From Sylvie:
I was on the train that ended up being delayed by two hours because of signal issues between Union and York University. To bypass the problem spot, trains two and three (out of the five that make the run to Barrie) where sent on a "slight detour" (their words). We somehow ended up at the Bramalea station on the Kitchener line, from where we backtracked (after crew changed to the other side of the train) and slowly made our way to York U, where the crew switched sides again. In all, I was on the hot, overcrowded train for three hours! And the other trains that didn't make the "slight detour"? Yeah, well, they were allowed to proceed through the faulty signal slowly, and got through much faster. Trains two and three where the last to arrive.
Of course this was the day I only had about 40 minutes ofbattery life left in mynetbook ...
In response, GO Transit issued this:
Good for GO for providing a free trip!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, they should have been able to bypass Bramalea and avodi changing ends... odd that.
Also, the 'easy' option would have been to skip York University and make people bus it back from Rutherford. Good to see they didn't do that.
(Barrie line peeps should also be gratful a detour exists... Lakeshore East peeps never get detoured - only bussed).
Great that they did something about this. BUT (!!!) did those poor people have to jump through hoops to get this coupon? That is the real question.
ReplyDeleteAnd it should be automatic for the PRESTO people. Why should they line up for the coupon? And what if it was a day tripper? One who only comes into the city once a month or less? How would they receive/use their coupon?
No jumping through hoops :) On the day after the "event", at my stations refunds were issued very quickly. That same day (if I remember correctly), they announced on the train that they a) apologized for the extreme delay, and b) would do something for the passengers after March break.
ReplyDeleteOn the ride home yesterday, the CSA pretty much read out the text of the voucher, and then transit safety officers walked through the train to hand them out. It was handled very well.
GO typically only reroutes trains if they suspect the delay will last for a while, or if they know they will not be able to pass at all. It's entirely possible what GO thought would cause major delays turned out to have been resolved quicker than they initially though, thus why the other trains were able to pass through.
ReplyDeleteRerouting Barrie trains up the Weston Sub to Bramalea and along the Halton Sub back to the Barrie line is a common last-option detour, as is rerouting Kitchener trains along the Halton Sub and down the Newmarket Sub (Barrie line).
Did hell freeze over???
ReplyDeleteI just realized that the free ride GO gave us Barrie riders yesterday wasn't exactly free (at least not for some of us). See, March has 22 working days which equals 44 rides for the month (given that you go to work everyday this month). After the 40th ride, the rides are Free. So even if i tapped on presto yesterday i would have still gotten rides 41 and 42 FREE!!!!! I knew GO wasn't that generous!
ReplyDeletefreaky_kel, I never considered that! Guess I'm in the same boat (train) as you.
ReplyDeleteExcellent (and correct) observation! I never even thought of that.
ReplyDeleteIf you still have your free ride vouchers you can still use it to get a discount on an April monthly pass. I got a discount eqquivalent to 2 single rides off my april pass this morning =)
ReplyDelete