328 (built June 2007) was the first to have the new rear. It was also the first to be repainted into the current scheme.

[Doppelkupplung]

54 minutes ago, G.A said:

2327 (built March 2007) was the last to have the old rear and 2328 (built June 2007) was the first to have the new rear. It was also the first to be repainted into the current scheme.

On an slightly irrelevant note, I feel like 2327 was one of the last to retire from that order...I remember that unit specifically sticking it out for while, even after all the others had left. Still have a pic of it from summer 2019 when I last rode it. 
 

[G.A]

10 hours ago, Doppelkupplung said:

On an slightly irrelevant note, I feel like 2327 was one of the last to retire from that order...I remember that unit specifically sticking it out for while, even after all the others had left. Still have a pic of it from summer 2019 when I last rode it. 
 

She was the last in that paint scheme to retire and the last older style rear to retire as well. Here is a photo I took of it a few weeks before it was retired.

[Shaun]

I still think the best sounding units where the original D4500's with the Detroit engine. 

Then the ZF units but drivers couldn't get used to them making the movements jerky. 

I think the MCI 9'? Or 12? The first 45 footers. They where really soft ride causing motion sickness in traffic. 

The worst where the EX US units. Those where horrible. https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/GO_Transit_1500-1514

[ZümmyZüm]

On 2/25/2022 at 8:29 PM, Shaun said:

I still think the best sounding units where the original D4500's with the Detroit engine. 

Then the ZF units but drivers couldn't get used to them making the movements jerky. 

I think the MCI 9'? Or 12? The first 45 footers. They where really soft ride causing motion sickness in traffic. 

The worst where the EX US units. Those where horrible. https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/GO_Transit_1500-1514

You mean the worst because they were the slowest? I remember riding those and they pulled well ( and sounded great ) but they were defiantly the slower of the bunch. As for the ZF it’s one of those buses, especially the coach version where it’s just never going to be smooth in the city. Fantastic for highway and fuel efficiency but awful in stop and go traffic around union 

[newflyerinvero]

What are people's thoughts on GO's possible 15-minute Bus network?

I feel that the 401 and 407 corridors which have multiple routes almost establishes the high-frequency corridors, if not already.

The only other question I have is whether or not this means that GO buses would be on all week routes from major GO stations with many transit connections and have their routes join those corridors along those highways?

I'm interested in your thoughts.

 

[Doppelkupplung]

I never rode the original S60s (except for the 12 speeds, and those were summed up above), and the current 2400-series S60s all seem like they're heavily restricted from full potential. So for me, the ISMs are hands down the best sounding. Like, have you heard one of those take off from the outside? The dirtiest exhaust you'll ever hear; its up there with the TTC OG ISLs.  

[Gil]

2 hours ago, newflyerinvero said:

What are people's thoughts on GO's possible 15-minute Bus network?

I feel that the 401 and 407 corridors which have multiple routes almost establishes the high-frequency corridors, if not already.

The only other question I have is whether or not this means that GO buses would be on all week routes from major GO stations with many transit connections and have their routes join those corridors along those highways?

I'm interested in your thoughts.

Have there been any actual updates on this aside from introducing the 15-minute GO Bus network last fall (Global News, Daily Hive, Metrolinx - surprisingly the most vague)?  I'm more curious if this extends to the train-bus network on lines which currently don't have all-day rail service.  Will they supplement the rail lines or compliment them?  The way my home route 21 MILTON is structured (pre-COVID), 15 minute service only worked immediately after rush hour in the peak direction.  On the weekends I believe 20 minutes was the best the service got, but that was with only 2 branches.  It gets a bit trickier on weekdays with multiple branches serving local and express trips.  Which ones get upgraded to 15-minute service?

[GTAmissions1]

9 minutes ago, 110B West Pickering said:

In an election promise move, 

effective March 14th, the ford government is removing all Co-Fare discounts, providing free transfers between GO Transit and agencies with Co-Fare agreements.

In addition, the student and youth discounts will be raised to 40% from the existing 22%

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1001674/ontario-cutting-the-cost-of-taking-transit

I wonder how much adult fares will increase to compensate. I know the weekend passes to cover a day or entire weekend exist. The ones that cover the weekend also cover select long weekends at $10 for one day or $15 for the entire weekend.

Also read how those that are enrolled in the Peel Region Transit Affordability pilot project with either Mississauga or Brampton get 50 percent off their adult fare on Go Transit. Working to rollout on other local transit agencies to provide the discount for those with low incomes.

Go Transit working to regain ridership after being decimated from COVID-19 almost two years ago. 

[raptorjays]

3 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

I wonder how much adult fares will increase to compensate. I know the weekend passes to cover a day or entire weekend exist. The ones that cover the weekend also cover select long weekends at $10 for one day or $15 for the entire weekend.

Also read how those that are enrolled in the Peel Region Transit Affordability pilot project with either Mississauga or Brampton get 50 percent off their adult fare on Go Transit. Working to rollout on other local transit agencies to provide the discount for those with low incomes.

Go Transit working to regain ridership after being decimated from COVID-19 almost two years ago. 

https://www.cp24.com/news/most-local-gta-transit-users-except-ttc-riders-will-no-longer-pay-double-fare-to-connect-to-go-transit-1.5800563

Well... I don't know why the TTC is not included in this deal.. 

[GTAmissions1]

1 hour ago, raptorjays said:

https://www.cp24.com/news/most-local-gta-transit-users-except-ttc-riders-will-no-longer-pay-double-fare-to-connect-to-go-transit-1.5800563

Well... I don't know why the TTC is not included in this deal.. 

Most likely they are still working out the details on how much they are compensated per ride for a passenger taking Go Transit as part of their itinerary along with if the cost exceeds the allotted budget. TTC did have co-fares before it was scrapped in March 2020 which you would save $1.50 off TTC fare or Go Transit fare regardless of which system you boarded first. Within 3 hours if it was Go Transit or 2 hours if coming from TTC to switch to the other system and get the discount. 

The budget was $18.4 million dollars annually, but of course that limit was exceeded by several million dollars and that shortfall was covered by Metrolinx. Because it can be utilized when Go Transit was running. It wasn't fixed to a specific time period such as peak periods only. 

[Shaun]

I was recently at West Harbor GO station and I was thinking, it would have been a no brainer to make platform 2 an island and be able to serve the CN main line. This would reduce the need to backup into the dead end station. OR build a connecting track to the mainline for track 2 until the rest could be completed. Any reason why they didn't?

[Wayside Observer]

19 hours ago, Shaun said:

I was recently at West Harbor GO station and I was thinking, it would have been a no brainer to make platform 2 an island and be able to serve the CN main line. This would reduce the need to backup into the dead end station. OR build a connecting track to the mainline for track 2 until the rest could be completed. Any reason why they didn't?

West Harbour (note Canadian spelling) is an interesting station.  The platform configuration, as you mentioned, then there’s the parking lot.

You can’t use half of it because it’s blocked off.  According to Metrolinx, it’s blocked off because nobody was using it.  But nobody can use it because it’s blocked off.

There is a place nearby you can get fish and chips at but that’s the only redeeming thing I can think of about that train station.  And even then, it’s not even all that good fish and chips either.

[TDE]

23 hours ago, Shaun said:

I was recently at West Harbor GO station and I was thinking, it would have been a no brainer to make platform 2 an island and be able to serve the CN main line. This would reduce the need to backup into the dead end station. OR build a connecting track to the mainline for track 2 until the rest could be completed. Any reason why they didn't?

https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/go-transit-service-thread-including-extensions.4952/post-1730520

[smallspy]

6 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

West Harbour (note Canadian spelling) is an interesting station.  The platform configuration, as you mentioned, then there’s the parking lot.

You can’t use half of it because it’s blocked off.  According to Metrolinx, it’s blocked off because nobody was using it.  But nobody can use it because it’s blocked off.

There is a place nearby you can get fish and chips at but that’s the only redeeming thing I can think of about that train station.  And even then, it’s not even all that good fish and chips either.

The fish and chips place is okay. The real reason for going there is Grandad's Donuts.

 

Dan

[Chris W]

2 hours ago, smallspy said:

The fish and chips place is okay. The real reason for going there is Grandad's Donuts.

 

Dan

I agree. I need to thank Matthew Green for introducing me to Granddad's. If you haven't been before, you should. The donuts are excellent.