[smallspy]

2. What is really being said is that Hunter St is not a silver bullet, which is true. There is another barrier to service into Hamilton further upstream. You are capped on how many tph you can operate into any Hamilton station, because all trains must travel through Bayview Junction.

Yes, Bayview Junction - and really, the whole stretch to Burlington West - is a pinch-point. This is why CN and GO, back when the third track was just built through there, had already started preliminarily investigations into putting a fourth track in place from at least Bayview to Snake, and potentially all the way to Burlington West.

If this was done, this would potentially allow GO two tracks on the south side of the corridor which would then lead directly into the two southern tracks of the Oakville Sub to the east, and the two tracks of the Oakville that continue (railroad) west to Hamilton, and still leave the two northern tracks as those that come off of the Dundas Sub and clear all the way to the Halton Sub for CN's freights.

But....

I might sound like a broken record, but at the Junction, GO Trains must get from the south side of the CN corridor to the “north” side (becomes the south side as it wraps around the Bay) to get onto either the CP Hamilton or CN Grimsby tracks. This includes crossing CN’s Dundas subdivision- woof.

This is not nearly as much of a problem as you think it is, and can be easily resolved with a pair of simple track realignments. Realignments that many within Metrolinx already acknowledge as being necessary in the near term (and maybe should have already been done).

With the full build scenario, the two southern tracks through Bayview (looking west) would become the two northern tracks of the Oakville to Hamilton, with the yard lead branching off of the south track via a powered switch within the Bayview interlocking.

Dan

 

[tsm1072]

With the full build scenario, the two southern tracks through Bayview (looking west) would become the two northern tracks of the Oakville to Hamilton, with the yard lead branching off of the south track via a powered switch within the Bayview interlocking.

I guess this assumes CN trains from Hamilton can wait for gaps in GO service to move through bayview. How often is CN moving trains to and from the Stuart St yard? Are the trains typically heading in and out via the Dundas Sub or do they head to the Aldershot yard first before heading East or West?