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Friday, February 5, 2016

Got the last train out of Union before the apocalypse happened

I was on the 4:45 pm LSE which was the new 4:25 pm.

At 5:00 pm, things went downhill really fast at Union when a broken switch at the rail yard held trains hostage and delayed rush hour service for every single rail corridor.
And of course, crowd control and passenger safety quickly went out the window.
And passengers got angry. And hungry.

And the emails just kept on coming.



Your fare increase at work, folks.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I was ever so grateful that I have the plague and decided to work from home. But all I could think is that fares go up and things break.

It is almost like they knew people were torqued at the fare increase with nothing to show for it and will now use infrastructure as the excuse for the raise.

Bicky said...

Well, there are supposed to be infrastructure improvements across the system but they're slow comin'. And in the nitty gritty details, LSE gets shafted compared to other lines.

Someone replying to one of GO Transit's tweets last night said the fare increase must be going to salary increases and linked off to a TCT blog entry from last year about the Sunshine list.

Yeah, if you were on the 4:25-that-became-the-4:45 put in for your fare guarantee refund. That ride qualifies. Mine (4:30 train) did not because were only 11 minutes late.

Ed said...

Yay me!

I got the last LSW train before the switch busted. I was only 5 minutes late because of a stuck door at Clarkson.

That's the last two incidents where I happened to catch the last train outta Dodge before a major delay. How much longer can this go on for?

Unknown said...

Why are the platforms crowded...? Surely if trains are delayed they should defer the track announcement to keep people safe.

Bicky said...

Bob, it wouldn't matter. People are tuned to knowing which track their trains come in on. They go up regardless of whether it's showing to proceed on the monitors. They need to be first on the train so they get "their" seat.

Unknown said...

It isn't so much as getting "their" seat, but getting "a" seat.

As the trains get further behind, people crowd the platforms in a vain hope of getting on a train. Any train that is heading in the right direction. If they end up getting a seat, all the better.

Bicky said...

I've been given many a stink-eye for sitting in someone's preferred seat. But yes, getting a seat is like winning a big prize these days.

TomW said...

People will stand in front of the top of the stairs, blocking people from coming up... even when there's room on the platform.