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Enzo Aquarius

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1 hour ago, Ed T. said:

April 8.....

image.thumb.png.0fb9cf5a0472dd9f966f4fca639442cc.png

 

The QEW is guaranteed to be an utter disaster. Why not take GO? They must have plans, huh?

 

image.png

 

I heard something over the radio this afternoon talking about how GO Transit is enhancing trains to and from Niagara Falls. Not sure if that'll take effect before April 8th but it'll be smart if they do that if theyre able to

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3 hours ago, fromthe905 said:

I heard something over the radio this afternoon talking about how GO Transit is enhancing trains to and from Niagara Falls. Not sure if that'll take effect before April 8th but it'll be smart if they do that if theyre able to

"Enhancing trains?"

If it happens that Niagara Fall's estimate of visitor count is correct, every single GO bus and bilevel coach pulled by every one of GO's locos probably wouldn't take care of the crowds trying to get back to the GTA. So really they need to enhance their trains to be magic flying ponies for all. Plus more crowd control at stations than you can shake a ten-thousand-anxious-riders stick at.

The problem is that Toronto, and Peel, and York, and Durham are all just out of the path of totality. But a short trip west to Hamilton, or better yet St Catharines or Niagara Falls, gets them nicely into totality. Or east, but you'd have to go east past Port Hope, ideally to Prince Edward County. The 401 east of Durham can be horrible on summer weekends, and the QEW is one long traffic jam heading to or from Niagara every nice weekend. Finally, while people might drift to viewing locations Sunday, or early Monday, when the eclipse is over, a whole lot will want to get back home to go back to work Tuesday morning.

It will be a fun time on Monday April 8.

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On 3/20/2024 at 4:16 PM, Ed T. said:

"Enhancing trains?"

If it happens that Niagara Fall's estimate of visitor count is correct, every single GO bus and bilevel coach pulled by every one of GO's locos probably wouldn't take care of the crowds trying to get back to the GTA. So really they need to enhance their trains to be magic flying ponies for all. Plus more crowd control at stations than you can shake a ten-thousand-anxious-riders stick at.

The problem is that Toronto, and Peel, and York, and Durham are all just out of the path of totality. But a short trip west to Hamilton, or better yet St Catharines or Niagara Falls, gets them nicely into totality. Or east, but you'd have to go east past Port Hope, ideally to Prince Edward County. The 401 east of Durham can be horrible on summer weekends, and the QEW is one long traffic jam heading to or from Niagara every nice weekend. Finally, while people might drift to viewing locations Sunday, or early Monday, when the eclipse is over, a whole lot will want to get back home to go back to work Tuesday morning.

It will be a fun time on Monday April 8.

I wonder what the estimated travel time between Toronto and Niagara Falls is for that day. While it's probably best to avoid the crowd in Niagara Falls, setting up a tripod in a quiet residential neighborhood / park with a clear unobstructed view somewhere nearby (i.e. Hamilton) should be just fine.

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Go Transit is refurbishing 8 passenger train cars and converting them to bike cars to better accommodate an increased amount of bikes on the Kitchener Go line. While working to maintain fire resistance that minimizes the spread of flames should a fire occur on-board between train stations. 

Additional bike cars scheduled to come into service in mid-May being assigned where needed. 

Link: https://globalnews.ca/news/10376331/new-carriages-metrolinx-go-trains-bike-rules-review/

Additional service to Niagara Falls on April 8th

Three additional trips from Union Station to Niagara Falls: 9:02 AM, 10:02 AM and 11:02 AM

Four additional trips from Niagara Falls to Union Station: 4:24 PM, 4:54 PM, 7:21 PM and 10:51 PM

All trips will operate with 12 cars to ensure sufficient capacity to handle increased volumes. 

Link: https://www.metrolinx.com/en/news/metrolinx-running-extra-go-transit-service-on-april-8

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On 3/20/2024 at 11:12 AM, Ed T. said:

April 8.....

image.thumb.png.0fb9cf5a0472dd9f966f4fca639442cc.png

 

The QEW is guaranteed to be an utter disaster. Why not take GO? They must have plans, huh?

 

image.png

 

 

On 3/20/2024 at 1:01 PM, fromthe905 said:

I heard something over the radio this afternoon talking about how GO Transit is enhancing trains to and from Niagara Falls. Not sure if that'll take effect before April 8th but it'll be smart if they do that if theyre able to

The CBC article cited above in the headline screenshot (this isn't Facebook, you can still post links to news articles here - here's the article in question) mentioned GO would hopefully be adding train service as any additional bus service would likely get caught in the traffic into the region.  The schedule wasn't ready at press time, but it was posted two days later.  There is no mention of additional bus service in the Metrolinx release below.  Perhaps the distance of the Niagara Falls station from the Falls itself will help spread some of the people around. 

On 3/22/2024 at 12:52 PM, GTAmissions1 said:

...

Additional service to Niagara Falls on April 8th

Three additional trips from Union Station to Niagara Falls: 9:02 AM, 10:02 AM and 11:02 AM

Four additional trips from Niagara Falls to Union Station: 4:24 PM, 4:54 PM, 7:21 PM and 10:51 PM

All trips will operate with 12 cars to ensure sufficient capacity to handle increased volumes. 

Link: https://www.metrolinx.com/en/news/metrolinx-running-extra-go-transit-service-on-april-8

The eclipse also coincides with the Jays home opener and a Leafs game.  I wonder how many people will be travelling from Niagara Falls to catch either of the matches?

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6 hours ago, Gil said:

The eclipse also coincides with the Jays home opener and a Leafs game.  I wonder how many people will be travelling from Niagara Falls to catch either of the matches?

Go Transit did rejig some trips and adding service where needed to accommodate the Jays home opener game along Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East and Barrie lines.

Some train departure trips were rejigged to better accommodate with bus replacement trips running in-place. 

Forgot to note in my original post select special trips to Niagara Falls will bypass Mimico, Long Branch, Clarkson, Bronte, Appleby GO, Hamilton GO Centre, and West Harbour GO. Noted below are the impacted trips:

Union Station towards Niagara Falls

  • 10:02 AM and 11:02 AM departures

Niagara Falls to Union

  • 4:24 PM, 4:54 PM and 10:51 PM 

Final comments:

It is a good opportunity to practice additional service for special events depending on availability of resources and crews. 

To be honest, for those that will do the solar eclipse in Niagara Falls and do a sports game the same day, that would make for a pretty long day. Would need a lot of caffeine and strategic planning in case the crowds do get heavy at Niagara Falls. 

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