generalcanada
Senior Member
much better. that would be crazy if that was true lol
|
|
|
- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
blsmhrb
New Member
What a relief… I couldn’t believe what I was seeing yesterday! It looked like the weekday schedule came from that two week period in December with reduced service. Really glad that was a mistake!
Allandale25
Senior Member
I seem to recall this happened the last time they updated the schedule where there were some errors and further updates were made. I think it was even discussed here.
T3G
Senior Member
Looks like the 21 out of Milton has had its service expanded on weekdays; every half an hour now until 13:20. I really, really hope this change is permanent and not just for the World Cup, would mean less time wasted next semester and some redundancy in the event of a bus cancellation.
Metroscapes
Active Member
I find the upcoming express configuration on the Kitchener line to be vary interesting.
I have never seen Georgetown skipped, it or Mount Pleasant was usually the holding point for eastbound trains to clear conflicts with CN.
Past that, trains are usually skipping Etobicoke North and/or Malton, or going express altogether from Bramalea. Skipping Weston is new too.
I also don't get skipping Mount Dennis in favour of Bloor. The connection to TTC is more direct, and provides a better cross-town connection further from Union. I think these should be switched.
I have never seen Georgetown skipped, it or Mount Pleasant was usually the holding point for eastbound trains to clear conflicts with CN.
Past that, trains are usually skipping Etobicoke North and/or Malton, or going express altogether from Bramalea. Skipping Weston is new too.
I also don't get skipping Mount Dennis in favour of Bloor. The connection to TTC is more direct, and provides a better cross-town connection further from Union. I think these should be switched.
crs1026
Superstar
That's a very interesting new development.
The earlier departure to Kitchener, while not perfect, is a big improvement that will be useful to anyone trying to get to Kitchener for late morning meetings etc.
It's also a 10-minute timekeeping improvement westward between Mount Pleasant and Guelph over the train an hour later.
The schedule requires a meet at Mount Pleasant with the last inbound peak Kitchener train, tying up a second track there (an accommodation from CN, worthy of credit)
I suspect the stops being skipped is the result of creative track slot planning, rather than a preferred trip plan. Remember that the Weston Sub is only two tracks at the moment, and the diversion at Wice for Woodbine station may affect how trains can be routed. So, perhaps the best that can be done just now - but for once ML has pushed the envelope a bit instead of just waiting a few years until new tracks are added and construction is finished.
- Paul
PS and good news, just when I was about to gripe about how long the Long Branch reconstruction is taking - it will have been four years next month since work began, and the new station is still only at a very early stage. Rush hour service is only every 30 minutes, and the 08:11 train is crush load on the six-car-length platform. ML clearly appreciates how unsafe this is becoming, as there were a half dozen customer service people on the platform warning people not to cross the yellow line (which is virtually impossible given crowding). Surely stopping an express train or two so more frequent service spreads out the station platform loading would be safer....and with a slow order through the work zone, the express trains take some delay anyways.
- Paul
Last edited:
reaperexpress
Senior Member
I love to see these new "counter-peak" trains on Kitchener! They're couple hours off from the true peak period in Kitchener/Guelph, but their schedule is about the best GO could do with the current track configuration. When they finish the double-track segments in Acton and Guelph they'll be able to operate some true counter-peak trains.
The PM eastbound train meets a peak-direction train in Georgetown around 16:33 but since there's only one through GO platform the counter-peak train needs to skip that station, using the CN tracks instead. Etobicoke North station's platform is also occupied by westbound trains so the counter-peak train can't stop there either. I'm not sure why it skips Acton, Malton, Weston and Mount Dennis, but my guess is that the train needs to get to Union at a particular time to operate a peak-direction service on another line, and that's how many stops they needed to skip to achieve that. The train is scheduled for 94 minutes from Kitchener to Union which is an average speed of 66 km/h. It is the fastest Kitchener-Toronto train GO has ever operated, a title previously held by the 95-minute peak-period express trains from the 2022 timetable. Via Rail also schedules 94 minutes from Kitchener to Union, while making 4 intermediate stops compared to 5 stops for the GO counter-peak expresses. This makes sense considering Via's much longer dwell times.
The AM westbound train passes through Georgetown at 10:26 and there doesn't seem to be any eastbound train there around that time, but maybe it just skips the station to match the PM schedule. Skipping Georgetown also allows the train to bypass a large part of the 10 mph slow zone at the plaftorm, which saves a couple minutes in addition to the time saved by skipping the stop. These express trains travel non-stop from Mount Pleasant to Guelph in 31 minutes, compared to 40 minutes for local trains making two intermediate stops (Georgetown, Acton). Normally skipping a station saves about 2 minutes, so you'd expect to save about 4 to 5 minutes by skipping two stops, not 9. The additional 4 minutes saved are presumably due in part to the higher track speed through Georgetown.
The PM eastbound train meets a peak-direction train in Georgetown around 16:33 but since there's only one through GO platform the counter-peak train needs to skip that station, using the CN tracks instead. Etobicoke North station's platform is also occupied by westbound trains so the counter-peak train can't stop there either. I'm not sure why it skips Acton, Malton, Weston and Mount Dennis, but my guess is that the train needs to get to Union at a particular time to operate a peak-direction service on another line, and that's how many stops they needed to skip to achieve that. The train is scheduled for 94 minutes from Kitchener to Union which is an average speed of 66 km/h. It is the fastest Kitchener-Toronto train GO has ever operated, a title previously held by the 95-minute peak-period express trains from the 2022 timetable. Via Rail also schedules 94 minutes from Kitchener to Union, while making 4 intermediate stops compared to 5 stops for the GO counter-peak expresses. This makes sense considering Via's much longer dwell times.
The AM westbound train passes through Georgetown at 10:26 and there doesn't seem to be any eastbound train there around that time, but maybe it just skips the station to match the PM schedule. Skipping Georgetown also allows the train to bypass a large part of the 10 mph slow zone at the plaftorm, which saves a couple minutes in addition to the time saved by skipping the stop. These express trains travel non-stop from Mount Pleasant to Guelph in 31 minutes, compared to 40 minutes for local trains making two intermediate stops (Georgetown, Acton). Normally skipping a station saves about 2 minutes, so you'd expect to save about 4 to 5 minutes by skipping two stops, not 9. The additional 4 minutes saved are presumably due in part to the higher track speed through Georgetown.
Dan416
Senior Member
anb
Active Member
This new style of service on the line reminds me of the Niagara trips, skipping stations and only stopping at certain ones. It does mostly come down to the track restrictions and where exactly they could run service on the new passing tracks without interfering with the trains in the peak direction, especially west of Mount Pleasant.
I would’ve also preferred if it stopped at Mount Dennis over Bloor, just feel like its a perfect balance in the future for the overall express trains to do Union -> Mount Dennis -> Bramalea to expand the network in Toronto.
It’s most likely because of the current construction of both the St Clair-Old Weston and Woodbine Stations that they could only do Bloor before skipping everything and going straight to Bramalea, and without interfering with the the peak direction trains as well as the local counter peak ones.
ack
New Member
The new PM Kitchener train also makes it bearable again to commute to downtown Brampton counter-peak. The eastbound leg has been excruciating since they replaced the direct bus to Union with a generously timed transfer at Bramalea a few years ago. The train saves 48 minutes over the current abomination and IIRC about 20 over the direct bus.
Now if they could only fix the westbound train-to-bus transfers at Mount Pleasant and Georgetown so that Guelph passengers don't have to wait 20-40 minutes in the middle of nowhere in addition to the already slow bus trip. Only been broken for five and a half years.
Now if they could only fix the westbound train-to-bus transfers at Mount Pleasant and Georgetown so that Guelph passengers don't have to wait 20-40 minutes in the middle of nowhere in addition to the already slow bus trip. Only been broken for five and a half years.
Achemarci
New Member
While it's definitely appreciated, the new Route 21 bus schedule (at least express to/from Milton which I am looking at) still does not return to October 2021-April 2023 service levels before everything was rerouted to Lakeshore West, much less pre-pandemic service. Some service which was maintained even in the middle of the pandemic has yet to reappear.
