Commuter Rail/Regional Rail in Canada

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Is that a success or a failure? Depends on how you look at it. 30 people wouldn't even fill a highway coach. The fact that the schedule does not match those working 9-5 jobs and yet they can get 30 people a day speaks loudly. If I were in the Metrolinks office and looking at this, I would adjust the schedule to work better for real commuting and then just watch the numbers climb.

Makes me wonder why they didn't extend the service using GO buses. Obviously trains are a lot more efficient than buses relative to their capacity, but I'd be shocked if a 6 car GO train didn't use more energy than a GO bus. And considering that the train is so much slower than driving I can't see much advantage of a train compared to just running buses but at greater frequency.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Makes me wonder why they didn't extend the service using GO buses. Obviously trains are a lot more efficient than buses relative to their capacity, but I'd be shocked if a 6 car GO train didn't use more energy than a GO bus. And considering that the train is so much slower than driving I can't see much advantage of a train compared to just running buses but at greater frequency.

There are no direct, divided highways to St Mary's or Stratford. Mind you, I agreed that it does confuse me why the train was first. The only reason I can think of is that they really see a high number of people using it. The only issue with the GO train is the timing in and out of Union. People will ride the 4 hour train to get downtown if it works for them.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

There are no direct, divided highways to St Mary's or Stratford. Mind you, I agreed that it does confuse me why the train was first. The only reason I can think of is that they really see a high number of people using it. The only issue with the GO train is the timing in and out of Union. People will ride the 4 hour train to get downtown if it works for them.

Oh yeah I forgot about them. They're pretty small communities so hopefully they're worth it.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Toronto Star story this weekend saying the recently launched London-Toronto GO train is running around 30 passengers a day. Story is paywalled so I can only see the first 2 paragraphs, no idea what else it says.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/202...l-ttc-bus.html

Clearly Go needs to look into some of the used BUD dayliner cars that could be refurbished and put into service on this line.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Oh yeah I forgot about them. They're pretty small communities so hopefully they're worth it.

It isn't about them either, it is about London. They have 2 choices, this route, or the CP route through Brantford. I'll bet they would love to go through Brantford, but I'll also bet that CP doesn't want them to.

Originally Posted by casper

Clearly Go needs to look into some of the used BUD dayliner cars that could be refurbished and put into service on this line.

Find a few not already spoken for. Most have gone to scrap.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

It isn't about them either, it is about London. They have 2 choices, this route, or the CP route through Brantford. I'll bet they would love to go through Brantford, but I'll also bet that CP doesn't want them to.

CN owns the tracks through Brantford. The CP line from London runs through Cambridge, and eventually becomes the GO Milton line.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

CN owns the tracks through Brantford. The CP line from London runs through Cambridge, and eventually becomes the GO Milton line.

That is the one I mean. My mistake. Mind you, the Brantford CN route would be good too.