Its taken them forever to put that 4th track in at Mimico. The new single bridge went in last fall and part of the 4th track in place then.
On one of my rare ride into Toronto a few weeks ago, still the same way as my last view. The #3 track and switch into VIA Yard beside the GO Mimico station has been removed as well in front of the yard.
My impression was that since the north platform is sooooo narrow and cannot be accessibly, that this rebuilt #3 track will become the eastbound track for the south platform that can become an accessibly platform.
The only way the existing platforms can be upgrade to accessibly standards, is having the yard tracks moved north of where they are now. This can be done when the new condo/station is built where the current station and parking lot is as well widen the bridge to the north.
As for the Bala Sub, no surprise to this, considering how many trains CN runs down that line now.
As for the Oakville Sub, with GO having it, it will be easier for GO to put the 4th track in that going to be needed down the road shortly. Again, CN has very few online industries to service these days along this section.
Once GO has the whole Oakville Sub, maybe the whole section can be rebuilt from the base up that over 125 years old to allow 200-300km/hr speed to meet future needs.
The Milton EA is still fly below the radar since there is no money for it at this time. There is a team in place doing some work on it, so more detail info can be presented to the public when it surface, than in the past. There are a lot of issues that have to be dealt with along this line and a good time to look at them in detail before going out to the public.
I believe 2014 is when Kerr St is to be grade separated. This will leave only 2 grade crossing for the Oakville sub. No plans to do the one at Port Credit at all at this time and that should happen when the 3rd track was being built. Maybe when the 4th track goes in.
The one big question now on the table since CN has apply to abandon Niagara Falls bridge, is when is GO going to run trains to NF 7 days a week with midday service? If VIA/Amtrak are unwilling to buy and maintain the bridge, buses will have to be use to transfer riders across the border. Niagara Falls NY is building a $35m station with very little room for custom inspection. I can see VIA dropping this line overtime.
Edit: I forgot this at the time, but "WHO" is responsible for the error on the Burlington Bridge? The structural engineer is responsible for all design work from the ground up. For the bridge to be short as noted, there are 4 places this error could occurred.
1.) The centre to centre measurement of the pier support were measure wrong as well the distance to the existing structure during the design stage. Who was responsible for the field measurements?
2.) During the construction phase, the footing and pier were place wrong or the cap was place wrong.
3.) The fabricator of the bridge miss read the measurement when producing the fabrication shop details (Detailing done either in house or outside) and was fabricated that way. The fabricator produced detail fabrication drawings that have to be approved by the contractor and engineer before fabrication can take place with this measuring error. Why wasn't this error caught during the approval stage?
4.) During the fabrication, something was fabricated wrong and the shop foreman/supervisor fail to do final inspection to make sure it was fabricated as call for before being ship to site?
If there was an architect for this bridge, then they are the starting point since they design the bridge, hire the engineering firm for designing the structure components, unless in house as well oversee the whole project.
