Special
to This Crazy Train
By
Chris P. Bacon
Route 11 — RIP
In
the
first installment of this series, we
looked at the inefficiencies of (seasonal) Route 11 between St. Catharines and
Niagara-on-the-Lake. After four years,
Metrolinx’s planners agreed with the analysis provided by TCT, because this
year, Route 11 will not operate.
Instead,
GO Transit has partnered with Parks Niagara (and WEGO) to get you to, and
about, Niagara Falls and NOTL. This
arrangement started last year.
Exact
details of the excursion packages and their pricing remain a mystery at this
time. GO
Transit advertises the travel package for $30:
Niagara
Parks advertises the packages FROM $30,
depending on what stops you make:
GO
Transit stated that packages “will be available to purchase at the beginning of
May”, yet Niagara Parks will only commit to “coming soon”. If memory serves me correctly, Niagara Parks had
problems launching their programme last year, too.
Metrolinx
invites us to “Start planning
your May Long Weekend GO Train trip today!” But don’t specify you want to GO to NOTL;
you’ll get this error message:
Is
this another Passenger Charter violation?
As
for the efficiencies of operating GO Transit’s trains, it is assumed the first
train leaving Niagara Falls for Union station will continue to deadhead to The
Falls from the Willowbrook yard. If
someone can provide insights on this matter, please feel free to comment.
Again,
you’re welcome, Metrolinx, but there really is no need to thank us. It’s our mission at TCT to provide you with operational
insights and analyses at an affordable price.
You’ll be happy to know that this year we are holding the line on our
service fees, i.e. we are working pro bono again.
As
for Route 11… RIP.
Travelling the Niagara corridor on GO is a hilarious nightmare. It's ridiculous that this corridor doesn't have better options yet. The mythical GO train stations that are supposed to come there sometime between now and the next supernova are badly needed, now. Even the existing 'stations' in place for the current bus routes are laughable. I've seen many people stranded at the corner of Barton/Nash (Stoney Creek stop) in terrible weather, or wandering around in confusion at the clusterf*ck that is the St. Catharines Fairview station. And how is it that to travel from Hamilton (arguably a major centre in the area) to anywhere in Niagara you either have to back track on GO to Burlington OR slog it out on the HSR to the Stoney Creek station in no man's land? Many, many times I have seen lloooonngggg lines on this route and people left behind.
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