GO Transit

[brianc1981]

On 10/24/2021 at 4:31 PM, Shaun said:

Has anyone installed washrooms on an enviro double decker before? 

I don't think washrooms are necessary on routes or washroom breaks. As it is there are some very long routes, like the bus that goes from union to Georgetown and the University of Guelph, or the Hamilton to Pickering route or Oakville to Oshawa. If I recall they are all around 3 hours one way. Running the 30 between Bramalea station to Kitchener and London would probably only take 2.5-3 hours at most. Another route could be an extension of the 15 to Brantford, operating down to London via Woodstock. Personally I think that there needs to be another extension of bus service, with a route connecting East Gwillimbury to Orangeville, and there should be a route that operates from Orangeville to Owen Sound and possibly a route from Orangeville to Barrie. 

[MCIBUS]

The only GO Buses that I'm aware of that actual had washrooms on board where the MCI's they bought used from Woodlands California. I don't know if they where in use or not though?

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

Just In: Starting on the weekend of November 5th (after 9:00pm) and running all weekend until the end of service on November 7th, 2021, there will be no Lakeshore East train service between Guildwood and the Oshawa GO station due to extensive track work and the rehabilitation of the Rouge Hill Bridge. A summary of the details go as follows:

• GO Trains on the Lakeshore East line will run hourly on the weekend of the closure between Union and Guildwood 
• Replacement GO buses will run between Guildwood GO station doing express to Pickering GO and making all stops to Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa
• For those who live in the vicinity of the Rouge Hill GO Train station, they must use the TTC to get to/from Downtown Toronto

The last time that a closure of a similar magnitude took place - was back in October 2019. As I had stressed before, while it may be "sound" to do the work in stages - it could hinder the schedule. If GO wanted to have more frequent service sooner rather than later, then a closure is necessary.

[Orion V]

1 hour ago, MCIBUS said:

The only GO Buses that I'm aware of that actual had washrooms on board where the MCI's they bought used from Woodlands California. I don't know if they where in use or not though?

The 102C3s.

No they never had the washrooms in use once GO bought them. It was boarded up iirc.

[110B West Pickering]

Some good news coming out of GO Today as Metrolinx is preparing to increase speeds on the Kitchener Line through Guelph.

•          Increase from 10 mph to 20 mph starting October 25

•          Increase from 20 mph to 30 mph starting November 15

•          Increase from 30 mph to 45 mph starting December 6

hopefully this should soon result in shorter travel times between Kitchener and Guelph, but also reduce overall travel time on the entire line from London to Toronto

https://blog.metrolinx.com/2021/10/13/moving-the-needle-on-kitchener-line-go-expansion-as-shorter-travel-times-start-to-become-reality/

[Shaun]

It will reduce travel times by about 5 minutes. 

[nfitz]

7 hours ago, Shaun said:

It will reduce travel times by about 5 minutes. 

They already dropped it 6 minutes between Kitchener and Bloor in the last schedule.

[John Oke]

 
anyone know what this is about?

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

1 minute ago, John Oke said:

 
anyone know what this is about?

something to do with the vaccination mandate that the Metrolinx employees must follow (not limited to GO Transit, UP Express and it's other divisions) - if i'm not mistaken.

[110B West Pickering]

7 hours ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

something to do with the vaccination mandate that the Metrolinx employees must follow (not limited to GO Transit, UP Express and it's other divisions) - if i'm not mistaken.

You’re not mistaken,

November 1st is the date that all Metrolinx employees and any contractor providing service to the public must be fully vaccinated

[taylortbb]

On 9/16/2021 at 4:53 PM, Articulated said:

As mentioned in previous posts, VIA on the faster train corridor currently takes 2:15 to 2:30 to go between Toronto and London. The route via Kitchener/Stratford has both lower-quality tracks and a longer distance; existing VIA trains take around 3:30 to make the trip on this corridor.

I was curious about distance so I measured it out on Google Maps, the London-Toronto route is only 10km longer via Kitchener than the south route via Brantford. So the time difference is almost entirely track quality, and not from the longer route.

[nfitz]

16 hours ago, taylortbb said:

I was curious about distance so I measured it out on Google Maps, the London-Toronto route is only 10km longer via Kitchener than the south route via Brantford. So the time difference is almost entirely track quality, and not from the longer route.

Yeah - looking at old VIA schedules, they list the mileage through Brantford as 185 km, and 195 km through Kitchener. Back then (1989), it was about 2:15 through Brantford and 3 through Kitchener.

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

On 10/28/2021 at 9:26 PM, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

Just In: Starting on the weekend of November 5th (after 9:00pm) and running all weekend until the end of service on November 7th, 2021, there will be no Lakeshore East train service between Guildwood and the Oshawa GO station due to extensive track work and the rehabilitation of the Rouge Hill Bridge. A summary of the details go as follows:

• GO Trains on the Lakeshore East line will run hourly on the weekend of the closure between Union and Guildwood 
• Replacement GO buses will run between Guildwood GO station doing express to Pickering GO and making all stops to Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa
• For those who live in the vicinity of the Rouge Hill GO Train station, they must use the TTC to get to/from Downtown Toronto

The last time that a closure of a similar magnitude took place - was back in October 2019. As I had stressed before, while it may be "sound" to do the work in stages - it could hinder the schedule. If GO wanted to have more frequent service sooner rather than later, then a closure is necessary.

An amendement to my last post regarding the LSE GO Train line closure - the bus placements will be provided by Coach Canada rather than GO Transit themselves (they have made the decision to temporarily outsource the shuttle buses during the upcoming closure). 

Source:

https://blog.metrolinx.com/2021/11/04/lakeshore-east-weekend-train-service-affected-by-upcoming-construction/

 

[G.A]

8433 is wrapped for CAA Insurance.

[Gamer Studios]

So um...GO already retired one of their 2014 units (according to the listing) and it's up for sale on Kijiji

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-other/mississauga-peel-region/2014-double-deck-bus/1593746177?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=sms

(all attached photos are from the Kijiji listing)

[Shaun]

They removed all of the deals? I saw some units being towed to Steeprock so I guess that's what they where doing. So I guess the MCI's are more reliable even with the reduced capacity. 

[newflyerinvero]

I an pleasantly surprised to see that there weren't any GO bus trip cancellations compared to two weeks ago.

Have things improved with having enough operators to run the regularly scheduled services?

[TTC7447]

23 minutes ago, newflyerinvero said:

I an pleasantly surprised to see that there weren't any GO bus trip cancellations compared to two weeks ago.

Have things improved with having enough operators to run the regularly scheduled services?

Well...
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/11/15/go-transit-lakeshore-west-line-cancelled-barrie-union-station/

[nfitz]

3 minutes ago, TTC7447 said:

Well...
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/11/15/go-transit-lakeshore-west-line-cancelled-barrie-union-station/

That's trains, not buses.

Also, they said they were only guessing it's Covid-related. The Star has since revealed that the Covid mandate hasn't taken effective yet for trains - so presumably City was wrong.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/11/15/go-train-up-express-crews-may-not-be-vaccinated.html

[drum118]

GO needs to change arrival time for London to 8:33 from 8:13 due no track space at London because of VIA Trains

8:10 Train   https://youtu.be/5_rh_m0NeLA

8:22 Train   https://youtu.be/FaerCJYc0tc

8: 30 Train https://youtu.be/WE9j18ChNuk

[Shaun]

There is a third track they can use. I'm sure they thought of that. 

[drum118]

On 11/16/2021 at 5:55 PM, Shaun said:

There is a third track they can use. I'm sure they thought of that. 

I have seen VIA store trains on that 3rd track in the past. 

If Metrolinx plans on running more trains to London as well VIA, going to need a 4th track and a layover area.

They have built an accessibility platform on platform 1 near the east end.

[ORION]

On 11/11/2021 at 9:44 PM, Gamer Studios said:

So um...GO already retired one of their 2014 units (according to the listing) and it's up for sale on Kijiji

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-other/mississauga-peel-region/2014-double-deck-bus/1593746177?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=sms
 

Its a wrap over the livery.

[Shaun]

5 hours ago, drum118 said:

I have seen VIA store trains on that 3rd track in the past. 

If Metrolinx plans on running more trains to London as well VIA, going to need a 4th track and a layover area.

They have built an accessibility platform on platform 1 near the east end.

There aren't that many trains using London. All of the freight traffic uses the non platform tracks. 

Its just a matter of timing. 

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

Head's up to anyone going to/from Toronto this coming weekend: The Lakeshore East GO Train line will be closed starting Friday night (November 26, 2021) and will run all weekend until the beginning of November 29, 2021. This is due to the rehabilitation of the train bridge across the Rouge River.

• Bus replacements will serve Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering before heading express to the Union Station Bus Terminal
• Those who live between Danforth GO station and Rouge Hill GO station - must take the TTC

Also, the Stouffville GO train line will make extra stops at Danforth and Scarborough GO stations during the closure. For the first point mentioned above, I'm not sure if GO will be using its drivers in house - or even decided to "outsource" the rail replacements to another company (as it had during the last closure a couple of weeks ago) - just for the train  replacements shuttles.