[Bojaxs]

While we are all inquisitive about everything GO, it’s rather unrealistic to expect GO to justify their maintenance procedures to us . But I will go this far, by saying - railcar devices are built to tolerate long periods of inactivity, and a little bit of lubrication is all that is required to keep them fully ready for duty.

The obsession with these cab cars in this thread is pretty foamerly - maybe it’s time for people to stop having hissy fits just because GO for whatever reason has chosen not to deploy them just yet. They will get used when GO or the new operator needs to use them, which apparently isn’t just yet.

- Paul

I'm always disappointed when I see a new post on this thread, and when I click to view it, it's just another post about cab cars or coaches. Nothing to do about locomotives.

 

[RU479]

I'm always disappointed when I see a new post on this thread, and when I click to view it, it's just another post about cab cars or coaches. Nothing to do about locomotives.

To be fair, there isn't much to discuss about locomotive wise.

The new diesel locomotive tender hasn't even been published yet, and we only have a small preview as to what the Alstom electrics will be.

 

[crs1026]

Maybe let's leave my motivations for wondering about the cab cars to one side, please?

In a thread dedicated to GO Transit fleet equipment I dared ask a question about GO transit fleet equipment. I do not need my motivations for asking about it questioned, nor is it relevant to the contents of my question.

The discussion wasn't even about when the cars would enter service, it was a question about what they are doing to ensure the cars will be serviceable when our Almighty thinkers at Metrolinx finally decide it's time to put the cars into service. I even brought up a real world example of how the almighty transit agency isn't always correct, but apparently that's not relevant? Is it because we in Toronto who are stuck with the TTC and Metrolinx think we are somehow better than Central Europeans?
.

Btw, who's having a hissy fit? In every post I've made I have been utterly calm. Though these dismissive responses are really starting to try my patience...

The drip, drip, drip of posts on this thread is what I objected to - not your individual post. I do think this topic has been beaten to death and people coming back to it virtually daily is getting annoying, to me anyways.

But think about this. Clearly the current service plan does not need these additional cars, and keeping them out of the mix just keeps the workload and costs down. However - clearly a change to the service plan will bring them into demand en masse. One hypothetical possibility about what would bring all these cars into play at once is more frequent service on the Kitchener line, which is approaching readiness for more trains to Bramalea. A second would be 15 minute service on LSE/LSW - which would double the number of cabs and locos required on that route. I discount Barrie or Stouffville as the tracks aren't ready for that. I also discount single peak train increases, as there is likely enough slack in the fleet already for onesies or twosies.

We are not hearing about any such changes happening soon..... but.... Oncorr is coming. So maybe patience is necessary.

- Paul

 

[WB62]

The drip, drip, drip of posts on this thread is what I objected to - not your individual post. I do think this topic has been beaten to death and people coming back to it virtually daily is getting annoying, to me anyways.

But think about this. Clearly the current service plan does not need these additional cars, and keeping them out of the mix just keeps the workload and costs down. However - clearly a change to the service plan will bring them into demand en masse. One hypothetical possibility about what would bring all these cars into play at once is more frequent service on the Kitchener line, which is approaching readiness for more trains to Bramalea. A second would be 15 minute service on LSE/LSW - which would double the number of cabs and locos required on that route. I discount Barrie or Stouffville as the tracks aren't ready for that. I also discount singe peak train increases, as there is likely enough slack in the fleet already for onesies or twosies.

We are not hearing about any such changes happening soon..... but.... Oncorr is coming. So maybe patience is necessary.

- Paul

Thank you for your insight Paul, I personally don’t see any reason to be mad at why the old flat cab cars aren’t being used, in fact I’m excited (and I think everyone here should be) that more frequent service is on the horizon, and Metrolinx sees the need to build the GO fleet up in preparation for it.

 

[smallspy]

A second would be 15 minute service on LSE/LSW - which would double the number of cabs and locos required on that route.

The two Lakeshore lines have 15 minute or better service already during the rush hours, so increasing the off-peak service won't require more trainsets - just more crews.

I discount Barrie or Stouffville as the tracks aren't ready for that. I also discount single peak train increases, as there is likely enough slack in the fleet already for onesies or twosies.

While it will still be some time before we can see any improvements to the off-peak frequencies on Barrie, there may be a date on the near horizon for Stouffville where that can happen. Work has begun on commissioning the double -track north of Kennedy with the plant at Oakworth is now live. Highland will apparently be made live later this spring, which means that there will be two sections of double track available to allow trains to pass each other.

Still no word on the Highland Creek bridge, however.

We are not hearing about any such changes happening soon..... but.... Oncorr is coming. So maybe patience is necessary.

- Paul

Oh, there will be more service improvements soon. Apparently part of the Oncorr contract terms is that the service level needs to be at a certain point before ONXpress is to take over - and some of those service levels are higher than they are today. The first round of improvements happens in April.

Dan

 

[reaperexpress]

The two Lakeshore lines have 15 minute or better service already during the rush hours, so increasing the off-peak service won't require more trainsets - just more crews.

The 15-minute peak service is not bidirectional, the counter peak headway is still 30 minutes. They'll require at least a couple more trainsets to provide 15-minute counter-peak service. But indeed the fleet requirement wouldn't be anywhere near double the current schedule.

They did provide bidirectional 15-minute service on Lakeshore in Fall 2021 so they clearly have enough trainsets for it.

My guess is the new cab cars will be used for additional Bramalea-Unionville service.

 

[crs1026]

The two Lakeshore lines have 15 minute or better service already during the rush hours, so increasing the off-peak service won't require more trainsets - just more crews.

I will confess that I had forgotten about all the peak hour 15-minute trains that could be used during the day. (shakes head while staring in the mirror)

However - on looking at the schedules, I note that at peak the westbound afternoon local service on LSW is only 30 minutes, with the trains in between running express. LSE also has some gaps.

So I'm guesstimating that it would take about 6 more trainsets to reach a "pure" 15 minute service, assuming that ML would not want to downgrade some of the express runs.

Definitely not double, but credibly one reason why ML might be stockpiling cab cars against the day when that is implemented.

- Paul

 

[turbanplanner]

I don't get why people are being so uppity the exact thing they want to hear about isn't being posted? It's a public forum. Manage your expectations.

 

[Bordercollie]

The midnight GO train to Niagara falls, does this train layover in Niagara untill the morning? Or does it dead head to Hamilton?

Does the shore power at Niagara support GO voltage?

 

[SaugeenJunction]

The midnight GO train to Niagara falls, does this train layover in Niagara untill the morning? Or does it dead head to Hamilton?

Does the shore power at Niagara support GO voltage?

I’m 99% sure it deadheads back to Lewis Yard In Hamilton, someone correct me if I’m wrong. Metrolinx intends to build a layover space for a single train in Niagara Falls, procurement should happen this year. I’m sure that would include shore power.

 

[WB62]

The midnight GO train to Niagara falls, does this train layover in Niagara untill the morning? Or does it dead head to Hamilton?

Does the shore power at Niagara support GO voltage?

Deadheads to Lewis Road yard in Hamilton, here’s what the job looks like:

 

[Bordercollie]

Deadheads to Lewis Road yard in Hamilton, here’s what the job looks like:View attachment 541229

So is there wayside power in the yard? Or does it idle until the morning trip ? And then the crew takes a Van back to Willowbrook?

 

[WB62]

So is there wayside power in the yard? Or does it idle until the morning trip ? And then the crew takes a Van back to Willowbrook?

Crew vans back, there is wayside power in all layover yards including Lewis Road, as well as the UP Express service track, and Hamilton’s platform:

(Note that this map includes all current and future yards, I should have made a disclaimer for which ones don’t exist yet but I didn’t think of that at the time)

 

[T3G]

202, 205

 

[RU479]

Did you happen to see the 9 or so refurbished cab cars parked at one of the Willowbrook tracks near the canopy?