[sixrings]

Is that corridor so busy that you can't make slots for an hourly GO train? Really?

I agree with what you’re saying but apparently it’s all or nothing. That means we get nothing. Actually we should be happy with the service we got now that I think about it. Thank you metrolinx!!!

 

[Bordercollie]

I agree with what you’re saying but apparently it’s all or nothing. That means we get nothing. Actually we should be happy with the service we got now that I think about it. Thank you metrolinx!!!

So what would make sense would be instead of building this stupid tunnel build 2 dedicated tracks on the Belleville sub for a fraction of the price.

 

[T3G]

So what would make sense would be instead of building this stupid tunnel build 2 dedicated tracks on the Belleville sub for a fraction of the price.

Or, even better, nationalize the goddamn corridor.

It is absolutely ludicrous how a first world nation lets freight operators hold back the expansion of their passenger services. Completely unacceptable.

Nitpick: the Milton line sub is the Galt, not Belleville.

 

[Bordercollie]

Or, even better, nationalize the goddamn corridor.

It is absolutely ludicrous how a first world nation lets freight operators hold back the expansion of their passenger services. Completely unacceptable.

Nitpick: the Milton line sub is the Galt, not Belleville.

Well the right of way is owned by the railway so there is nothing you can do. You would have to buy it at market value and they would need to be willing to sell.

 

[sixrings]

Well the right of way is owned by the railway so there is nothing you can do. You would have to buy it at market value and they would need to be willing to sell.

As northern light likes to suggest. There’s nothing stopping from expropriation. If we can do it for houses why can’t we do it for a railway?!

 

[T3G]

As northern light likes to suggest. There’s nothing stopping from expropriation. If we can do it for houses why can’t we do it for a railway?!

Because megacorporations have more rights than private individuals.

No one ever bats an eye about people being kicked out of their homes, but if you so much as think about suggesting that freight trains should be forced to (because they won't do it of their own accord, or without an obscene price tag) play nice with passenger trains, lots of people start handwringing about how will the poor multi billion dollar corporation be able to do business?!?!?!? (Apparently, European countries where the state owns rail infrastructure don't have freight. Interesting.)

 

[turbanplanner]

Because megacorporations have more rights than private individuals.

No one ever bats an eye about people being kicked out of their homes, but if you so much as think about suggesting that freight trains should be forced to (because they won't do it of their own accord, or without an obscene price tag) play nice with passenger trains, lots of people start handwringing about how will the poor multi billion dollar corporation be able to do business?!?!?!? (Apparently, European countries where the state owns rail infrastructure don't have freight. Interesting.)

Realistically, I hate the railways and I mostly agree with you. But I'll be the devils advocate and point out CP's mainline being constrained could finically harm the country

 

[Dan416]

Someone else had suggested Metrolinx just build their own 2 tracks in the corridor. If CP is amenable to that, it is just a matter of $$$ and is doable.

 

[T3G]

Realistically, I hate the railways and I mostly agree with you. But I'll be the devils advocate and point out CP's mainline being constrained could finically harm the country

I don't know how many trains run on the Galt sub today, but a few years ago it was around 7 or 8 - really long ones, to be sure, but once they were out of the way, they're out. If the number remains similar then I can't see how much of a constraint it really could be to have passenger trains running every 30-60 minutes on it.

Someone else had suggested Metrolinx just build their own 2 tracks in the corridor. If CP is amenable to that, it is just a matter of $$$ and is doable.

That approach has its own set of complications - there aren't many locations along the corridor where there's room to add 2 more tracks without running afoul of the various industrial lots. The Humber River crossing would also need an entirely new bridge constructed. And I think there was also a discussion somewhere of how, if ML were compelled to build their own tracks, they would have to rebuild all the stations to sit on the south side of the corridor, though I'm not entirely sure as to why. Taking all of that into account, I'm not sure how doable it actually is.

The easiest solution would be to declare a provincial emergency, and evacuate Milton as a failed town.

 

[sixrings]

I don't know how many trains run on the Galt sub today, but a few years ago it was around 7 or 8 - really long ones, to be sure, but once they were out of the way, they're out. If the number remains similar then I can't see how much of a constraint it really could be to have passenger trains running every 30-60 minutes on it.


That approach has its own set of complications - there aren't many locations along the corridor where there's room to add 2 more tracks without running afoul of the various industrial lots. The Humber River crossing would also need an entirely new bridge constructed. And I think there was also a discussion somewhere of how, if ML were compelled to build their own tracks, they would have to rebuild all the stations to sit on the south side of the corridor, though I'm not entirely sure as to why. Taking all of that into account, I'm not sure how doable it actually is.

The easiest solution would be to declare a provincial emergency, and evacuate Milton as a failed town.

Throw Mississauga in there. At least the majority of Mississauga which is north of QEW.

 

[crs1026]

I don't know how many trains run on the Galt sub today, but a few years ago it was around 7 or 8 - really long ones, to be sure, but once they were out of the way, they're out. If the number remains similar then I can't see how much of a constraint it really could be to have passenger trains running every 30-60 minutes on it.

The issue isn't the number of trains (which is lower than ever) so much as the number of key grade crossings that need to be grade separated so that those fewer but longer trains don't block grade crossings when they are held to be woven around two way GO trains. Plus the amount of contingency needed for track inspection and maintenance.

Plus, it's a case where getting it right the first time is prudent. Implementing hourly trains as a better-than nothing temporary fix, and then trying to upgrade to 15 minute or better service later, would be very difficult and costly, and the customer experience would be painful.

Milton needs to wait until there is the money and the labour to do it right.

- Paul

 

[lenaitch]

Because megacorporations have more rights than private individuals.

No one ever bats an eye about people being kicked out of their homes, but if you so much as think about suggesting that freight trains should be forced to (because they won't do it of their own accord, or without an obscene price tag) play nice with passenger trains, lots of people start handwringing about how will the poor multi billion dollar corporation be able to do business?!?!?!? (Apparently, European countries where the state owns rail infrastructure don't have freight. Interesting.)

The amount of freight carried by rail in North America, and the resultant impact on the economy, is orders of magnitude higher that any European country.

 

[T3G]

Then figure it out, somehow.

Sorry to be dismissive but I am at my wit's end with the absolute garbage levels of service provided on this God forsaken corridor. Trains that barely run, buses that are almost always full, and almost always stuck in traffic even if they are not - and if someone wants to do the intrepid thing and go down to Oakville to catch the Lakeshore train, they can wait an hour for the next bus during rush hour and two hours outside of rush hour, and not at all on weekends. No bus only lanes, trains that close their doors in your face at 8:29 despite the schedule saying they leave at 8:30, it's absolutely pathetic. If I had any alternatives I would go literally anywhere else at this point, but instead I'm going to have to rely on this garbage for the next 4 years of uni. And then Torontonians want to pull up the ladder by tearing down the Gardiner, and making our commutes even worse. Ford taking that option from the city was the only good thing he ever did.

The economy is important, but it's not more important than having a genuine quality of life.

 

[sixrings]

Why can’t freight be moved at night. Why can’t it be a freight line from midnight to 5 am

 

[smallspy]

Why can’t freight be moved at night. Why can’t it be a freight line from midnight to 5 am

Trains are already running on the line from midnight to 5am. But there are two major problems to trying to isolate all of those operations to just that small window: One is that there are more trains that run on the line than could be moved in that 5 hour window. The second is the planning required - as well as the luck - to make all of the trains show up in the right location to be on the line from between Midnight to 5am is simply not tenable.

Dan