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^I agree. EMUs offer advantages for regional rail running, especially on short headways. They accelerate faster because they have many driven axles and can be coupled and uncoupled to form longer and shorter trainsets on a quick turnaround time, without the need for a railyard and a shunting locomotive to do so.

Locomotives are really only useful if we want GO to continue as it is - providing monster trains for peak hour commuting (from stations that are essentially park and ride lots).
 
Somewhat OT, re: EMUs

I always wondered what Toronto's transportation system would look like if we had been a Commonwealth city in a country more physically removed from the United States. Our transportation system and policy (and those of other Canadian cities) was identical to major American cities up until the Second World War, so we built interurbans, bought PCCs and widened long, straight arterial roads. When we built a subway it was clearly in the New York/Chicago mould.

In contrast, major Commonwealth cities outside of Canada tended to invest in electric, suburban heavy rail systems rather than in interurbans and, as a result, this influenced suburban planning long after interurbans in North America were abandoned. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Mumbai, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Kolkata all have extensive electric railways as the backbone of their transportation systems. I'm pretty sure that Toronto and Montreal would have them too, if we weren't more directly influenced by the US.
 
There was a GO Ferry proposal a few months ago. It would go from East Hamilton (Lake Ontario) to Toronto and some other place in Niagara.

There used to be a ferry service from Hamilton to Toronto, the Macassa aka Lady Macassa. If you ever been to Hutch's on the Beach Strip you would have probably seen pictures of Macassa. I believe the ferry service dock was where Hutch's is located next to Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario rarely ever freezes over. There was also the Modjeska, and the Turbinia that also ran ferry service from Hamilton to Toronto. The QEW killed off the ferry service.

hamilton.jpg

http://www.abruptjunction.com/benjamin/toronto/parks.html
 
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Hipster Duck said:
Somewhat OT, re: EMUs

I always wondered what Toronto's transportation system would look like if we had been a Commonwealth city in a country more physically removed from the United States. Our transportation system and policy (and those of other Canadian cities) was identical to major American cities up until the Second World War, so we built interurbans, bought PCCs and widened long, straight arterial roads. When we built a subway it was clearly in the New York/Chicago mould.

In contrast, major Commonwealth cities outside of Canada tended to invest in electric, suburban heavy rail systems rather than in interurbans and, as a result, this influenced suburban planning long after interurbans in North America were abandoned. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Mumbai, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Kolkata all have extensive electric railways as the backbone of their transportation systems. I'm pretty sure that Toronto and Montreal would have them too, if we weren't more directly influenced by the US.
Click to expand...

That's a very interesting point. I think a balanced system, like in France and Germany, is the best approach. Regional rail for slightly longer trips and certain inner city corridors while retaining a subway for high-density local routes. Sydney and Melbourne definitely suffer for not having a real subway network in the city core.

Montreal definitely could be the closest to having a real European-style rapid transit system. One of their regional rail routes is already electrified and they are currently developing a plan to electrify the rest of them. They just have to get them up to rapid transit frequencies. They also have a much denser inner city subway network than Toronto, where the system is somewhat far-flung because of poor regional rail service and in an attempt to keep up with spectacular growth.
 
You don't have to go as far as Europe to see a good urban rail network we have one right here in North America. It is one corridor from Boston in the north to Washington DC in the south with New York City in about the middle. At Penn Station you can easily get to many different cities along the above mentioned corridor faster then flying. Penn Station has, as well as all the different commuter rail lines servicing it has many different subway lines servicing it as well. A lot of these commuter trains are electrified. It isn't perfect but they are working on it constantly. My wife is pregnant this year so we won't be making my trip to NYC this year but next year we will try and make it down there. I haven't been to Penn Station during rush hour yet but I have been there in off peak times and I think that station is busier then Union Station is at Peak Times! A lot of people move through Penn Station on a daily basis and I look forward to my next visit to that station.

I hope they improve Union Station here in TO so that it can move more people efficiently. One thing I like about Union Station compared to Penn Station is the high ceilings in the station itself. Penn Station kind of had a claustrophobic feel to it for me because of the low ceiling.

Also if the Downtown Relief Line gets built here in Toronto I hope it services Union Station as well. It is a major transit hub that needs good connections with our city's transit system.

And yet one more hope I have is that they move the Coach Canada Terminal up on Bay so that it is at Union Station as well. I think it is better for everyone if different modes of transit have convenient connections to the other modes of public transit such as streetcars, subways, city buses, commuter buses and commuter rail. Union Station has so much potential. Such inteconnectivity will help GO ridership as well I strongly feel.
 
I'm mentioning it again, but I think it would be really good for the trackage around Union Station to be buried, from the Don River crossing in the East to where the Georgetown line branches off.

Burying this portion would do many, many things. First of all, it would open up a lot of development on land previously occupied by the rail corridor. It would also remove a big barrier from between the City and the waterfront. There would also be a lot of room to add extra track, enough for all of Union Station's future needs.

It would also allow a complete redesign of Union's platforms, which would probably and hopefully allow the station to be much more efficient, especially when handling Go Trains.

In terms of the DRL, it could hang on the north end of the underground tracks, probably do a duck out to better service West Don Lands, then pop back in to land right underneath Union subway station.

I think that burying even a small portion of rail around Union like that would be great. I sure hopes the City looks at doing that.
 
GTS said:
Also if the Downtown Relief Line gets built here in Toronto I hope it services Union Station as well. It is a major transit hub that needs good connections with our city's transit system.

And yet one more hope I have is that they move the Coach Canada Terminal up on Bay so that it is at Union Station as well. I think it is better for everyone if different modes of transit have convenient connections to the other modes of public transit such as streetcars, subways, city buses, commuter buses and commuter rail. Union Station has so much potential. Such inteconnectivity will help GO ridership as well I strongly feel.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, yes. :)
 
NOTICE OF STUDY COMPLETION GEORGETOWN TO KITCHENER RAIL EXPANSION THE STUDY

GO Transit, the Province of Ontario’s inter-regional public transit service for the Greater Torontoand Hamilton areas, has undertaken a Preliminary Design Study and Class EnvironmentalAssessment (EA) to expand rail services from Georgetown to Kitchener.

The Study hasidentified passenger demand for the extended service, track improvements, stations andstorage facilities, park and ride facilities and integration with local transit. The study area isfrom the Mount Pleasant GO Station in west Brampton to the Kitchener/Waterloo Region.

This study was conducted in compliance with the planning process for a Group “B†projectunder GO Transit’s Class Environmental Assessment, which is approved under the OntarioEnvironmental Assessment Act. The Class EA study included consultation with the public andrelevant review agencies.

Details of the preferred alternatives include these stations:
Acton – Hide House;
Guelph –Downtown VIA;
Breslau – Greenhouse Road and
Kitchener – Downtown VIA,
and a layoverfacility at Nafziger Road, Baden.

THE PROCESS

The Environmental Study Report (ESR) documenting the planning and design process for theClass EA will be filed on the Public Record for a 45 calendar day review period from July 23 toSeptember 7, 2009. An electronic copy is available at www.gotransit.com, under the projectsand studies tab [not there right now....]
 
waterloowarrior said:
NOTICE OF STUDY COMPLETION GEORGETOWN TO KITCHENER RAIL EXPANSION THE STUDY

GO Transit, the Province of Ontario’s inter-regional public transit service for the Greater Torontoand Hamilton areas, has undertaken a Preliminary Design Study and Class EnvironmentalAssessment (EA) to expand rail services from Georgetown to Kitchener.

The Study hasidentified passenger demand for the extended service, track improvements, stations andstorage facilities, park and ride facilities and integration with local transit. The study area isfrom the Mount Pleasant GO Station in west Brampton to the Kitchener/Waterloo Region.

This study was conducted in compliance with the planning process for a Group “B†projectunder GO Transit’s Class Environmental Assessment, which is approved under the OntarioEnvironmental Assessment Act. The Class EA study included consultation with the public andrelevant review agencies.

Details of the preferred alternatives include these stations:
Acton – Hide House;
Guelph –Downtown VIA;
Breslau – Greenhouse Road and
Kitchener – Downtown VIA,
and a layoverfacility at Nafziger Road, Baden.

THE PROCESS

The Environmental Study Report (ESR) documenting the planning and design process for theClass EA will be filed on the Public Record for a 45 calendar day review period from July 23 toSeptember 7, 2009. An electronic copy is available at www.gotransit.com, under the projectsand studies tab [not there right now....]
Click to expand...

I was looking on Google Maps, and I couldn't find a "Greenhouse Road" in Breslau for the life of me.
 
Breslau is a formerly independent community within Woolwich Township. I'm not sure if Greenhouse Road is still within Woolwich; it might be within the boundaries of another village.

I can't believe they're using Greenhouse Road. The traffic along Highway 7 there is horrible. You're going to have drivers turning off of a two lane road driving to the station on another, narrower two lane road with ditches as shoulders. They would have been better off putting it on Shantz Station Road.
 
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