canarob
Senior Member
This doesn't really hold for the rest of the GTA though. For example, York Region is twice as expensive as Durham, despite having much poorer GO service.
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- Thread starter drum118
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This doesn't really hold for the rest of the GTA though. For example, York Region is twice as expensive as Durham, despite having much poorer GO service.
toraerach
Active Member
I'm interested to see how half-hourly service on the Lakeshore line impacts local transit services. I remember visiting some friends in Oakville a couple years ago and catching a bus to Bronte GO, only to have to wait 45 minutes for the next train home. The more convenient the transfer, the less ridership growth will require ever-expanding parking lots.
It's too bad all-day service won't be coming to the Kitchener line for a while. Perhaps if the residents of Brampton organized as vocally as the residents of Weston there would be more pressure on the province to increase service sooner. Right now the loudest voices along that line are adamantly opposed to more diesel service - so opposed to it, in fact, that it's a huge election issue locally. I don't see the same thing happening in communities that would benefit from more service (especially Brampton, as TOareaFan's look at Brampton MPPs' records shows).
It's too bad all-day service won't be coming to the Kitchener line for a while. Perhaps if the residents of Brampton organized as vocally as the residents of Weston there would be more pressure on the province to increase service sooner. Right now the loudest voices along that line are adamantly opposed to more diesel service - so opposed to it, in fact, that it's a huge election issue locally. I don't see the same thing happening in communities that would benefit from more service (especially Brampton, as TOareaFan's look at Brampton MPPs' records shows).
TripleQ
New Member
FWIW a couple of weeks ago all my Lakeshore trips had a new trainee "customer service ambassador" on them working with the regular one. So looked to me like they're training a bunch of new people.
drum118
Superstar
Very Rarely I don't get cab crews being train on my train to Burlington. This all year round.
You can tell there are training crew on board by how they approch the station in preparing to stop.
With 30 minute service some riders may leave their car and use transit since they will have a short wait and can take the later bus.
That batch of "customer service ambassador" are less than 2 years away for trying out for the engineer seat. That rule needs to be change.
trainiart
New Member
LOL. While this comment is funny, you apparently don't know what you're talking about. In Soviet Russia every line got very carefully planned amount of service, depending on a lot of factors: population density, time of day, etc. It was "5 year plan economy", remember? And due to the nature of railway service, it works surprisingly well with planned economy (as opposed to, say, fashion). Public transit in Moscow, including regional and short inter-regional rail, is something Toronto could only dream of. It has degraded somewhat in the last 20 years, but is still orders of magnitude better.
Just take an example of one line, similar in composition to Lakeshore East / Stouffville. The line splits in two just outside Moscow, with the south-eastern branch serving more major suburban towns than the eastern one and as such receiving more service. The service standard during rush hour was 2-5 minutes (at major stops, not all trains served every stop). Most trains terminated about 50 km away from the central station, with every 5th or so continuing further. The south-eastern line is 4-tracked for these first 50 km (2 tracks for regional transit, 2 tracks for freight, inter-regional trains could use either freight or transit tracks depending on the track usage), dual-tracked beyond that. The eastern line is dual-tracked. Freight and passenger trains sharing the same tracks. Weekend service standard was 10-15 minutes within Moscow. 80 km zone would see half-hourly service, 120km hourly, trains to the closest regional centre (180 km away that had its own smaller regional network) would run every 2-3 hours.
I could go on, but I better stop here
Solid Snake
Active Member
electrification on the line should fix that. I'm glad that GO will emulate what the RER does for Paris
denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
South Scarborough now has semi decent transit to Toronto. Prices will rise imo.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
I am not going to make a comment about house prices rising, but, you're right that south Scarborough and eastern Scarborough now have something like rapid transit for the first time ever. I hope they better integrate local TTC routes to GO stations like Eglinton (should be renamed), Guildwood and Rouge Hill. The accessibility of these places - which were bound to wait decades for any rapid transit expansion - has just improved considerably.
I hope this little experiment convinces 905 municipalities that improving GO train frequencies is ultimately both cheaper, easier and faster for downtown-bound riders than subway expansion.
This is the best transit news I've heard in a long time.
denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
I agree. This, if done right, should be better then subway service. Even if Sheppard comes to STC after the next election.
LNahid2000
Senior Member
Only problem is the cost of a fare...to get from Guildwood to College Station would cost $7.90 to take GO + TTC vs. $2.65 on the TTC. I don't think this is going to make much of a difference to south Scarborough residents until there is fare integration.
denfromoakvillemilton
Senior Member
It will be faster though. The TTC subway runs at a much lower speed.
LNahid2000
Senior Member
Of course it'll be faster...but will Scarborough residents think that speed is worth 3x the cost?
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Well, I can't speak for the people who live there but if I lived near Rouge Hill, yeah, I definitely would. It's an extra $5 (or not even an extra $3 if you don't take a connecting bus) and for that you could save up to an hour of travel time and sit on an upholstered seat. That's easily worth $5. Plus, it'll allow people to make regional trips now - people who live in south Scarborough can finally have a one seat ride to places like Port Credit, Oakville and Oshawa without relying on a timetable. In a way this is the first time in Toronto's history that we have something close to regional rapid transit.
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
I almost cried tears of joy when I heard of this service expansion. F'ing finally!
And, yes, I use the train to travel to visit friends in Scarborough. Taking the TTC if you don't have to for those distances is just stupid.
I also travel to Pickering, Ajax, Oshawa (all terrible places), Port Credit, and Burlington from Exhibition.
And I am finally free of timetables! No more planning ahead. It's.... beautiful.
And, yes, I use the train to travel to visit friends in Scarborough. Taking the TTC if you don't have to for those distances is just stupid.
I also travel to Pickering, Ajax, Oshawa (all terrible places), Port Credit, and Burlington from Exhibition.
And I am finally free of timetables! No more planning ahead. It's.... beautiful.
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doady
Senior Member
Hourly service is basically is non-existent service, especially for local transit riders. This will make a huge difference for off-peak.
I think it will have huge effect on reverse commuting as well, because reverse trains will now be 30 minutes, right? Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company will no longer need to subsidize MiWay's route 71 Sheridan-Subway (formerly 87/230 Sheridan Express). All those workers can now just take 45A Winston Churcill south to Clarkson.
Or can they? Not everyone in Toronto lives within walking distance to a GO station. Even if the TTC connection was available, would they be willing to pay the full extra fare? This service won't reach it's full potential without GO/TTC integration. And it would also be nice if GO did not force local transit riders and pedestrians to pay for GO parking (and there are a lot of local transit riders and pedestrians in Toronto).
But I'm not sure the 905 will benefit that much either, except people traveling to/from Mississauga, where the stations of the Lakeshore line aren't in such isolated and hostile locations, and so walking, biking and taking local transit to/from the stations is not as difficult. Most of the stations on the Lakeshore line outside of Toronto, Mississauga, and Hamilton are in really inconvenient, inaccessible locations. They are pure park-and-ride commuter rail stations, their location, their design - I don't think this new service will have as much effect as people expect. For example, how many people live or work within walking distance of Oshawa GO Station?
I think it will have huge effect on reverse commuting as well, because reverse trains will now be 30 minutes, right? Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company will no longer need to subsidize MiWay's route 71 Sheridan-Subway (formerly 87/230 Sheridan Express). All those workers can now just take 45A Winston Churcill south to Clarkson.
Or can they? Not everyone in Toronto lives within walking distance to a GO station. Even if the TTC connection was available, would they be willing to pay the full extra fare? This service won't reach it's full potential without GO/TTC integration. And it would also be nice if GO did not force local transit riders and pedestrians to pay for GO parking (and there are a lot of local transit riders and pedestrians in Toronto).
But I'm not sure the 905 will benefit that much either, except people traveling to/from Mississauga, where the stations of the Lakeshore line aren't in such isolated and hostile locations, and so walking, biking and taking local transit to/from the stations is not as difficult. Most of the stations on the Lakeshore line outside of Toronto, Mississauga, and Hamilton are in really inconvenient, inaccessible locations. They are pure park-and-ride commuter rail stations, their location, their design - I don't think this new service will have as much effect as people expect. For example, how many people live or work within walking distance of Oshawa GO Station?