robmausser
Senior Member
The issue with GO mopping up lots of 416ers is that it saturates their inner corridors (and Union capacity). If that means sacrificing adding capacity in the 905 which could be demonstrated to be up for grabs, the 905er MPPs will not be silent about it. If 416ers aren't paying fares which 905ers regard as being a fair share of GO revenue vs cost/overheads then that's an issue too. If a TTC fare is $3 and a GO-TTC saves you a bunch of time by operating an express route, I don't understand the resistance to being willing to pay more. It's like Torontonians (or at least "rider advocates") can understand $3 for a stopping service and $30 for a door to door taxi but nothing in between.
For me the annoying part about the downtown express was the difference in premium between cash/token fare (double) and the Metropass sticker (about 1/3, assuming Express is your primary use of TTC). I think for a lot of people this lessened the incentive to try out 140 series routes which still run in mixed traffic and still make some stops. A token plus a loonie or even a toonie might have been a bit more attractive.
There is tons of capacity left in all corridors, and even more can be made available with better signaling technologies and adding trackage.
While they might complain still, as people do, there is tons of capacity left in the corridors.
What people don't realize is that having express electric trains downtown means that the Bi-Level Diesels will bypass the inner stations and head straight to Union.
The grade separation will also mean those trains can go much faster, with no stops at the downtown stations they currently do.
This will benefit everyone.