(The following story by Tess Kalinowski appeared on the Globe and Mail website on October 15.)
TORONTO — A plan to replace 6,000 aging wooden rail ties on GO’s busy Lakeshore West line will probably cause minor train delays when the work begins this fall.
But the long-term gains in reliability will be worth the inconvenience to passengers, GO’s managing director Gary McNeil said yesterday.
GO has been eager to see the ties replaced on 12.9 kilometres of track between the Oakville and Port Credit stations because it means the trains will be able to travel faster on that stretch.
The track, however, is owned by CN Rail, which until recently didn’t see the job as a priority. CN recently wrote to GO officials agreeing to co-operate with a request to increase maintenance and modernize the Lakeshore West line to improve reliability of the commuter service. Now CN has decided to move ahead with replacing the aging rail ties too, McNeil told a GO board meeting yesterday. Although CN owns the track and does the work, GO will pay for the maintenance. The ties will be replaced over about six weeks in November and December, McNeil said. Unfortunately, delays of about five minutes are probably inevitable, he said. But GO will try to tweak its schedule beforehand to minimize the inconvenience to passengers.
“It’s something that has to be done,” he told the board. “It’s going to be a much improved rail corridor for us in the longer term.”
Offsetting potential delays, however, is expanded GO train service to Aldershot on the same line.
Starting Oct. 28, GO will offer weekend train service to and from that station, with a total of 36 eastbound and westbound trains on Saturdays and Sundays.
It’s good news not only for passengers at Aldershot but also for those using the Appleby, Bronte and Burlington stations, said Bill Jenkins, GO’s director of customer services. Now, patrons west of Oakville have to take a GO bus there to catch a train on weekends.
About 2,000 passengers are expected to use the weekend service, about the same number GO picked up when it added weekend trains between Pickering and Oshawa in December. Earlier this month, GO expanded its weekday Aldershot service to 34 eastbound and westbound trains. More rush-hour service will be added when a third track is completed between Aldershot and Hamilton.
GO also expects to bump up train capacity by 20 per cent when it brings its new locomotives on line in late December or January. The new engines can pull 12 passenger cars rather than the current 10.
GO, which has record ridership despite some difficulties keeping trains running on time, is expected to break the 50 million passenger mark this year.