GO Trains to Toronto?

[ssiguy]

Was anyone else on the train?

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Was anyone else on the train?

I heard on the radio that there were about 30 total from the new route, 20-25 of whom were from London. They didn't say if all the London people were going to Toronto, or getting off elsewhere on the route.

[GreatTallNorth2]

I wouldn't say there were 20-25 from London. If there were, that would have included GO staff, etc. There were probably 15 total from London, then a few from St. Mary's & Stratford. I think everyone got off in Toronto. I rode it because I had never been on a GO train and thought this would be a good time to check it out.

In the future, I would consider doing a day trip to Stratford, K/W or Guelph, but I definitely wouldn't want to take it all the way to Union until they speed it up. It was very painful getting out of London and up to K/W, but from K/W onward the train moved pretty quick.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

If my memory is right, they do. I didn’t have to use it. The good thing is that you get the entire car upstairs & downstairs to yourself so if you had to relieve yourself, you could do it in a bottle from your seat.

They do.

The newer cars have an accessible washroom on the first floor, which is quite large (but good luck if there's still water for the sink and soap and paper towels later in the day)

All cars used to have a tiny one on the mid-level. Basically big enough to stand in, and turn around. If you're on the larger side, getting in and out wasn't a smooth experience. I think some cars still have those, but they've been phased out as coaches have been upgraded and replaced.

[haljackey]

How were the seats? I am hearing the newer cars feel like shitty city bus seats. I can't imagine sitting in that for 4+ hours. I'd need something more like a coach bus / plane

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by haljackey

How were the seats? I am hearing the newer cars feel like shitty city bus seats. I can't imagine sitting in that for 4+ hours. I'd need something more like a coach bus / plane

I have no complaints about the seats - they were fine.

[Innsertnamehere]

speed improvements will start to trickle in pretty quickly - about 5 minutes will be cut off the schedule in December when some speed improvements come online in Guelph.

It'll probably take a bit longer to get work completed between Kitchener and London, where the biggest time gains will be, but there are estimates online that if that stretch is brought up to modern standards that travel times could be around 2.5hrs, with about 1hr to Kitchener.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

about 1hr to Kitchener.

That's acceptable. I might use this to get to/from Kitchener then... so long as they run more than once a weekday at like 5am lol

[Djeffery]

Who owns the track from London to Kitchener, and who will end up paying to upgrade it to that standard (and how long would that take)? And if it's good for GO, VIA might decide that route should get more service as well. I wonder if this route has the draw for competition like that.

[Innsertnamehere]

CN owns it right now but given it’s shape and the fact that they sold it to Metrolinx from Kitchener to Toronto makes me suspect they would be willing to sell it to Metrolinx if Metrolinx wanted it.

[WhipperSnapper]

Have they started on a Brampton bypass?

[jammer139]

Passenger volume to date is less then one bus load. Considering each car on the train can carry 160 passengers.


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

[ericmacm]

From the 2022 budget:

The London GO Rail Extension: In October 2021, Metrolinx launched a pilot project to provide weekday GO train trips between London and Union Station in Toronto. The new service extends beyond GO Transit’s Kitchener Line and includes stops in St. Marys and Stratford. Ontario is proceeding with planning work and investments for track improvements to support implementation of faster and more frequent service between London and Union Station in Toronto.

It's looking like London GO is here to stay if they are already planning frequency and speed upgrades along the rail corridor.

[ssiguy]

Well that's goo news because the service right now is basically useless.

[jammer139]

Sadly had to wait for the arriving Go Train this evening at Colborne. Was sad to see it was empty. A front and rear locomotive with I believe 8 passenger cars and I only saw a single person. I can't see how this will continue to operate going forward with empty trains in the current configuration. I expect to see the plug pulled on this experiment soon. It would be best to rethink how this could work by reviewing the data they have gathered and making a decision. They might want to look at running Go Buses from London to the Kitchener, Milton and Aldershot Go Train stations instead of a train.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Sadly had to wait for the arriving Go Train this evening at Colborne. Was sad to see it was empty. A front and rear locomotive with I believe 8 passenger cars and I only saw a single person. I can't see how this will continue to operate going forward with empty trains in the current configuration. I expect to see the plug pulled on this experiment soon. It would be best to rethink how this could work by reviewing the data they have gathered and making a decision. They might want to look at running Go Buses from London to the Kitchener, Milton and Aldershot Go Train stations instead of a train.

I might consider taking a GO bus to Kitchener but wouldn't be then getting a train to Toronto from there. There are better options already with the new bus services that replaced Greyhound. We either need better GO service with more trains (not at 5 am) and faster service. OR we need VIA to add more trains. Ford said he would invest $170 million upgrading GO but we have heard nothing.

[Djeffery]

Still mystifies me that they won't run this train on weekends, especially in the summer. Is this not the perfect way for a Toronto getaway weekend? Leave Saturday morning (even if 5am might still be a tad early but it gets you there as attractions are opening), come home Sunday night. They'd probably get more people do that than they do on the weekdays.

[ericmacm]

It has only been a year since they announced that they were planning on upgrading the corridor, and the pilot is technically supposed to end in October 2023. If I had to guess, I think it is possible that Metrolinx are now negotiating to buy the CN Guelph Subdivision instead of just upgrading sections of it. It is considered a non-core railway line by CN and they are currently going through the process of selling their non-core assets.

[ssiguy]

One of the stupidest things that really hurts ridership, besides it's incredibly slow travel times, is the fact that the train leaves before any of the buses arrive downtown in the morning. Take the train but only if you have a car.

[Djeffery]

Via to reintroduce early morning train to Toronto. Not sure what the return time is, the story only mentions early evening. I can't remember pre-covid what the times were, but I suspect others here do. I suspect that this might be the end of London Go Train service as who would choose the slow Go an hour earlier in a less comfortable environment?

https://london.ctvnews.ca/via-boss-a...source=twitter