Friday, July 28, 2017

It's been so long since we've had a crazy train moment on here

TODAY IS THE DAY, FOLKS!

Long story short... possible sting operation. Guy allegedly boarded at Union Station. Grabbed a Lakeshore East train. Wanted for, allegedly, several robberies. Undercover arrest. Happened on the train and finished on the platform.


Gotta justify that September fare increase ...

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Probably the number 1 reason for most train delays - these losers

I blame footriders

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Stouffville corridor changes nothing short of a disaster say commuters who have written into the blog

I received this request (more than once now):

Would you be able to make a post about how the touted service increase are actually a service cut.

Yes. But, definitely keep pushing back on Facebook, guys.

What's happening?
- Buses run faster than trains on this corridor outside of rush hours
- Buses ran every 30 minutes, trains run once an hour
- Trains only go as far as Unionville, forcing people to make a transfer.

This is undoubtedly a service cut for residents of Markham and Stouffville. Unfortunately, this has received no media coverage. GO has been non-responsive to complaints giving only fluff pieces on how the changes are a first step to RER.

How bad is it? Ivy Kwok on Facebook writes:
Starting Jun 24, 2017, GO TRANSIT are boasting of adding more train services in the morning and evening to and from Union Station to Stouffville Line. Did they mention anything about the cutting of bus services? Not at all.
Take the evening schedule for example :
Today we have 20 buses services from Union Station northbound between 20:00 to 23:20, however, starting Jun 26, there are only 4 trains for the same period of time.
Today, 20:00 from Union will arrive at Stouffville at 20:49, starting next Monday, for the same time, there is a train 20:00 from Union, stop at Unionville, then transfer a bus to Stouffville which arrives at 21:20. It means 30 min more with the new schedule.
Moreover, there are NO SERVICES at all between 20:30 to 21:40 !!!
If I take the 21:50 bus from Union today, I arrive at Stouffville by 22:37.. next week, I take the 21:40 TRAIN and arrive at Stouffville by 23:00.

Stouffville customer asks:
Can someone explain to me where the enhancement is? They are just misleading the public by saying ADDING more train services but never mention about the cutting of bus services.
I am just furious about this reverse engineering ! We are moving backward not forward !

See here for more complaints:

In case you missed it ... Metrolinx rebranding will cost $250,000

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Oshawa GO throwin' some serious shade at Burlington GO

Progress on the new Oshawa GO Station (which is really a new VIA station because that's what it will be in 40 years when GO train service finally comes to Bowmanville) is coming along smoothly. I'm amazed, actually, at the pace of construction.

I mean, the Oshawa station had a roof in 8 months. Burlington waited almost 3 years (and I still am not sure if the roof is complete). The engineering marvel that is Oshawa GO is surely going to garnish some construction excellence nominations.

Yesterday I noticed that raised flower beds had been built. Isn't it nice that the architect thought about how the smokers will need a place to sit? I can't wait for the cigarette butt garden.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Guyz, I think the blog is dying...

Readership is still there but I'm not sure where to take this. All the action is on Twitter.

Before Twitter, this blog was my Twitter.

The most popular pet peeve and email topic from readers is foot riding. I could fill this blog with photos and photos of foot riding. In my opinion, the problem is worse than ever before. You only need to look at the condition of the fabric of your morning GO train to see how awful it is. Seven years ago I figured we could shame the problem away. It's just not happening.

The grossest thing I witnessed was Monday evening. I wasn't fast enough with my phone to get a photo as the Stouffville train pulled out of Union, but it was a woman, sitting sideways in a quad, with her bare feet on the window pane. The souls of her feet were black. I shudder to think if she washed them before bed.

Over 900km and still rolling


I pulled off an impressive 43.88 km on Sunday morning...

I'm still maintaining a 20 pound loss. I'm fighting a low metabolic rate, hormones, PCOS, age and poor sleeping habits, so managing a 20 pound loss and keeping it there is all I'm focused on at the moment. It would be nice if the scale would move, but that means 1,200 calories a day with a 1,500 caloric burn. Frankly, I don't have that kind of dedication or time. The good news is my doctor is referring me to a bariatric program that is funded by OHIP. I have so many questions and I'm hoping I get good answers!

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

You ready to pay more for this come September?! It's bad enough we've got coaches without functioning A/C, now this

Still a better love story then the New York subway?
I guess...

Friday, July 7, 2017

Automated announcements survey? No, what I want, are schedules...



Message body

He's lucky I didn't witness it to give him a boot up the arse

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

GO took away schedules (train and bus) and replaced them with fluff (Note the word: "Information")

Here's the crap that's at Oshawa GO:


The reason being? No one reads nor wants to consult with paper schedules.

Hey, I get it's a digital age, but depending on your mobile provider, depending on whether your train was late, AND WITH NO APP, waiting for gotransit.com or triplinx.ca to load could take enough time to MISS A BUS.

And what if it's pouring rain? Is everyone carrying their mobile devices in a life case? My phone happens to be water resistant, but it still sucks at swiping a wet screen. And depending on where the moon is aligned with the sun, I can drop a signal with Rogers like no one's business.

Pas cool, GO Transit.