Grand River Transit

[danbrotherston]

I agree this news is good, and that it moves forward 2WAD GO to the region.

What I disagree with is the suggested frequencies.

We've seen nothing anywhere at all that would suggest 30 minute service all day...

And 15-20 minute service is 100% impossible on the line without significant extra work with Metrolinx has explicitly stated that it won't do. They are not twinning the line, which would be necessary for reliable 15 minute service, instead they are going with the cheaper option of building bypass tracks that can enable hourly (and maybe half hourly in the best case) service.

And honestly, I think that's really fine, hourly service with a half hourly peak service would be absolutely game changing, and probably more than enough service that it makes sense to make other improvements (e.g., faster trains) the new low hanging fruit.

 
While I agree as currently designed, they will probably only provide 30min peak service, they are definitively building the overpass to easily accommodate increase in service without having to coordinate scheduling with freight. Part of Metrolinx argument for expropriation specifically highlights 15min service between kitchener and Union.

I don't know where the image you quoted is from, but it's at best misleading. The Kitchener line can support 15 minute service to ... I dunno...probably Georgetown. But west of that, into Kitchener, there is only a single line, and Metrolinx is adding bypass tracks, that isn't enough to support 15 minute bi-directional service. The overpass isn't the limiting factor.