I guess I was one of the lucky few LSE'rs familiar with platform 24. I knew which stairwell to take to get me to the part of the train I needed.
Others? Not so much.
Because of a lot of you are blocked from Twitter at work, I won't embed the tweets of hilarity, self-entitlement, butthurt, rage and sorrow.
As I said in one of my tweets, "Trollin' ... trollin' down a river ... of tears being wept by passengers who can't handle being told "No"."
People were PISSED about being moved to a different platform. Others demanded answers from GO Transit's Twitter team for why this was happening.
I posted this in response.
Some people laughed. Others just got angrier, especially those moved to 12/13. There were cries of protest about how narrow the platform is; that people "were arm to arm like sardines".
Anyone who is an LSE or LSW passenger knows we made these platforms work for us for years. The problem was that people went up the stairwell they were guided to by the CSRs in the Concourse ... and then stayed there. Nobody moved. No one thought, hey, maybe I should move down or up. People will eventually get it. By tomorrow, you'll all be pros at this. I swear.
Union Station is over 100 years old. It was never built for the crowds it now holds. Progress is being made to fix that. Aside from that, how else can the train shed cover be finished? Aren't you all tired of being rained on? Snowed on?
It will get better soon.
One of the many reasons I worked from home yesterday. I probably couldn't deal.
ReplyDeleteI get why the moved the LSE out to the boonies. I don't like it, but I get it. It will suck come winter or Monsoon season, because out there, the cover is a lot worse than it is on 12/13 currently.
What I don't understand is why they didn't print out maps and put them around the concourse to tell us which stairwells to use. It was so stupid. They sent everyone up the one stairwell. And there was no one near the bus station. My friend missed her train entirely.
ReplyDeleteah yes I was one of those angry tweeters, because it truly was a shit show lol. But I didn't lose sleep over it or fret much, I just took the 5:20 instead of try to cram on the 5:10. I knew where I was going and was well prepared for the platform change just not happy about it.
ReplyDeleteHowever as much as GO had so many lovely CSR's there to make it easier it wasn't the most well thought out platform transition. First of all is there really only the 1 entrance for LSE passengers? It seemed that way! and the platform where the 5:20 LSE and Stoufville people were waiting was beyond crammed that people were walking on the track, kinf of a safety hazzard. I am hoping it will get better, or again we will get used to it because there is no other choice.
Aw, Jules. I spent most of the commute hugging it out on Twitter with a lot of people who were in a fetal position.
ReplyDeleteIt will improve. I swear!
Platform 24 has several access points from inside Union.
And anonymous, there is a map. It's the one that the CSRs were handing out.
Whne you pay over 400 a month its hard tyo laugh about this kindof stuff.
ReplyDeleteI guess it can be ... if you were unprepared ...
ReplyDeleteChange is hard but the point is, the trains were running. They arrived on time and for those who didn't get a seat because of the confusion, it was one night - ONE NIGHT.
By the way, I do sympathize because I know commuters are creatures of habits. The struggle is real.
I was one of the people who wound up on the Barrie train as I boarded at 12 thinking it was the 5:05 LSE all stops to Pickering.
ReplyDeleteI went in my usual way through Bay Street. I didn't even clue in. Just pure auto pilot. I had my headphones on. I heard nothing. It wasn't until we turned and I saw the DVP when I looked up (and I wasn't alone. There were 4 of us all staring outside like fucking deer in headlights). We had to get off at York University. I ttc'd it back.
I just made myself happy with a glass of wine when I got home and got over it. I know it will get better, I just don't like change, it comes with old age lol. Thank you for making it an easier commute last night with your reality and humor.
ReplyDeleteI managed to get the 4:07 last night. It didn't pull in to Union until 4:08 and then it was a gong show of people pushing to get on. I didn't line up at the right car but I was only off by one.
ReplyDeleteI went through the VIA area and there were hardly any people using the stairwell there.
Change is hard and the autopilot is strong. I sent a reminder email to my co-workers yesterday about the changes.
Oh no Bicky... You are giving away my sanity secret!
ReplyDeleteI have always entered platforms via the VIA concourse. Unless it is a Friday and people are blowing town, the # of people is considerably lower.
There are a couple entrance points to 24+ from that level. And as usual, it is the same platforms as the weekends and late nights, so there should be a few people who know.
As for the maps, etc. There are plenty of signs saying where to go for the stairs up to specific platforms. And all the platforms are accessible from either Bay or York. Not certain why people think there are only 1 stairwell per platform.
Then again, 24 is a bit of a gong show when you get off, if you are too close to York. Only because some of it is glassed off to get to/from the escalator.
@ James, how the hell did you not know over the last 2 weeks that this was coming, they had people handing out pamphlets daily for the last two weeks (which I declined cause I know where 24 is) they advertised online, in the free papers, probaly the sun too, detailed exactly what track would be used for each train and time of the train. You only have your self to blame.
ReplyDeleteWhat got me was how packed the train was for the 5:10 LSE, the stairwells were rammed, the cars were packed and I had to go a couple cars over to get on a car that was as packed (still sardinish though). I will not be using the bay tramway today, I have another route through union. i think go did a great job informing of the upcoming changes, if anything they wasted my fare money to hire people to stand handing out flyers, make verbal annoucnements and direct people to the correct platform yesterday. wasted money in my opinion, if the sheep would look past the end of thier noses there was plenty of other notice, go tranist is in no way responsible for anyones missed thier train/didnt know this was happening. Have you been living under a rock the last couple weeks? I said to myself yesterday morning, "not sure how anyone will be surprised by these changes, the regular riders have heard about it ad-nauseum and the ones who rarely take the train will be checking the boards anyway". apparently I gave the general transit rider too much credit.
I agree with Al. I got several emails and text messages warning me that this was coming. Not to mention all the GO people handing out the pamphlets in the concourse for the past couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what was going on with the 5:10 LSE; platform 24 is smaller than the 12/13 we're used to but there seemed to be a lot more people than usual. I thought many of them must be on the wrong platform but I saw only one person dash off in horror when the CSA made their announcement. We'll see how it goes tonight...
@James... DVP on the Barrie Line? Sure you got that right?
ReplyDeleteThe Barrie line goes west from Union (away from the DVP) and north to pass over Dufferin & Queen to head north to York University (just East of Keele Street). Google Map link: https://www.google.ca/maps/place/York+University+Station+GO+Rail/@43.778595,-79.484131,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x882b2e124be4e2b7:0xb3f403299b8c990a
I do hope you found your way home o.k. and didn't end up on the Richmond Hill line that goes up the DVP and ended up at Old Cummer.
And no this isn't a new iteration of the line. That train line has been there since the late 1800s with original termination of Aurora.
James is not telling us the whole story!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it Richmond Hill that runs by DVP
Did he see the Gardiner perhaps?
Or he doesn't know Toronto
Or he's lying!
Sounds like the 510 picked up all the folks who missed the 453 because it was lighter than usual
ReplyDeleteSquiggles wins the award today for understatement - not only does Platform 24 have "less" weather protection than 12/13 does, it has (as far as I could tell) absolutely NONE. So noticeable was this that every person around me commented that a) it was a lovely day and b) thank goodness, because when it rains/snows, unless someone wants to stand in the wet waiting for the train, EVERYONE will be packed into the stairwell area (or the "concourse" holding area at the base of the stairs.
ReplyDeleteThe 4:25 was also more crowded than I have ever seen it - presumably those who can normally just catch what is now the 4:07 train are stymied by the extra distance and logistics of Platform 24. Believe me when I tell you that the 4:25 had no shortage of riders already.....sigh.
@Nora1968 Platform 24 has weather protection because I never got wet or snowy when taking the Stoffville train. Perhaps the first car or two of the train is lacking in shelter, but that's it. Where we are moved to now on 27, we are subjected to the elements way more than 24. In fact, there's only a middle strip that's covered so when you walk next to the train we will get soaked or snowed on.
ReplyDeleteYup, I looked up when I was on Platform 24 tonight and there was definite protection from the weather. At least at the area I was in (coach 6/7). Platforms 25-27 have little to no coverage.
ReplyDeleteTrain was late tonight (on 4:25) and it was a gong show of people trying to get over to the next platform for the 4:30 train which was on time. Go figure.
But I'm home now and enjoying all the drank! *hic*
For those of you complaining about having to walk all the way to Track 27 and maybe getting wet in bad weather, get over it and suck it up. Milton Line riders have been taking the train from that platform for years and we've managed to survive.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous April 16, 2015 at 7:03 PM
ReplyDeleteWhy don't people have the right to complain about the services they recieve? I pay my share just as much as the next person. Why should others recieve better service than me? I would be hard pressed to believe that you or your Milton coherts never complained about standing outside in the elements on platform 27. The roof shelter is clearly a planning flaw and hopefully it will be rectified in the future unlike the distance one has to travel to their platform which is an inconvenience for some people rather than a service issue.