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Not an expert.

Wow, that would be quite the weak 10 year electrification plan. Also no 15 min all day service on the Stoufville, Kitchener, or Barrie line.

At least LSW/LSE is getting 15 min all day service, and double that in the peak direction?

Some people might be happy we're getting some new EMUs for LSW/LSE but they also decided to keep a lot of diesel in service and deferred GO electrification to save money.
 
It might not be what we hope for, but it's probably a realistic scenario from the point of funding and doability.

Putting aside electrification, I wonder if it's aggressive enough in terms of modal share and relieving congested highways. Seems like a network that isn't scaled to the reality of travel, especially in the 401/QEW/400/404 corridors..

- Paul
 
chrisw said:
I guess BEMU can also be useful on sections to Stoufville and Kitchener.
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Battery-electric locomotives (they still wont be multiple-unit*) can be useful at every single roadway bridge that is a bit too low or not yet grounded; which is most of them.

Electrically isolate a dead wire running under the bridge (a dead wire to guide the pantograph can run much closer to the bridge structure) and job done for 10 grand instead of potentially tens of millions.

It also ensures the train will make it to the next station to unload during a power failure.

* The EMU part makes the entire information source suspect unless Metrolinx is topping up funding to buy new trains. There is zero incentive for the ONxpress to buy more than the minimal rolling stock necessary. Recall their contract ends in 30 years and it takes time to procure rolling stock; their EMUs would be at a mid-life rebuild stage at termination.
 
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That figure - which certainly seems realistic - doesn't concord with what we've been hearing about frequent 4 or 5-car trains. There wouldn't be capacity to run such trains every 15 minutes. That's not really much more than Lakeshore has/had now.

This seems like an older proposal to me.

There was an event earlier this week. https://www.traccs.ca/railday2025

So whose figure was it? Metrolinx? A shady consultant? A student presentation?

I wouldn't take it too seriously.
 
nfitz said:
That figure - which certainly seems realistic - doesn't concord with what we've been hearing about frequent 4 or 5-car trains. There wouldn't be capacity to run such trains every 15 minutes. That's not really much more than Lakeshore has/had now.

This seems like an older proposal to me.

There was an event earlier this week. https://www.traccs.ca/railday2025

So whose figure was it? Metrolinx? A shady consultant? A student presentation?

I wouldn't take it too seriously.
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It was a presentation delivered this Tuesday by Metrolinx's VP of Electrification and Fleet.
 
nfitz said:
That figure - which certainly seems realistic - doesn't concord with what we've been hearing about frequent 4 or 5-car trains. There wouldn't be capacity to run such trains every 15 minutes. That's not really much more than Lakeshore has/had now.

This seems like an older proposal to me.

There was an event earlier this week. https://www.traccs.ca/railday2025

So whose figure was it? Metrolinx? A shady consultant? A student presentation?

I wouldn't take it too seriously.
Click to expand...
While I still wouldn’t take that map as gospel, it was produced long after the 4 and 5 car Bi-Level trains hauled by electric locomotives plan. I don’t know exactly how old that map is, but I first saw it 6 months ago.

That map was produced with another one shows the USRC not receiving electrification and other upgrades, and that was a more recent change that the electric engine only plan preceded.
 
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its bizarre to me to electrify for the UPX and not just continue a little bit further to Bramalea and offer Electric Loco service to there.
 
robmausser said:
its bizarre to me to electrify for the UPX and not just continue a little bit further to Bramalea and offer Electric Loco service to there.
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It's not really all that bizarre when you think about all the other elements that would have to be involved to run such trains on the exisisting network.

MX would have to build a storage yard & charging facilities for such trains while still having storage for the existing diesel fleet.

MX has probably studied this and has determined it's easier to just keep everything diesel for now.

EDIT: I would imagine having two types of rolling stock would make operating the GO network more complex and costly. Which is why MX made the choice to keep everything diesel.
 
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Willybru21 said:
While I still wouldn’t take that map as gospel, it was produced long after the 4 and 5 car Bi-Level trains hauled by electric locomotives plan. I don’t know exactly how old that map is, but I first saw it 6 months ago.

That map was produced with another one shows the USRC not receiving electrification and other upgrades, and that was a more recent change that the electric engine only plan preceded.
Click to expand...
Heres another thing I’ll add on that someone else wrote:

IMG_9726.jpeg
 
I respect the truth of the context that the map was produced in - ie this is the picture of what can actually be accomplished with the funding provided.

However - ML and the politicians have made many, many grandiose and self serving announcements about the great future and all the plans they are putting in motion. That set of promises is what we have been encouraged to expect, and the public has every right to believe and await the delivery of those items.

This is Exhibit A in why some of us get cynical about the entire process. It must be even more cynicism-laden to have to work at the technical level where one knows that what is being delivered is far less than what was promised.

It is not hyperbolic to conclude, we are being consistently and repeatedly lied to. "This is why things don't get shared" should be more readily attibuted to "We don't share because we don't intend to fess up", ie a lack of public accountability.

The only possible response is - we need to start focusing more on what money has actually been advanced. The plan is political bollocks, the action is in the funding, and actions speak more than words.

- Paul
 
Does anyone know if there are plans to put electrification infrastructure in place at the two southern platforms currently under construction at Union station? Since there won't be a train shed over top these platforms, it should be easier, no?

If the answer is "no", than I think it's fair to say that electrification of the GO network has been put on ice. MX just hasn't come out and said it.
 
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Bojaxs said:
Does anyone know if there are plans to put electrification infrastructure in place at the two southern platforms currently under construction at Union station? Since there won't be a train shed over top these platforms, it should be easier, no?

If the answer if "no", than I think it's fair to say that electrification of the GO network has been put on ice. MX just hasn't come out and said it.
Click to expand...

Actually, I have high confidence that the necessary hardware will be roughed in, and the clearances etc will be favourable. That kind of futureproofing seems to have been the case throughout the system, and continues to be the standard.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
I respect the truth of the context that the map was produced in - ie this is the picture of what can actually be accomplished with the funding provided.

However - ML and the politicians have made many, many grandiose and self serving announcements about the great future and all the plans they are putting in motion. That set of promises is what we have been encouraged to expect, and the public has every right to believe and await the delivery of those items.

This is Exhibit A in why some of us get cynical about the entire process. It must be even more cynicism-laden to have to work at the technical level where one knows that what is being delivered is far less than what was promised.

It is not hyperbolic to conclude, we are being consistently and repeatedly lied to.

The only possible response is - we need to start focusing more on what money has actually been advanced. The plan is political bollocks, the action is in the funding, and actions speak more than words.

- Paul
Click to expand...
This is why you shouldn't believe anything being sold to us by Metrolinx until you see shovels in the ground.
 
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