[hawc]

Silly question but perhaps not the worst place to ask it....

If I wanted to take my young kids on their first ever train ride is there a GO Train that runs on the weekend that goes OUT and BACK from somewhere on the weekend from Union Station?

For instance. Just jump on the train at Union take it out to Oshawa and come right back on same train? Or something like that.

What I don't want is get out to say like Oshawa and then have to grab a GO bus back or just be stranded.

Is there a route like that that operates on the weekend?

 

[chrisw]

Silly question but perhaps not the worst place to ask it....

If I wanted to take my young kids on their first ever train ride is there a GO Train that runs on the weekend that goes OUT and BACK from somewhere on the weekend from Union Station?

For instance. Just jump on the train at Union take it out to Oshawa and come right back on same train? Or something like that.

What I don't want is get out to say like Oshawa and then have to grab a GO bus back or just be stranded.

Is there a route like that that operates on the weekend?

Yes, I think all routes are basically going out and back on the weekend. There's quite consistent go train service. You could even go to Niagara Falls.

 

[crs1026]

If I wanted to take my young kids on their first ever train ride is there a GO Train that runs on the weekend that goes OUT and BACK from somewhere on the weekend from Union Station?

Take your pick..... Oshawa (LSE), Hamilton (LSW), Mount Pleasant (Kitchener Line), Aurora (Barrie Line), Mount Joy (Stouffville Line)

Depending on how old your kids are, I would try Union to Pickering, get off and take the pedestrian walkway to Pickering Town Center, then walk back again and board a Union bound train. Kids only really enjoy the first couple stops and then they get bored....give 'em the walk to burn off some sugar, or treat them in the food court.

Go Schedules page is your friend.

- Paul

PS - (shameless advert) Or - take them to one of the heritage museum railways in the area.

 

[Coolibop]

For instance. Just jump on the train at Union take it out to Oshawa and come right back on same train? Or something like that.

That'll work. Just check schedules there are upcoming closures on LSE Nov 8th weekend.

 

[evandyk]

PS - (shameless advert) Or - take them to one of the heritage museum railways in the area.

Obviously any kid will enjoy a Go train ride. But we took our son to the Halton railway museum in the summer, and it was great fun. He loved seeing all the trains, but the funnest part for us adults was the fact that they have preserved all the subway cars in the collection as is, including the advertisements. So there are subway car ads from all different eras.

And you get to ride a cute little old fashioned streetcar. The volunteer driver may let your kid wear his funny hat too.

 

[PL1]

Take your pick..... Oshawa (LSE), Hamilton (LSW), Mount Pleasant (Kitchener Line), Aurora (Barrie Line), Mount Joy (Stouffville Line)

Depending on how old your kids are, I would try Union to Pickering, get off and take the pedestrian walkway to Pickering Town Center, then walk back again and board a Union bound train. Kids only really enjoy the first couple stops and then they get bored....give 'em the walk to burn off some sugar, or treat them in the food court.

Go Schedules page is your friend.

- Paul

PS - (shameless advert) Or - take them to one of the heritage museum railways in the area.

I did this (Danforth to Pickering and back) with my kids when they were kids. Depending on the weather, you can also walk down to the lake from Pickering GO.

 

[hawc]

Okay great to hear. I'm going to try it this weekend. I just had visions of stepping off the GO Train at the last station and finding out oh yeah it's just one way. Have fun grabbing a GO Bus / Uber back.

 

[Tuscani01]

Silly question but perhaps not the worst place to ask it....

If I wanted to take my young kids on their first ever train ride is there a GO Train that runs on the weekend that goes OUT and BACK from somewhere on the weekend from Union Station?

For instance. Just jump on the train at Union take it out to Oshawa and come right back on same train? Or something like that.

What I don't want is get out to say like Oshawa and then have to grab a GO bus back or just be stranded.

Is there a route like that that operates on the weekend?

I’d recommend a trip west to Port Credit. Frequent service both ways, a cute village with plenty of food options to explore, and a waterfront pier to walk along.

 

[evandyk]

Port Credit is a good idea. I think the farmer's market is done for the year, but that's nice. The restaurant right on the water is nice and has a good kids menu, but there are plenty of other restaurants on Lakeshore there.

 

[nfitz]

Another option is to go to Rouge Hill. It's a short walk to the beach from there. And who can't resist paddling in the lake poking at things - even at this time of the year.

 

[evandyk]

And you get to ride a cute little old fashioned streetcar. The volunteer driver may let your kid wear his funny hat too.

LOL. The driver is apparently a lurker around here who saw himself in this post

 

[Metroscapes]

A little insight from a Hamilton City Councillor, Sherman Ave in Hamilton is set for a rebuild North of Barton across the tracks. This work is waiting for some signal and crossing upgrades that are scheduled to be done by CN so that work can be properly coordinated. I don't have a firm date, but "soon" was mentioned. So clearly there are some sort of signalling and crossing changes/upgrades scheduled that could increase speeds through Hamilton.

This is interesting. I hopped into Streetview to look at the crossing, and it notes 3 tracks being present on the sign. There was an old siding into Slater Steel to the north, and it was ripped out of the road around New Years 2022.

I don't really think it has much to do with the speed restrictions or anything, just an interesting tidbit.

 

[Mr Finish Line]

Are you actually expecting people to follow the links, Paul? When did you become such a dyed-in-wool optimist?

LOL

Btw, @crs1026, and you and @reaperexpress are expected to opinionate on the status of the specific projects noted.

Ha! I see you begun that work above while I am writing this post.....

Some details from the Executive Ctte Report linked above:

View attachment 608113

The Stouffville Phase 1 info does not seem correct to me for a few reasons:

1) New signals have been installed but they are not in service. You can see them pointed away from the tracks.
2) "Allowing for a newly built track to enter into service" is incredibly misleading. The Kennedy to West Highland Creek Bridge section remains under single track operation. Heading northbound from Kennedy, the operable rail weaves from the northbound side to the southbound side around Ellesmere, if I remember correctly.
3) The switch southbound of West Highland Creek is tied in and looks ready to go, as does the new track there. However, there is no switch north of Kennedy. The unused southbound track ends north of the station because there is still a signal box is in its path.
4) At the decommissioned Lawrence SRT station, a section of the inactive southbound track has been dug up under the rails to the track bed directly beside the station, so I'm pretty sure it is not suitable for operation like that.

I'll try and post pictures and/or a diagram sometime soon to make this more clear. I feel like the City is being mislead by MX here.

 

[Fervid Corona]

Someone on the Discord server for More Transit for Southern Ontario (in the general thread) posted this:

https://assets.metrolinx.com/image/upload/Images/Metrolinx/Notice_OnCorridor_Tree_Removals_Resources_Rd_August_2024.pdf

View attachment 587556
View attachment 587557

Some photos of work being done on that logistics hub on the Kitchener Line from the train heading towards Kitchener yesterday:

 

[Branden Simon]

Pocket Track finally connected into West Harbour Go Station with daytime shots (October 30, 2024)

I hopefully will have to get Niagara Go Trains will start rolling into pocket track and cut down from 2h 24 minutes to 2h 4 mins by this month.