GO Transit

[SammyOES]

Thanks!

[KevinT]

Previously the line between Kitchener and Toronto was owned by CN. The province has purchased as much of the line as they can from CN, but the part that goes through Brampton they won't sell. The reason being that the part through Brampton is a part of their core freight network, and if they couldn't run trains on it they wouldn't be in business. That line is also close to capacity, so the province can't just add a bunch of GO trains without removing some freight or expanding.

Natural solution is just to add more tracks through Brampton, except the corridor isn't wide enough for this, and no one wants to tear down half of downtown Brampton. So the next best solution is to build CN a new corridor (the "missing link") and have them run their freight there. Once freight is on the missing link they won't need the part through downtown Brampton for freight, and there will be capacity on the tracks for more trains. The negotiation is over a proposed plan to have the province build the missing link, and then swap it with CN so the province gets the part through downtown Brampton.

Well said!

[DHLawrence]

A secondary benefit, though it will take a major trackage rights agreement to pull off, is sending CP freight over the missing link and CN's crosstown route to Agincourt - freeing up track capacity on *some* of the Milton line and potentially opening up CP's uptown Toronto east-west tracks for a crosstown GO line.

[timio]

We should start seeing more updates to the KW - Georgetown stretch of tracks when the GEXR maintenance agreement expires in 2018. If they're serious about AD2W, Metrolinx would get on improving this stretch so it's an easy win to a) improve speeds in the short-mid term, and b) increase service when/if the missing link is created.

[KevinL]

We should start seeing more updates to the KW - Georgetown stretch of tracks when the GEXR maintenance agreement expires in 2018. If they're serious about AD2W, Metrolinx would get on improving this stretch so it's an easy win to a) improve speeds in the short-mid term, and b) increase service when/if the missing link is created.

Good to know, thanks.

[innsertnamehere]

Metrolinx had in a presentation somewhere that they are planning to upgrade the line through the 10mph limit in Guelph to get it up to, I believe, 35mph. That alone will cut 4-5 minutes off the trip time. There is no reason why most of the line cannot be 95mph either, given how straight it is.

[Viewfromthe42]

This still shouldn't be how we design systems. If a city wants high frequency rail, it has to understand that it needs it to be higher speed, and it needs to support proper development of the line to enable that, including the changing of the cityscape around that line, much as we have now built nine figures of grade separation in the past few years.

[panamaniac]

This still shouldn't be how we design systems. If a city wants high frequency rail, it has to understand that it needs it to be higher speed, and it needs to support proper development of the line to enable that, including the changing of the cityscape around that line, much as we have now built nine figures of grade separation in the past few years.

Is the City of Guelph opposing upgrades to the line?

[ijmorlan]

This still shouldn't be how we design systems. If a city wants high frequency rail, it has to understand that it needs it to be higher speed, and it needs to support proper development of the line to enable that, including the changing of the cityscape around that line, much as we have now built nine figures of grade separation in the past few years.

I’m wondering what you mean by “nine figures of grade separation”?

[timio]

$$$$$$$$$

[Viewfromthe42]

The City of Guelph should not be having trains rush to get to it, only to trundle through at 10mph or 35mph. It's a bit of the train version of "drive like your children live here", only this is indeed a high-speed infrastructure link which should not have children living on it and slowing it down to those speeds.

Nine figures of grade separation refers to the $50M+ costs of the King and Weber grade separations (thus at least $100,000,000 of grade separation, or nine figures).

[Waterlooer]

MPP Fife calls on Ontario to make stronger commitment to Kitchener-Toronto GO trains

[Viewfromthe42]

I wonder if I'll ever let it go how she and her office let me down. When handling matters on my behalf for an area of provincial responsibility, her office repeatedly told me they were working on my issue. When I finally got tired of those responses for months, I went to the appropriate provincial body to try and navigate it myself, and was told flat out that her office had never once contacted them about my issue, to which her office continued to lie to me about. The MPP herself swore at a friend of mine while she was trying to press the flesh at a community event, when asked to change her methods because she was breaking the law but could easily not do so. As my MPP, she never made me feel like she was my representative, only that I was there to either serve her interests, or to get out of her way.

[MidTowner]

I wonder if I'll ever let it go how she and her office let me down. When handling matters on my behalf for an area of provincial responsibility, her office repeatedly told me they were working on my issue. When I finally got tired of those responses for months, I went to the appropriate provincial body to try and navigate it myself, and was told flat out that her office had never once contacted them about my issue, to which her office continued to lie to me about. The MPP herself swore at a friend of mine while she was trying to press the flesh at a community event, when asked to change her methods because she was breaking the law but could easily not do so. As my MPP, she never made me feel like she was my representative, only that I was there to either serve her interests, or to get out of her way.

Could you expand on that? How was she breaking the law?

[Viewfromthe42]

Similar to the issues we have with cars parking in bike lanes, she and her team were intentionally blocking roadways in order to stop vehicles and force them to listen to her, during a busy festival no less. Approached about this, she remarked something along the lines of piss off before returning to smiling and waving.