GO
Transit is an interregional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada
. It
primarily serves a
conurbation
designated the "
Greater Toronto and
Hamilton Area" (GTHA), with operations extending to several
communities beyond the GTHA proper. GO carries over 50 million
passengers a year using an extensive network of
train and
bus services; rail
service is provided by
diesel
locomotives pulling trains of unpowered double-deck
passenger cars, while most bus service is
provided by inter-city
coaches.
Canada's first such new system since before World War II, GO
Transit began regular passenger service on May 23, 1967 under the
auspices of the
Ontario Ministry of
Transportation. Over time it has been constituted in a variety
of public-sector configurations, today existing as a division of
the
provincial crown agency
Metrolinx, a body with overall
responsibility for transportation planning within the GTHA.
Metrolinx, in turn, is governed by a board consisting of appointees
of the province.
Service area
The
Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) consists of the City of
Toronto
, the City of Hamilton
, and the
surrounding Regions of Halton
, Peel
, York
, and Durham
. Each of these cities or regional
municipalities has representation in GO's governance structures.
GO Transit
also reaches beyond the GTHA into Niagara and Waterloo Regions, and
Peterborough
, Simcoe,
Dufferin
, and Wellington Counties, although
service to these non-GTHA jurisdictions is generally less extensive
and, with some exceptions, bus-based only.
In total, GO trains and buses serve a population of 8 million in a
10,000 km² (4,000 sq.mi.) area radiating in places more than
125 km (78 mi) from downtown Toronto.
Present extrema are
Hamilton and Waterloo
to the west; Orangeville
, Barrie, and Beaverton
to the north; Peterborough
and Newcastle
to the east; and Niagara Falls
to the south.
The GO
system map shows seven train routes, all departing from Toronto's
Union
Station
and mostly named respectively after the outer
terminus of train service. Although colours and letters,
noted below, are assigned in a consistent fashion to each line in
all official media, in practice lines are rarely referred to by
anything other than their names.
The Lakeshore East and West rail lines frequently operate on an
interlined basis: most off-peak and some peak-period trains provide
through service between stations east and west of Toronto. With
this exception, however, direct movement
between the
various "legs" is quite limited. While several GO buses run on
orbital routes that connect multiple legs, all rail-based
interchange from one line to another (with the aforementioned
exception of the Lakeshore lines) requires switching trains at
Union Station.
(Trains on multiple routes pass through or
by each of the Bloor
, Danforth
and Scarborough
railway stations, but each station is assigned to a
single corridor and only accordingly-routed trains stop
there.)
Rail
A GO Transit train on its way out of
Toronto
All GO Trains consist of bi-level
railway cars
GO trains are easily identifiable; all rolling stock is green and
white, and the coaches are double-decked and shaped like elongated
octagons. These
Bombardier
BiLevel carriages were
originally designed for GO in the 1970s, and are now used by a
number of other
commuter
railways across the continent. GO Trains generally operate in a
push-pull configuration.
Most GO Train routes operate only in peak
rush-hour periods and then only in the primary
direction of travel. For example, as of June 2009, the Stouffville
line service consists of five trains leaving Lincolnville each
weekday between 5:18 and 7:42 a.m., and five trains leaving Toronto
each weekday between 4:18 and 6:30 p.m.
There is off-peak train service on parts of the Lakeshore and
Georgetown lines.
Hourly trains operate on weekdays off-peak
hours and weekends between Aldershot
and Oshawa
. The Georgetown line has a more limited
off-peak train service between Toronto and Bramalea
.
Although it has always owned its locomotives and coaches, GO's
trackage was originally owned entirely by commercial railways
Canadian National and
Canadian Pacific. In 1988
GO shifted part of the Lakeshore East line onto its first-ever
section of self-owned purpose-built trackage. Since 2000, GO has
incrementally acquired further trackage from the two commercial
railways, including the Union Station Rail Corridor, a stretch of
the Milton line, and significant portions of the Georgetown, Barrie
and Stouffville lines. On the remainder of its rail network, GO is
still required to work closely with CN and CP, who continue to own
and operate the tracks, switches and signals.
Until recently, all train crews were also employees of one of the
two railways, and GO Train service has been previously disrupted by
non GO Transit-related labour disputes. A five-year contract with
Montreal-based
Bombardier
Inc. meant 160 unionized engineers, conductors and newly coined
"customer service ambassadors" replaced Canadian National crews
operating the trains on six of GO's seven lines. Bombardier will
continue to run trains with three-person crews, but their functions
will change. Traditionally, the conductor focuses on safe
operation, but also does customer service. Bombardier will put two
engineers on each train, each driving in just one direction. When
not driving, the spare engineer will handle operations. The crew
person stationed in the accessible coach, formerly the conductor,
will be a customer service ambassador. On the remaining line (the
Milton line), GO continues to contract out the operation of its
trains to the Canadian Pacific Railway, where operations continue
as before.
Bus
GO Bus number 2172 awaits
passengers.
Each train route has a corresponding GO Bus service for the times
(and directions) when (and where) the trains are not operating.
These accept the same tickets as the trains and in many cases serve
the same stations. For example, buses operate from Toronto to
Milton, and from Aldershot station in West Burlington to Hamilton,
at all times except the weekday evening peak when trains are
available. Some train routes are similarly extended by buses at all
times, as noted in the list of routes, with through buses when the
trains do not run.
Thus buses to Guelph
operate from
Georgetown in the evening peak, and from Toronto at other
times. Buses serving downtown Toronto operate to a
terminal adjacent to Union Station.
Still other GO Buses are independent of rail services. Some parts
of the route network use expressways (such as the frequent
Toronto–Hamilton express bus via the
Queen Elizabeth Way) while others are
more local in character.
Toronto
Pearson International Airport
is served by two routes: one from Brampton
to Yorkdale
and York Mills
subway
stations, and one from Mississauga City Centre to Richmond Hill
City Centre.
Most GO buses are of inter-city coach design, and carry
approximately 50 passengers.
Double-decker coaches debuted in April
2008, exclusively operating on GO's
Highway 407 and
Highway 403 corridor on the Oakville
GO Station branch. They feature reclining seats and other
amenities. Once GO receives more, it will provide service to York
Region. GO also operates several
Orion V buses, which more closely
resemble conventional urban transit buses. These vehicles are used
primarily on routes that are more local in nature, such as the
Yonge Street and Highway 2 (Kingston Road) corridors. When York
Region Transit took over most of the service on Yonge Street, a
number of these Orion Vs were sold to them. All GO Buses are
diesel-powered.
Terminals
GO Bus service uses 15 bus terminals, with numerous intermediate
stops and ticket agencies, in addition to providing off-peak and
express services to GO Train stations. The terminals have a wide
range of owner/operator/user relationships;
GO owned
facility with exclusive use or shared with local service;
municipal transit operation shared by GO;
intercity
terminal shared with Greyhound, Coach Canada, etc. During the
school year there are also thousands of rides a day to the
York University Bus Loop, one of the
biggest transit hubs in the GTA.
Connections
GO connects with every municipal transit system in the GTHA, plus
Barrie Transit,
Peterborough Transit,
Guelph Transit,
Grand River Transit,
Niagara Transit, the
Niagara Parks Commission
People Mover and
St.
Catharines Transit.
TTC connections
The
Toronto Transit
Commission (TTC) provides the most connections with GO Trains
and convenient connections can be made between the trains and TTC
buses,
streetcars, and
subway trains.
Immediately adjacent to the GO concourse at
Union
Station is the Union subway station
on the TTC's Yonge-University Spadina
line. The Union subway station also includes the terminus
for the TTC's
Harbourfront and
Spadina streetcar lines.
Four subway stations on the TTC's
Bloor-Danforth line either are close to
or directly connect to GO Train stations:
The
Leslie
subway station
on the
Sheppard subway line does not
currently connect with the nearby Oriole GO Station
on the Richmond Hill line, but there has been
consideration given to building a connection to TTC Leslie Station
in the future as the platform at Oriole was recently moved further
north to allow for it.
Additionally, three GO bus terminals are on the
Yonge-University-Spadina subway line, at Finch, York Mills, and
Yorkdale, and one is located on the
Scarborough RT at Scarborough Centre.
All GO
Train stations within the City of Toronto are adjacent to TTC bus
routes, and Danforth, Exhibition, Bloor, and Long
Branch
stations are also on streetcar routes.
Connections with other operators
Municipal transit systems outside Toronto remain purely bus-based
to date. Buses operated by Barrie Transit, Peterborough Transit,
Durham Region Transit,
York Region Transit,
Brampton Transit,
Mississauga Transit,
Milton Transit,
Oakville Transit,
Burlington Transit, the
Hamilton Street Railway, Guelph
Transit, Grand River Transit, St. Catharines Transit, Niagara
Transit and the Niagara Parks Commission People Mover connect with
GO stations and stops in their respective jurisdictions.
York Region's
Viva bus rapid transit system interchanges with
the GO Train system at two stations.
Viva Blue, Viva Purple
and Viva Pink connect with Langstaff GO
Station
on the Richmond Hill line, and the peak-only
Viva Pink connects with Unionville
GO Station
on the Stouffville line (Viva Purple and peak-only Viva Green are located nearby).
System Length
GO is approximately 458 kilometers (254.5 miles) long.
Ridership
GO runs 180 train trips and 1,430 bus trips daily, carrying about
190,000 passengers on a typical weekday — 160,000 on the trains and
30,000 by bus. GO says that their ridership growth has continually
exceeded expectations. In 1967, the first year of operation, 2.5
million passengers were carried. The combined rail and bus system
today handles more than 50 million riders annually, and it was
announced on October 11, 2006 that GO Transit had recently achieved
its one billionth passenger mark.
At least 96% of the train ridership is to and from Union Station in
downtown Toronto, while about 70% of all bus passengers travel to
and from the City of Toronto.
| Number of Passenger Trips (2007) |
| Rail lines |
| |
Lakeshore West |
14,052,900 |
|
|
Milton |
6,319,700 |
|
|
Georgetown |
3,965,700 |
|
|
Bradford |
2,603,600 |
|
|
Richmond Hill |
2,119,800 |
|
|
Stouffville |
2,987,500 |
|
|
Lakeshore East |
11,380,100 |
|
| Subtotal - Rail lines |
43,429,300 |
| Bus routes |
| GO Bus Services |
7,556,900 |
|
| Total - GO System |
50,986,200 |
|
History
GO Transit was created and funded by the provincial government in
1967 as
Government of Ontario Transit (hence the
acronym 'GO').
It began as a three-year experiment on May
23, 1967 running single-deck diesel
multiple units on a single rail line along Lake Ontario
's shoreline. All day GO Train service ran
from Oakville to Pickering with limited rush hour train service to
Hamilton. GO trains carried 2.5 million riders that first year and
was considered to be a success. GO Bus service, which started out
in 1970 as an extension of the original Lakeshore train line, has
since become a full-fledged network in its own right. It feeds the
rail service and serves communities that trains do not reach.
Expansion continued in the 1970s with the introduction of the
Georgetown line in 1974 and the Richmond Hill line in 1978. In 1978
the GO Transit bi-level railcars were introduced, although many of
the bi-level trains had to run with a single level cab car at
first. Finally in 1979 the current GO Train concourse at Union
Station was built. In 1981 the Milton GO Train line opened,
followed by the Bradford Stouffville lines in 1982.
Towards the end of 1982, Ontario Minister of Transportation and
Communications,
James Snow, announced the
launching of
GO ALRT (Advanced Light Rail
Transit), an interregional
light rail
transit program. Although this plan didn't come to fruition, it was
decided that certain parts of the GO ALRT proposal would live on,
in the form of a GO Train extension of all-day GO Train service to
Whitby and Burlington. The tracks between Pickering and Whitby were
originally built for the GO ALRT system but were soon converted to
handle conventional GO Trains. All day GO Train service was brought
to Whitby in 1988.
In the 1990s, the era of continuous growth came to end. Ridership
shrank as a result of a recession in the early part of the decade.
In spite of this, GO extended limited rush hour GO Train service to
Barrie, Guelph, Acton and Oshawa in 1990. In the same year, GO also
introduced off-peak train service on the Milton line, much of which
only operated as far west as Erindale. Similarly, all-day GO Train
service was extended to Burlington on the Lakseshore West line in
1992. However, in 1993 then Ontario premier Bob Rae announced a
"temporary" reduction in spending on services. Consequentially GO
Train service to Barrie, Guelph and Acton was eliminated. All day
GO Train service to Whitby and Burlington was reduced to rush hours
only (while limited rush hour train service to Oshawa and Hamilton
remained in place). All day Lakeshore train service existed only
between Pickering and Oakville. In 1995 a new set of tracks and a
station were built in Oshawa, allowing for frequent rush hour GO
Train service to Oshawa. In 1996, off-peak service ceased on the
Milton line.
In January 1997, the province announced it would hand over funding
responsibility for GO Transit to the
Greater Toronto Area municipalities
(which consist of the City of Toronto, and the Regions of Halton,
Peel, York, and Durham) and the neighbouring Region of
Hamilton-Wentworth (which became the new City of Hamilton on 1
January 2001). In exchange, the province would assume certain other
funding responsibilities from municipal governments.
In 2000, all day GO Train service was restored from Burlington to
Whitby and finally brought to Oshawa (although weekend &
holiday Lakeshore GO Train service would still only see service
between Pickering and Oakville). GO Train service was fully
restored along the Lakeshore East line to Oshawa in 2006, and along
the Lakeshore West line to Aldershot in 2007. The Bradford line was
extended to Barrie South GO Station in 2007, restoring GO Train
service to Barrie for the first time in 15 years. In 2008, train
service on the Stouffville line was extended to Lincolnville GO
Station.
On May 14, 2009, with the passage and approval of the 'Greater
Toronto and Hamilton Area Transit Implementation Act, 2009', GO
Transit was merged with Metrolinx.
Future expansion
The majority of GO Transit expansion projects presently underway
fall under the funding umbrella of the
GO Transit Rail
Improvement Plan, or
GO TRIP. This initiative, though
seen as substantial at the time of its initial proposition in the
mid-2000s, has since been dwarfed by a further slate of new GO
infrastructure proposed in
MoveOntario
2020, the provincial transit plan announced in 2007.
GO TRIP
GO TRIP is a jointly-funded plan, with the federal, provincial, and
municipal governments contributing to the costs on a
one-third/one-third/one-third cost-sharing basis. Federal funding
was committed by the then-
Liberal federal government through
their
Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund. Detailed
information on these expansion projects can be found on the
GO TRIP website.
GO TRIP's priority was augmenting the capacity and reliability of
the existing GO rail network, but not substantively expanding the
catchment area or adding new corridors. The majority of spending
was allocated to reducing the interface between GO Trains and
growing volumes of
CP and
CN freight traffic.
This
included rail-to-rail grade separations where GO's north-south
lines cross east-west freight lines: the Snider Diamond, where the
Barrie/Bradford line crosses the CN York Subdivision, saw an
overpass completed in Fall 2007; work on the Hagerman Diamond (the
Stouffville line's CN crossing) began in July 2006 and work at the
West Toronto
Diamond
(to take the CN tracks on the Georgetown line
under the CP's midtown Toronto tracks) began in November
2006.
A GO Train Delays board in the Long Branch Train Station
Other capital projects included adding increased track capacity on
the CN and CP-owned railway lines so that more GO Train trips would
be possible. A third track from Burlington to Bayview Junction
(between Aldershot and Hamilton) on the Lakeshore West line, and
one from downtown Cherry Street to Scarborough on the Lakeshore
East, were built to facilitate improved schedule reliability and
increased service. New track is under construction on the
Georgetown line's busy section between Brampton and northwest
Toronto to allow more frequent train movements as well. Track
upgrades on the Milton line to run more peak and off-peak trains
were planned, but remain uninitiated. GO TRIP also attempted to
curtail GO's need to move
deadheaded trains back to its
main Willowdale Yard in the evening and then out to the suburbs in
the early morning by constructing train layover facilities at the
periphery of its rail network. New train layover facilities were
built in Milton, Barrie, Hamilton and near Mount Pleasant
station.
GO TRIP's
one substantial extension of rail service involved restoring train
trips to the Barrie
, Ontario
area, using trackage beyond the then-terminus of
Bradford owned by the City of Barrie (who acquired the right of way
following CN's abandonment.) A somewhat shorter extension of rail
service was made possible by pushing the Stouffville line's passenger terminus
several kilometres further northeast of Stouffville
proper
to the new Lincolnville GO Station
, at 10th Line and Bethesda Road in
Whitchurch-Stouffville, where an existing layover facility was
located. Two new infill stations were built as well:
Mount
Pleasant Station
on the Georgetown line opened in February 2005 and
Lisgar
Station
on the Milton line opened in 2007.
Other expansion initiatives
Improvements to Union Station's platforms, train shed and
signalling system, has been an ongoing process for GO Transit. A
major redevelopment plan involving the station's owner, the City of
Toronto, has been developed but awaits private capital. Fleet
expansion is also ongoing, including buses and Bombardier Bi-Level
Rail Cars, and the replacement of old locomotives with more
reliable and powerful models.
GO will be a key user of the Presto Card, a unified smartcard-based payment system for the Greater
Toronto and Hamilton Area similar to the Oyster Card used by Transport for London in the United
Kingdom
.
GO has stated that it views the primary obstacle to further
ridership growth has been a limited supply of park-and-ride spaces
at its suburban stations, along with an existing train trips
travelling at or above their maximum passenger capacity. Plans for
decked parking at Ajax, Aurora, Burlington, Centennial, Clarkson,
Erindale, Oakville, and Unionville stations have been drafted, with
construction currently underway in Whitby (completion is scheduled
for later in 2009). GO's first ever decked parking garage opened in
Burlington in September 2008. Platforms at most Lakeshore and
Milton corridor stations have been lengthened to permit 12-car
train sets; construction is underway at Appleby, Clarkson,
Streetsville and Hamilton stations to lengthen the platforms, with
Mimico being the last station requiring this work.
GO is also developing a
bus rapid
transit (BRT) system that will provide extensive east-to-west
express service across the GTA, using transit priority measures and
park-and-ride stations with links to
local transit. GO's already popular
Highway 407 express buses, launched in
the fall of 2000, are the BRT's precursor, showing that demand for
such service is already there. It has grown and flourished, with
greatly improved services and new park & ride lots. The GO 407
corridors are now among GO Transit's fastest growing services,
yielding 12,000 rides on a typical day. As part of this service, GO
Transit is collaborating with the City of Mississauga to build new,
exclusive bus lanes along Highway 403. Mississauga's BRT website
has more information on this new project.
MoveOntario 2020
MoveOntario 2020 was announced by
Dalton
McGuinty in the leadup to the
2007 provincial election as a
provincially-initiated transit plan for the Greater Toronto Area.
Unlike previous plans, there is to be no expectations of municipal
contributions for capital costs, with a two-thirds/one-third
funding arrangement between the province and the federal government
foreseen. As of the 2008 federal budget, however, there have been
no federal monies committed to MoveOntario 2020 project.
Of the estimated $17.5 billion worth of projects, a significant
portion are to involve GO expansion. These include a number of new
train corridors.
Proposed train routes
Bolton line
This line would follow a CP rail line from Union Station through
western Toronto and Woodbridge to the suburban community of Bolton,
replacing a bus service that currently encompasses two inbound and
two outbound trips. Because of a rapidly growing population in the
area and stronger transit connections that have been developed in
last few years between Brampton and Vaughan, it is quite likely
that train service on this route will be introduced within the next
few years.
Seaton line
This line would use CP's Belleville subdivision to run from Toronto
through northern Scarborough and east to Brock Road in Pickering.
The line would likely be introduced after further development of
the Seaton
new town in Pickering. GO Trains
originating at Union might reach the Belleville subdivision by
potentially using disused CP Trackage in the lower Don Valley or by
following the existing Stouffville line then shifting onto
Belleville subdivision trackage via a new connection structure near
Kennedy and Sheppard. Alternately, trains might originate along the
Midtown Corridor (see below).
Locust Hill line
This
line, like the Seaton line, would use CP's Belleville subdivision,
then branch at the Agincourt yard
onto CP's Havelock subdivision and continue
northeast to Brock Road in the small community of Claremont, within
the city of Pickering. This line would serve the growing
community of Cornell in Markham, as well as the established
Morningside Heights subdivision in Toronto. If the proposed
Pickering International Airport is
built, it will likely also connect to this line.
Although it was not been proposed in MoveOntario 2020, it is
possible that trains on this line may eventually run to
Peterborough. Extensive track upgrades would be necessary to allow
trains to reach desirable speeds.
Midtown Corridor
MoveOntario 2020 also proposes adding passenger service on the CP
freight mainline that cuts through Toronto to the north of the
downtown area. The midtown corridor runs from the Junction
(intersection of many CN and CP lines, as well as the GO Georgetown
and Milton routes) to the Don Valley. Service could involve an
extension of the Seaton and North Pickering routes westward, or a
combination of trains from the Georgetown and Milton lines.
Passenger
service would need to be restored to the former North
Toronto Station
on Yonge Street, or a new station would possibly be
built adjacent to the Dupont TTC Station
at Spadina Road.
While this proposal would take pressure off of Union Station, and
would arguably become one of the more popular and lucrative of the
new lines, it faces tremendous roadblocks and is the least likely
of the new routes to be implemented. Canadian Pacific is strongly
resistant to allow operation of GO trains on its tracks, and this
line would use its most congested route, the mainline. The TTC is
highly opposed also to a competing corridor to its Bloor-Danforth
line. Furthermore, the proposed transfer points to the
Yonge-University-Spadina subway would require new construction and
would swamp existing stations. GO passengers transferring to the
TTC at Union Station are moving "counterflow" and take advantage of
some rare rush-hour spare capacity on the line, whereas the new
station would only add to the growing congestion on the Yonge and
University segments. On the surface, the midtown corridor appears
to require the least increase in infrastructure and should be the
simplest to implement, but is in fact the most difficult from a
bureaucratic perspective.
Pearson rail connection
MoveOntario 2020 re-proposes to provide
train service between the
Pearson Airport
and Union Station via the Georgetown line.
Because the Airport is located some 5 km from the line, a
proposed spur line would need to be constructed to connect the
trains to Terminal 1. It is uncertain how this service would be
coordinated with GO Transit, which uses the same Georgetown line.
Extensive track upgrades along this line would be required.
A controversial proposal to provide a high-speed rail link on this
corridor was announced as a transportation priority by the previous
federal Liberal government in 2000.
The project was opposed by residents in
places like Weston
and its
future is currently the subject of an environmental assessment; the
Ontario government has indicated that it wants to start
construction in Fall 2009.
Despite the absence of train service, GO has expanded its bus
routes to the Airport, adding a GO bus service on April 26, 2008.
This bus
operates at 1/2 hour intervals, 21 hours a day from Pearson on a
route that goes between its Square One Bus Terminal
in Mississauga and the Richmond
Hill Centre Terminal
at Hwy. 7 & Yonge St. with connections
there to the
Viva network,
which operates in York Region north of Toronto.
Line extensions
GO is
also making plans to expand the rail service along the Lakeshore
East line, towards Bowmanville
. The rail alignment from the Oshawa station,
will have the rails going north, along the CP rail bridge over
Highway 401 west of Stevenson Road and going east along with the
main CP rail line, with possible station stops at Simcoe Street and
Courtice. The expansion should be completed by 2015.
Expansions beyond GO's present service area
Although not provided for in MoveOntario 2020, previous government
announcements and proposals have foreseen expanding GO's service
area by introducing commuter bus services to
Niagara Region, and
to
Waterloo
Region to build the market for train service. Both Waterloo and
Niagara regional governments are strongly in favour of GO Trains
service being brought to these areas.
Service expansion to
Peterborough has also been proposed, but GO has expressed no
interest in providing it. The City of Peterborough is also
strongly in favour of having GO service there, but only by rail.
The federal government announced funding for a commuter train route
to Peterborough in its 2008 budget, but it is uncertain who will
operate it. Neither GO Transit nor
VIA
Rail, which is owned by the federal government, have expressed
any interest. It is confirmed that GO will offer a compromise with
a train-meet bus service between Peterborough and Oshawa, or to the
future Bowmanville train station when it is opened. A new GO bus
route from Oshawa making stops at RR10 & Highway 115, downtown
Peterborough and Trent University, began on September 5,
2009.
In April, it was announced that GO bus service would be extended
into the
Niagara Region.
A station
and park-and-ride facility is
currently under construction in Grimsby
, with a scheduled opening date in June,
2009. Further extensions to St.
Catharines
and Niagara Falls are planned, with service commencing by September,
2009. It is expected that GO rail service will eventually be
extended into the region.On 14 May 2009 transportation minister Jim
Bradley announced that GO Transit will provide weekend and holiday
train service from Toronto to Niagara Falls, with four trains per
day per direction stopping at St. Catharines, Burlington, Oakville
and Port Credit stations en route to Union. GO also expects to run
commuter bus services to Niagara region and Peterborough as of
September 2009, and to the Region of Waterloo as of October
2009.
Theoretically, GO Transit can serve any region in Ontario and set
up service in other areas as well, as it is a provincial agency;
however, approval from the Provincial government is required.
The only
region in which any interest has been expressed is Eastern Ontario,
centring on possible services to communities around the National
Capital Region
. However, as some of the proposed services
would include lines into Quebec
, a
separate, federally-incorporated agency is likely to be created, as
crossing a provincial or international boundary would put the
agency under federal jurisdiction.
Recent service disruptions
In recent years, since initiating a major infrastructure renewal
program in 2005, GO Transit has been plagued with frequent service
disruptions, often leading to trip cancellations, modifications and
delays. GO has blamed many of the disruptions on long-delayed
construction projects it has recently undertaken and the host
railways. It also cites underfunding by previous Ontario
governments for delaying critical infrastructure improvements
necessary to handle GO's growing passenger volumes. Passengers
though, are more likely to fault GO directly, alleging that the
agency shows little concern for their schedules, and fails to
provide accurate information when major delays occur and be
accountable for frequently delayed and cancelled train rides.
On Monday February 11 2008, rider Patricia Eales launched an online
petition demanding better service and rebates to compensate riders
for delays and cancellations. The petition was presented to the
Board of Directors at their monthly meeting on Friday, March 14,
2008; while Eales' request for rebates was declined, her deputation
did lead to the creation of a Customer Service Committee, which was
started shortly after by GO Transit. While Ms. Eales was invited to
join the Committee and initially accepted, she has since stepped
down.
Vehicles
A new MP40 #604
As of December 2008, GO Transit operates a total of 328 buses, 71
locomotives and 470 coaches, of which 52 are cab cars. For their
rail services, GO Transit uses a mixture of
EMD F59PH
locomotives and
MotivePower Industries MP40PH-3C locomotives. The MP40's are
significantly more powerful with 4000 bhp vs the 59PH's
3000 bhp. The coaches used in GO Transit's trains are all
various models of
Bombardier
Transportation's
Bi-Level
coach, with a seating capacity of 136 to 162; 142 in IV series,
and a claimed standing room space for 276 standees.
For bus services, GO Transit has a variety of buses made by
Prevost,
Orion,
MCI and
Alexander Dennis.
Staff
GO has a workforce of 1,447 (2007).
In its earlier years, much of GO Transit's staff were actually
employed by private companies and worked for GO under contract. As
GO has expanded, many positions have gradually been brought
in-house, such as its bus drivers, and GO has consolidated its
contractual arrangements primarily with
Bombardier Transportation.
Today, all staff are employees of GO Transit, with the exception of
train maintenance personnel, who are contracted from Bombardier
Transportation, and conductors and engineers on trains, who are
employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway on the Milton line and
employees of Bombardier Transportation elsewhere. Bombardier
conductors and engineers are all trained per
Transport Canada on Railway Operating
Rules, allowing them to operate GO Trains on mainline railway
tracks.
Unionized
staff are part of Amalgamated
Transit Union Local 1587, and the International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 235, and
generally based in Toronto.
Special Constables
GO Transit has
Special
Constables patrolling the transit agencies' properties and
vehicles, as well as enforcing the
Criminal Code and related violations
of GO Transit by-law # 2. They are also known as Transit
Enforcement Officers. The GO Transit Special Constables are
appointed by the
Ontario
Provincial Police and have police authority for a variety of
federal and provincial acts. These officers patrol the GO system
and can arrest and enforce a variety of laws. Their authority is
essentially no different than that of a police officer during
certain situations. Jurisdictional police are actively involved in
the safety and security of the GO system and work together with GO
Special Constables. GO Transit also employs Provincial Offences
Officers (internally known as Customer Attendants) to enforce and
assist with the
proof
of payment system. They are not to be confused with a GO
Special Constable. GO Transit Special Constables are outfitted in
blue shirts with blue striped cargo pants and blue forge peaked
police caps. The GO Special Constables are trained and equipped
with batons, pepper spray, handcuffs and body armour. All
front-line GO staff are trained in CPR. GO Transit Enforcement
operates a 24-hour emergency call dispatch centre that is able to
dispatch Police and Special Constables to all areas served by GO.
Customers are also encouraged to report any crimes on GO property
to the enforcement dispatch number 905-803-0642, as well as
contacting the local Crime Stoppers. GO Transit Special Constables
travel in marked vehicles. They use
Crown Victoria,
Dodge Dakota, and
Chevrolet Uplander. These vehicles are
equipped with two-way radios and red emergency lighting as well as
prisoner cages. GO Transit enforcement staff are obligated to
produce proof of appointment ID under the GO Transit Act 2001 when
requested. For this reason, officers are given wallet badges,
warrant cards and appointment card for provincial offences.
Contractors
- Bombardier
Transportation - Responsible for GO Train maintenance and train
crewing since June 2008.
- Pacific Northern
Railway - Responsible for track and signal maintenance on all
GO transit owned trackage
- Gray Coach Lines - defunct
- Travelways
- Charterways
Transportation Limited
- Penetang-Midland Coach
Lines (PMCL)
- CN engineers and
conductors used to operate all GO Trains excluding those operated
on Milton line until 2008. Both GO transit and CN mutually decided
to discontinue the crewing of GO trains by CN employees. GO was not
satisfied with the quality of service that CN was providing. For
examples, many crews would "book rest" (i.e. take a shift off)
before the Friday afternoon rush hour period. This occasionally
resulted in cancelled trains because there would not be any
personal available to fill in. Also CN charged exorbitant rates to
provide crewing. CN's priority is their freight service which
generates significantly more revenue on a per employee basis than
the passenger service. They were more than happy to have all their
employees who operated on the passenger service return to freight
service. It also reduced their hiring requirements.
- CP engineers and
conductors still operate GO Trains though on Milton line only.
- Exclusive Advertising - Represents 4,350 interior poster faces
and 1760 digital monitors throughout the GO Train fleet.
Facilities
GO Transit Facilities (currently
incomplete)
| Facility |
Year
opened |
Operating
Details |
Notes |
GO Transit Willowbrook Yard |
1970s |
125
Judson St., Toronto, covering 17
hectares of land and 13,000 m² of workshops. |
Formerly CNR repair facilities |
| Don Yard |
2007 |
Layover facility for 10 trains during the day |
Formerly, CNR Don
Sorting Yard west of the Don
River and north of the Gardiner
Expressway |
| North Bathurst Yard |
1987 |
Layover facility for trains between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst
Street south of Front
Street. Currently closed for renovation until 2010. |
Tracks are formerly used by CNR yard |
Georgetown GO Station |
1990s |
Layover facility for trains overnight and weekends for trains
on Georgetown line; backup battery supply |
Shared VIA Rail - train stop |
| Lincolnville GO Station |
2008 |
Layover facility and for trains and terminus for Stouffville
line |
Milton GO Station layover yard |
2006-2007 |
For overnight storage and temp storage for trains on Milton
line |
storage for 6 12-car train sets |
| Steeprock Bus Garage |
1979 |
200 Steeprock Drive; Storage for 130 buses, 70 bus staging
areas, 20 repair bays. |
For buses in the GTA |
| GO Transit West Region Office |
|
3500
Wolfedale Rd., Mississauga , Ontario |
|
| GO Transit East Region Office |
|
81
Middlefield Rd., Scarborough, Ontario ; offices northeast of CPR Agincourt Yard |
|
Hamilton GO Centre |
|
Outdoor bus terminal and rail station |
|
| Milton GO Station |
|
Outdoor bus storage in parking lot |
|
Newmarket Bus Terminal |
|
Outdoor bus terminal with commuter parking lot |
|
| Newmarket Bus Garage |
|
18110 Yonge St., Newmarket, ON. Indoor bus storage and repair
bays. |
|
| GO Transit Barrie
Layover Facility |
|
Allandale Station Lands on Lakeshore Drive. For overnight
storage and temp storage for trains on the Barrie line. Storage for
4 12-car train sets. |
Bramalea GO Station |
|
Outdoor bus storage in parking lot |
|
GO buses
are also stored and serviced in Aberfoyle, Ajax
, Barrie, Beaverton, Bowmanville
, Bramalea
, Caledon
, Hamilton, Oakville
(until February 27), and Oshawa
.
References
- Metrolinx About Us
- GO Transit Schedule Table 71: Lincolnville to
Toronto
- GO Transit Schedule Table 71: Toronto to
Lincolnville
- GO deal swaps CN crews with Bombardier personnel, Toronto
Star Nov 09, 2007
- GO Transit, the year in review 2006-07
- GO 407's one millionth rider at York University
- GO Transit: Ridership
- Statement by The Honourable Donna Cansfield,
Minister of Transportation, Toronto October 11, 2006.
- GO celebrates 40 years of success
-
http://www.elaws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_01g23_e.htm#BK10,
Appointment of officers (6) GO Transit may appoint in writing
one or more of its employees as an officer or officers for the
purposes of carrying out the by-laws passed under subsection (1),
and any person so appointed is a constable for that purpose and for
the purposes of section 33 of the Highway Traffic Act. 2001, c. 23,
Sched. A, s. 11 (6). Certificate of appointment (7) A person
appointed under subsection (6) shall, while carrying out his or her
duties under the appointment, have in his or her possession a
certificate of the appointment and shall produce the certificate
upon request. 2001, c. 23, Sched. A, s. 11 (7).
External links
, with buses
to Waterloo
, with buses to Guelph
)
- former GO York Region Terminal
has a direct connection to Kipling GO
Station
(on the Milton line),
has a direct connection to the Kennedy GO
Station
(on the Stouffville line).
is near Bloor GO Station
is near Danforth GO Station
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