Guildwood and Oshawa might have made sense in 1967, when the former replaced Danforth as the short-of-Union stop, and Oshawa was a sizable community compared to Pickering Whitby and Ajax. But the suburbs have filled in since then, and we have 30 minute GO headways. I wonder if Oshawa serves Durham Region all that well. Similarly, I wonder if Guildwood is the best place to stop in Scarborough.
If one approached the problem with a clean slate, perhaps one of Pickering, Whitby or Ajax might replace both stops. One would want good connections to Durham Transit (which isn't that frequent, actually). Having the VIA run non-stop west of Durham Jct is helpful, to keep the timing clear of GO trains altogether.
Adding a stop while retaining Oshawa and Guildwood is not helpful. If we do see the Havelock route take away through service, a Pickering stop will put one more stop on the remaining milk runs, making these even slower. If the investment is on the Kingston, adding the Pickering stop won't help the goal of 2:40 to Ottawa.
- Paul