Comments on: GO Trains to Toronto Will Be Competitive

By: Stephen C. Host

Stephen C. Host — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:12:16 +0000

I doubt ahrens St will be reopened. Why can’t you just drive around to the other access points? The railway crossing is redundant and costly to maintain.

Once it’s closed, it won’t come back.

Ron Bowman — the CP line through Cambridge is a much busier freight route than the north mainline. The CP line hosts approximately 20 freight trains a day, and the North Mainline approximately 6. You will need double tracking *AND* CTC for 15-20 miles (Guelph Jct to Orrs Lake) in order to bring GO services to Cambridge, and this will not come cheap. I would estimate $150 million as the cost. (The GO Kitchener EA is calling for $315 million for double tracking 30 miles of track to Kitchener).

By: Underwhelming Start to GO Train Service « TriTAG

Underwhelming Start to GO Train Service « TriTAG — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 04:14:56 +0000

[...] that said, there is still reason to think that the trains will be well-used, as I’ve written before. They may prove particularly useful both to occasional commuters to Toronto, but also commuters [...]

By: Michael Druker

Michael Druker — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:03:59 +0000

Dharlene - GO Transit is planning to start service from the existing VIA station. However they will be running 12-car trains and do plan to close Ahrens Street to extend the platform. When the multi-modal terminal is built at King & Victoria they would likely reopen Ahrens. Here is the page for the Environmental Assessment. Figure ST10 in this document shows the layout of the platform at the existing station with GO service. If you click on the K-W expansion tab on their projects page, you can find their contact information.

By: Dharlene

Dharlene — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:35:19 +0000

I run a business out of 100 Ahrens Street West, and we just got notices that they will be closing Ahrens between Breithaupt and Victoria (if we’re reading it right…). I thought I read that the GO trains would be running from closer to King. Does anyone have access to the official details on this? Thanks!

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:29:45 +0000

I would also like to point out that while Greyhound’s average time may be around the ‘hour and a half’ mark, the early morning express busses make the trip to Toronto (from Sportsworld to Royal York Hotel) in under an hour almost every time.

My work schedule has me starting work at 7am in the morning. Leaving Kitchener at 5:30 on Greyhound, I’m almost never late. Go unfortunately does not have
scheduling or trip times that would make them a feasible option for myself and like commuters.

By: Michael Druker

Michael Druker — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:57:37 +0000

Ron, I don’t agree that GO trains to Cambridge are interchangeable with ones to Kitchener. The Kitchener-Waterloo area is larger than Cambridge is, and a large portion of the travel would be between Kitchener and Guelph. Even in a car, the Cambridge and Kitchener cores are not all that close. Many commuters, however, would not be driving to the station. And commuters to Kitchener (“reverse” direction trips being in the plans) would not be served by a train to Cambridge.

That said, we’re absolutely in support of GO trains to Cambridge as well.

By: Ron Bowman

Ron Bowman — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:10:36 +0000

The unfortunate aspect of the Go service planned for this area, is that it will be using CN owned trackage instead of the more relevant CP owned route through Cambridge. There will be traffic headaches when Cambridge commuters attempt to get to the GO station in Kitchener. The more southerly Cambridge route is still close to Kitchener, and easier to access than the reverse. It parallels the 401 most of the way to Mississaugua, with very efficient “funnels” at the foot of Hwy 6 North and near the 401 and Hwy 6 South. The reason for choosing the CN route has to do with the fact that CP wants unrealistic infrastructure improvements at the expense of taxpayers, and with the intended plan, CN will get major signal and track improvements to their line, currently leased to GEXR. I would suggest that it was a politically motivated plan, not based in what would really move people most efficiently. The real story here is that the Feds don’t have the committment, and the province of Ontario won’t push the Feds to pressure the CPR to do the right thing and find a compromise, between CP’s needs and the needs of the public that supports them. Trains using the Cambridge/Milton route could stop at hwy 6 north and south, and then Milton to allow passengers stopping short of Toronto to change trains, and thence express to Toronto nonstop. This trip could take under 90 minutes. CPR already has additional tracks in Toronto area paid for by the taxpayers, supposedly needed for GO service expansion years ago, but currently used to store cars. That is correct..track built for 60plus mph, and used to store cars! Far less money is needed to upgrade signals on the CP from Campbelville to Cambridge 17 miles, than install signals from east of Guelph to London on the “back way” through Kitchener 75 plus miles on an unsignalled line.

If the Government of Canada really wanted to address the issue of public good in these disputes, they might insist that disputes such as; whether or not CP’s demands are realistic, be arbitrated by the Canadian Transportation Agency after independent study.

By: Michael Druker

Michael Druker — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:03:26 +0000

James - I'm pretty sure that Appendix B (page 13) shows that trains from Kitchener will run local and make all GO stops.

By: James Bow

James Bow — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:55:49 +0000

A two hour train trip on GO would be hard to handle. The seats aren’t made for comfort; the cars are designed to load and unload quickly. However, you get what you pay for. VIA will continue to operate. They’ll likely do the trip in 90 minutes, and they have more comfortable seats, but taking VIA will be a premium compared to GO’s fare structure. And I think that’s fair (no pun intended). We already can commute in comfort using VIA, but that’s a premium service. GO offers more options for a slower ride that will be easier on the pocket book, at least.

There are also ways to cut down the travel time. If we can get the rail improvements funded (and GEXR to agree to them), VIA and GO passengers will benefit. Also, I don’t think GO-Kitchener trains will run local to Union. Unless I’m misreading the report, it strikes me that the rush hour trains, at least, will operate express from Brampton or possibly Mount Pleasant station. And that might even make more sense once all-day service is installed between Mount Pleasant and Union. People who want to go straight downtown get a faster ride, while those who want to access the other stations on the line can make a reasonable transfer, IMO.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:14:18 +0000

On paper, the Greyhound takes 1h 35 min to get to Toronto. But you have to be at the station and standing in line at least 30 minutes early to be guaranteed a seat. Coming back from Toronto, that’s 30-45 minutes in a grimy platform breathing in diesel exhaust. And despite the huge increase in demand in recent years, Greyhound seems to be incapable of scheduling more frequent service at reasonable intervals – so they can leave passengers at the platform for hours waiting for the next bus.

I would gladly spend an extra 30 minutes on a comfortable GO train, if I could arrive at the platform 5 minutes before departure and be guaranteed a seat, rather than experience the indignity that is Greyhound travel.