As GO evolves I hope it does become less Union-focused. Two-way all-day service is meant to help do that and give people a rail option for trips that don't involve commuting to downtown Toronto... will the demand justify the service plan? I think so, though it will take time, and be very dependent on the transit connections at destinations and auto trips being much less attractive than they are today.
Hamilton's stations would be well-positioned to take advantage of inbound services -- especially compared to stations that are largely suburban -- with much within walking distance particularly for the GO Centre, and the local transit improvements that are on the way. But it's still fairly easy to drive into downtown and the employment density would have to rise despite it being a relatively large node in the city.
The GO Centre has some big limitations. It's a shame, it's a beautiful station and ideally situated. Hopefully more service can be provided, but that will be up to what CP is willing to negotiate and the maximum capacity of the tunnel. The poor rail connections to CN's main corridor on the east side is not something that would easily be changed either.
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Originally Posted by mikevbar1
Overall I think DB will come up with a much better service pattern than whatever Mx has drafted in the past, considering they’ve already thrown “just” 15-minute service on the electrified network out the window. They may try to accelerate 20-15 minute service to Hamilton by retaining more diesels, which would really go a long way. Not to get too fantastical, but local trains that don’t head to Union would be very welcome too and would be a good use of the trains, while also potentially serving as an employment opportunity here. The ultimate goal IMO is to bring Centre/Hunter GO up to snuff, which Mx has kicked the can on because it’s going to be stupid expensive and isn’t really urgent. In such a scenario I’d prefer to see them split the services between WH and Centre GO, perhaps with the so-called “super express” trains only going to Centre GO and the local/regular express trains to WH-Confederation, since that’s Mx’s real egg basket here.
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