| from: | R.P. | ||
| to: | "cj@thiscrazytrain.com" | ||
| date: | Thu, Mar 10, 2016 at 11:29 AM | ||
| subject: | Should Go Trains skip Bloor and Weston Stations |
Hi CJ,
I am a fan of the site, and this is not really a tip, but more of a general discussion point.
I am a fan of the site, and this is not really a tip, but more of a general discussion point.
I watched this on the news yesterday on the UP Express:
The residents near Bloor Go and Weston Go station just received a subsidized all-day frequent service (and high-end) to Union Station. Service needs to improve on all of the Kitchener line, and how does Metrolinx respond, by giving those few commuters who live in Toronto a faster way to Union.
That got met thinking, is there any point to the Kitchener GO trains stopping at Bloor and Weston GO Stations anymore? Couldn't the Go trains just bypass these two stations and save time?
I'd be interested to hear if anyone at Bloor and Weston GO stations would ever take the GO train again.
-RP
8 comments:
No would seem to be the obvious answer. Weston and Bloor folks now have 15 minute UP Express service all day. There is no need for them to use GO.
I used to commute on that line from Guelph and I can't recall many (any?) people getting on or off at Bloor or Weston anyway. That line is crap, by the way: it's an extremely long ride even in the best of times (1:40); it has infrequent/unreliable service; tracks that got too hot in the summer forcing the train to crawl along at 40km/hr; only two trains in the morning (06:13 or 07:34), and two in the evening (16:50 or 17:50). If you've got a variable-length day like me then you'd end up taking the bus half the time. If I had to do the ride from Kitchener I'd probably go crazy. That's right, folks: it's way worse than even the notorious Barrie line.
I moved to Oshawa just to improve my commute and have never looked back.
@G: You moved to Oshawa to IMPROVE your commute???
Wow. The Guelph line must be another circle of hell, in that case. I've been on the LSE (originating at Oshawa for all but 4 years) since 1999 and I guess it's a case of a person's perception of rhings having a lot to do with where they started!
Yup. Taking the train from Oshawa is a delight by comparison: 30-minute service (15-minute during rush times) that's fast and reliable. If you get an express train it's only 50 minutes, and I can tell you that the difference between that and 1:40 is huge. Especially when that 1:40 is more like 2:00 or worse on hot summer days when the tracks warp. And people make fun of the low-brow Oshawa population but I can assure you that Guelph is not so different. The GO Station itself is right downtown and it can get interesting...
What about people travelling from Etobicoke North or west to Bloor Station? I remember when I used to use this line, lots of people got off at Bloor in the morning and on at Bloor in the afternoon. You can't assume everyone is going to Union.
Thank CP Rail for the nightmarish commute on that line. They are even worse than CN when it comes to cooperation. They are the reason why the downtown station in Oshawa is pretty well dead. The conditions for using their right of way and a crossover track were outrageous. They were trying to get Metrolinx to perform improvements to the track sections that would benefit CP more than MX all the while paying nothing.
Once Metrolinx gets all the grade separations and new rights of ways complete, it should improve reliability by an order of magnitude on the Kitchener line. We can hope anyway.
The track warping though is a problem with all lines, not just Kitchener. And there is no way to avoid it unfortunately. I spent 1.5 hours going from Union to Burlington last summer because of that.
I commute from Brampton to Bloor Go every day now so stopping there still benefits me. And in my observation, limited in scope of course, is that I am not the only one by any means. I used the UPX to the airport & picked up the 115 Brampton Transit to Brampton. It saved me an hour getting home that night and only made me long even more for when the evening and weekend Go trains service to Brampton kicks in (hopefully in September)
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