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Ideally they have the two platform tracks become one east of the station and run an extra track all the way to Confederation GO when it opens. Other than completing the bus loop the Confederation GO station isn't much to look at yet.
I believe that is the plan for Confederation GO and a big reason construction costs for the station are so high. CN wants a dedicated track to it like Metrolinx built to West Harbour. Confederation will be similar to West Harbour in that it's a double platform station I believe but will share a unidirectional track in and out, just like West Harbour as it weaves its way through Bayview Junction.

The Red Hill Valley Parkway crossing is interestingly only built for 2 tracks right now I believe so that bridge will have to be widened, but other crossings are already wide enough for an additional track which should make it a fairly straightforward project. A frig ton of level crossings through Hamilton though.
 
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Mildly disappointed with what I saw here. not so much a missed, but an ignored opportunity.

Beyond a mild disappointment to be honest. Tons of money was spend on a station in order to solve a logistical problem with Hamilton GO (which is by far in a better location but simply stymied by the fact that it is owned by CP and a tunnel that would cost way too much money to expand) and they didnt even solve the f$%%ing logistical problem.
 
What's the feasibility of just running the trains up to Stratford and have a bus to London? That way Go can run whatever consist they want
You'd be forcing a linear transfer for the biggest market of the extension, London.
It would induce extra wait times and hassle for passengers, you'd need a bus fleet out there; might as well run the GO bus straight to Kitchener, Pearson, and Union.

I think that it's likely GO will buy this corridor eventually, so they might upgrade this bridge then.
 
^A quick browse through some old documentation tells me that the whole line had a weight limit of 268,000 pounds as far back as 1978. Heavier locomotives have been known to use the line occasionally (mostly on detours, and sometimes when the old GM plant needed to do testing on new units) but any heavy car or locomotive would have had its own documentation and specific restrictions.

- Paul
 
^A quick browse through some old documentation tells me that the whole line had a weight limit of 268,000 pounds as far back as 1978. Heavier locomotives have been known to use the line occasionally (mostly on detours, and sometimes when the old GM plant needed to do testing on new units) but any heavy car or locomotive would have had its own documentation and specific restrictions.

- Paul
The CN rail map shows the North Main at 286K. However, as we saw with the ALP-45 derailment in Montreal Central, the track forces exerted by the trucks on an MP40 may trump the nominal weight limit.

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The CN rail map shows the North Main at 286K. However, as we saw with the ALP-45 derailment in Montreal Central, the track forces exerted by the trucks on an MP40 may trump the nominal weight limit.

View attachment 346027
It should be noted that all of the other lines in the GTA also have that same 286k weight rating according to that map, and yet the MP40s seem to operate on them without difficulty.

For the record, the ALP-45 derailment at Central Station had to do with a poor wheel profile choice and a different truck design that was far more restrictive to turning forces than the weight of the units.

Dan
 
It should be noted that all of the other lines in the GTA also have that same 286k weight rating according to that map, and yet the MP40s seem to operate on them without difficulty.

For the record, the ALP-45 derailment at Central Station had to do with a poor wheel profile choice and a different truck design that was far more restrictive to turning forces than the weight of the units.

Dan

Just out of curiosity, is this the case though: "The biggest drawback to GO in London is weight restrictions in St Mary's."?
 
Just out of curiosity, is this the case though: "The biggest drawback to GO in London is weight restrictions in St Mary's."?
I don't know. I've never heard of this restriction before - only in the railfan community.

And as Paul correctly pointed out, much heavier locomotives have operated on the line before, and in fairly recent memory too. So at first blush, it does not appear that it's strictly a weight loading issue.

Dan
 
According to the September 2019 route 25 timetable, the 25C express service was 40 minutes faster than the 25 local between Waterloo and Square One.
According to the September 2021 route 29 timetable, it takes 30 minutes to get from Square One to Kipling via the Mississauga Transitway.

So if instead of running 2 buses per hour on the 25 local, they ran 1 bus per hour local and 1 bus per hour express, they could extend the 25C to Kipling without adding any buses to the route.
View attachment 345434View attachment 345433

I think after the demise of Greyhound, GO Transit might be trying to extend the 25 to Union. A lot of riders on the 25 start/end their trip in downtown Toronto, so this will save them a transfer at Square One.
 
Just out of curiosity, is this the case though: "The biggest drawback to GO in London is weight restrictions in St Mary's."?

I would say it's true from a specific narrow perspective, but taken in the bigger picture it's hyperbole.

The bridge is likely where GO trains (and VIA, for some time now) move the slowest at present. And it's a single significant cost item to rectify. But the line in its entirety needs fixing up. That single slow bridge is hardly what's impairing service..... the slow end to end speed is a bigger problem. Running slow over a single bridge is not that big a deficiency.

It may be a (hypothetical number pulled out of thin air) $10M tab to fix the bridge, but it's also $1.5-2M per mile to fix the 60ish miles of track west of Kitchener. So not the only biggest drawback, in overall cost, just possibly the biggest single line item.

- Paul
 

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