[TOareaFan]

This is a change like seeing the Kitchener train leaving CNE on Sat

I think this is even more significant than the two weekends of special service that were afforded the KW line.

The special significance is that it is special service for a special event away from Downtown Toronto....a subtle "we are not just for getting you to Toronto".....congrats to whoever convinced GO that this Hamilton fest was worthy of this.....are there other festivals/special events in the GTA (on GO routes) that could/should be doing this too?

 

[andrewpmk]

Does this mean that Hamilton will be getting all day train service soon?

Interestingly, none of these trains are existing trains which normally end at Aldershot... weird.

 

[Jonny5]

Does this mean that Hamilton will be getting all day train service soon?

Interestingly, none of these trains are existing trains which normally end at Aldershot... weird.

Regular service will probably not come until the new Hamilton - James North station is completed in a few years. People in the know on this board have said CP (I think.. or is it CN out there?) strongly opposes any off-peak service to the Hunter Street station. This is probably a one off that CP is okay with since it's late on a Sunday night.

And really, I still can't see all day every day train service to Hamilton as a necessity yet. Perhaps some limited expansion shoulder-peak is in order, but not weekends yet.

 

[mpd618]

And really, I still can't see all day every day train service to Hamilton as a necessity yet. Perhaps some limited expansion shoulder-peak is in order, but not weekends yet.

Necessity for what? The issue isn't overloading of trains, it's about getting normal intercity transit between the centres of two of Canada's biggest cities, rather than one city being ignored as being a particularly distant suburb of the other.

 

[Jonny5]

Necessity for what? The issue isn't overloading of trains, it's about getting normal intercity transit between the centres of two of Canada's biggest cities, rather than one city being ignored as being a particularly distant suburb of the other.

There are many other cities on the GO network with far less service than Hamilton has. I don't see the small upgrade over the bus connection/express service as the best use of that expense and train/crew resources right now with information on here indicating GO barely has enough engineers to make the current service run. It's about 20 minutes from Aldershot to Hamilton and then another 20 minutes back. How many new trains will have to go into service to cover that? They could be going to Mississauga or Brampton or Stoufville or other places with no train service outside of rush-hour either.

 

[drum118]

There are many other cities on the GO network with far less service than Hamilton has. I don't see the small upgrade over the bus connection/express service as the best use of that expense and train/crew resources right now with information on here indicating GO barely has enough engineers to make the current service run. It's about 20 minutes from Aldershot to Hamilton and then another 20 minutes back. How many new trains will have to go into service to cover that? They could be going to Mississauga or Brampton or Stoufville or other places with no train service outside of rush-hour either.

Its not just adding 1 extra train for hourly service, but 7 crews for 7 day service.

Running 12 car trains to Hamilton hourly is a waste of resources. Running 12 car trains off peak for the line is a waste of resources period.

Until we get EMU and the power to be take their blindfolds off, the current way of running service off peak is a waste of resources and service.

Going to one man crew per train allows for more service to be put on the lines.

 

[mpd618]

There are many other cities on the GO network with far less service than Hamilton has. ...

Most of those other cities are actual suburbs of Toronto, and they have the commuter service that works for that purpose. Hamilton, like Kitchener, should have intercity rail service to/from Toronto, not be treated as a suburb of Toronto that has the good fortune of getting a few Toronto-bound commuter trains a day. It's about intercity transportation and it's about respect of these cities as cities in their own right rather than bedroom communities.

 

[drum118]

Most of those other cities are actual suburbs of Toronto, and they have the commuter service that works for that purpose. Hamilton, like Kitchener, should have intercity rail service to/from Toronto, not be treated as a suburb of Toronto that has the good fortune of getting a few Toronto-bound commuter trains a day. It's about intercity transportation and it's about respect of these cities as cities in their own right rather than bedroom communities.

KW and Hamilton would only see service every 1-2-4 hours service based on what I saw in Europe for their size and location. Some were service like they are today by VIA with a few other trains stopping along the route there.

They would be class both as intercity and suburbs stations.

Until a true regional system is in place, hard to deal with better service. The Big Move does not fill the bill at this time to do this.

 

[TOareaFan]

Most of those other cities are actual suburbs of Toronto, and they have the commuter service that works for that purpose. Hamilton, like Kitchener, should have intercity rail service to/from Toronto, not be treated as a suburb of Toronto that has the good fortune of getting a few Toronto-bound commuter trains a day. It's about intercity transportation and it's about respect of these cities as cities in their own right rather than bedroom communities.

In my mind, "actual suburbs" should have more service to and from Toronto than independent stand alone cities. The implication of being a suburb is there is a lot of interconnectivity in the lives of the municipalities......therefore a lot more need to move back and forth between them.

 

[Hipster Duck]

KW and Hamilton would only see service every 1-2-4 hours service based on what I saw in Europe for their size and location. Some were service like they are today by VIA with a few other trains stopping along the route there.

What part of Europe were you traveling in? Hamilton is a city if 600,000 and Toronto is a city of 2.5 million (not including the metro) and the two are 60 km apart. KW has 500,000 people and is 100 km from Toronto and 70 km from Hamilton and there is virtually no public transit between KW and Hamilton.

This kind of triangle of 3 cities of over 500,000 within 100 km from each other (with huge population centres in between like Guelph, Oakville, Milton, Mississauga, Brampton, Burlington etc.) is rare even in Europe, confined to places like the Randstad, Manchester-Liverpool-Leeds, the Ruhr, Lombardy, the Flemish Diamond, Frankfurt-Mainz-Mannheim, etc. If you think these cities are served by service every 2-4 hours, you probably did not pay much attention to the train schedule.

 

[BMO]

What part of Europe were you traveling in? Hamilton is a city if 600,000 and Toronto is a city of 2.5 million (not including the metro) and the two are 60 km apart. KW has 500,000 people and is 100 km from Toronto and 70 km from Hamilton and there is virtually no public transit between KW and Hamilton.

This kind of triangle of 3 cities of over 500,000 within 100 km from each other (with huge population centres in between like Guelph, Oakville, Milton, Mississauga, Brampton, Burlington etc.) is rare even in Europe, confined to places like the Randstad, Manchester-Liverpool-Leeds, the Ruhr, Lombardy, the Flemish Diamond, Frankfurt-Mainz-Mannheim, etc. If you think these cities are served by service every 2-4 hours, you probably did not pay much attention to the train schedule.

Exactly...Even in the Randstad Amsterdam has only 800K population and there are trains running between it and most other comparable cities to KW/Hamilton (such as the Hague, Utrecht, or Arnem) twice or four times every hour.

 

[canarob]

In my mind, "actual suburbs" should have more service to and from Toronto than independent stand alone cities. The implication of being a suburb is there is a lot of interconnectivity in the lives of the municipalities......therefore a lot more need to move back and forth between them.

This. Once cities like Brampton and Markham have hourly train service, we can talk about more service to Hamilton, the K-W, Barrie, etc. The demand for service is just that much greater.

 

[MisterF]

The attitude of "if city X doesn't get more service, neither should city Y" is part of what's holding us back. It's so petty and shortsighted. Cancelling better service to Hamilton isn't going to make better service to Markham happen any sooner. If anything, it's just the opposite.

 

[TOareaFan]

The attitude of "if city X doesn't get more service, neither should city Y" is part of what's holding us back. It's so petty and shortsighted. Cancelling better service to Hamilton isn't going to make better service to Markham happen any sooner. If anything, it's just the opposite.

On one hand, I agree...it is not a competition. On the other hand I have to ask....how would getting better service to Hamilton make better service to Markham happen sooner?

In a world of limited resources....surely allocating resources to "X" does not improve the likelihood that "Y" will get access to resources?

 

[MisterF]

On one hand, I agree...it is not a competition. On the other hand I have to ask....how would getting better service to Hamilton make better service to Markham happen sooner?

In a world of limited resources....surely allocating resources to "X" does not improve the likelihood that "Y" will get access to resources?

Because it increases the GO system as a whole in the consciousness of people in the GTA. The more improvements happen GTA-wide, the more improvements will be demanded. By the same token, cancelling transit upgrades will only reduce awareness of transit in people's minds and make other projects that much less likely. Resources are limited, sure, but there's no fixed amount of money for transit. What we invest goes up and down based on who's in charge and what the people vote for. It's the same way that Transit City, despite doing nothing for downtown, has resulted in the DRL getting back on the political radar.