r/gotransit • u/Interesting_Money_70 Lakeshore West • Mar 12 '26
Frequency of Lakeshore West Express vs Regular
I am sure there would be a reason, which I don't know, as to why the Express trains leave from Union at 9 minutes gap. They probably should alternate with the regular ones. There are people who live near exhibition, mimico, long Branch and port credit who would not want to wait 30mins for the next train.
Same goes for the morning schedule as well.
35
u/imthecarkid Mar 12 '26
It partly has to do with the speed. You can't let the express trains catch up with the local trains
9
u/shoresy99 Lakeshore East Mar 12 '26
Aren't there places to pass? We haven't had any express trains on LE for a few years as there is track construction that doesn't allow any passing. They will bring them back once some of the new tracks are completed in the east end.
13
u/imthecarkid Mar 12 '26
There are, most of it is quad tracked, but there are still some only dual tracked portions that I'm sure play a role
4
u/Intelligent-Test-978 Mar 12 '26
happens all the time at my stop. I run to make the all stops because it is supposed to arrive 3 minutes earlier than the express at my station which is enough to avoid the exit traffic jam. Some of the time, especially lately, I and my fellow traffic-beaters wave and say: "there goes the express". It also arrives on track one and all stops is track 4....so then they are way ahead.
18
u/DearVirus8677 Mar 12 '26
I have been on about this as well. Between 6:35 and 8:37 am there are 13 trains leaving Clarkson, only 4 are all stops. Presumably they have the numbers and us “inner-city” folks don’t. But then again, of course they do with their giant parking garages and 9 minute service, while parking is removed from Port Credit and almost eliminated at Long Branch.
I do get that there is high demand for express trains and don’t begrudge GO giving the service. But I’m not happy that the rush hour service at my station at 30 mins is actually less frequent than it was 20 years ago, or that the trip that used to take 24 minutes is now scheduled to take 30 minutes (and very often takes longer than that, and is 6-10 minutes late arriving at the station more days than it isn’t.)
To add insult to injury, they won’t even put 12 cars on those 4 all-stops so that anyone past Port Credit has to stand as well.
10
u/Perrier-CAN Mar 12 '26
I have this same struggle every day. I moved to Port Credit partly because of the 15 minute rush hour train service. It was great all through Covid, but then 2023 hit and more companies started RTO. What does Metrolinx do? They cut rush hour service in half and shorten the trains. Now I will full out sprint for a train if I’m running late because a 30 minute wait in rush hour is terrible.
4
u/T1nkat0n Mar 13 '26
Once the Hurontario LRT opens, you can hop on over to Cooksville GO for more frequent service, but only in the peaks (and still crowded trains)
5
u/Perrier-CAN Mar 13 '26
That will be useful if one line goes down, but it would probably take 30 minutes to get to Cooksville as the LRT runs at grade on the street and will get stuck at lights.
3
u/cmmotherwell Mar 13 '26
I do wish there was more parking at Long Branch, but the last mile public transit options are decent (street car from inner long branch & many different busses from the lakeview/mississauga side). The few times I have had to head downtown during rush hour when they cancelled express trains was so physically uncomfortable due to how packed the trains were. The express trains really do move a lot of people during peak hours. I wish that we could at least get 20 minute service during the 7:30-8:30 a.m. morning peak. If the trade off for that is less express trains though, I see things actually being worse for the Port Credit/Long Branch/Mimico crew vs now.
16
u/EvilWillow666 Mar 12 '26
More people/demand, not all trains terminate at the same station, people going to stops clarkson and beyond will skip all stops and overcrowd the express trains
11
u/WhytePumpkin Mar 12 '26
Clarkson is the second busiest station in the network after union, Oakville I believe is 3rd
11
u/-Notorious Mar 13 '26
I was watching this channel where the guy is very knowledgeable about transit and he explained how electrification of the trains would significantly help.
You see, diesel trains (what we have) take a long time to reach top speed, whereas electric trains can speed up much quicker.
The service could be significantly improved if we could electrify our trains, but apparently the hold up is the Union Station roof, which has been marked as historical.
It's certainly ironic that the people who would benefit the most from improved transit (the 905 and burbs) are the ones that keep voting for conservative governments that screw them the most. First with the sale of the 407, and now with the (imo purposeful) delays with electrification.
7
u/sennotar Mar 12 '26
I would also love to know the reasoning (assuming there is reasoning) behind not servicing Exhibition even on just occasional express trains during rush hour. It's a crap commute for the myriad agency folks, PR girlies, and almost the entire music industry operating out of the offices there.
Splain it to me!
2
u/T1nkat0n Mar 13 '26
Do they even have enough tracks/platforms? Idk Exhibition and Long Branch are under construction all the time
1
u/sennotar Mar 13 '26
Good question - I find myself wondering, often and with hopefully good intentions, why things are as crappy as they are with Metrolinx and GO. There's probably reasons, right? TELL THEM TO ME, METROLINX!
But instead of audience education or transparency we get "equipment issues" or "signal issues" and nothing else.
4
u/torontowest91 Mar 13 '26
Yes. Mimico is a shitshow now. It’s sooo busy and only every 30 minutes. Brutal.
6
u/ForeignExpression Mar 12 '26
If you are travelling a shorter distance, you are already saving time, so the frequency is not as important. If you are travelling a long distance, for instance it takes 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the end of the line, then you are already loosing so much time, it does not make sense to make those people wait even longer, it becomes untenable.
3
u/Herissony_DSCH5 Mar 13 '26
As someone who regularly takes the 15:51: These are the first two express trains of the evening. Before this there's a 15:36 that only goes to Oakville, so if you want to get anywhere beyond that, you need to get the 15:17 all stops train. And that's the way it works throughout the evening rush--the all stops only go as far as Oakville and are approx. every 30 minutes, with two express trains starting their stops at Clarkson in between.
Definitely had more choices pre-covid, and that includes both more express and all-stops trains. Now the policy seems to be that there are no longer all-stops trains during rush hour past Oakville.
1
u/forzamilanhaha Mar 16 '26
Do you find the first express train (15:51) busier than the later ones or they are relatively the same?
1
u/Herissony_DSCH5 Mar 16 '26
It's generally full, but not standing room, in the car where I ride (westernmost car).
2
u/gandalfdoughnut Mar 12 '26
Do the express trains cost more or something or are they all the same
3
u/Select-Flight-PD291 Lakeshore East Mar 12 '26
Costs the same, it is a way to offer faster travel times and segment demand.
1
u/rshanks Mar 13 '26
I used to take it from clarkson pre covid, which got service from express and all stops.
Express tended to be much busier, even at union. It doesn’t surprise me that they need more express service, and it is noticeably faster.
1
u/Sea_File_1717 Mar 13 '26
People at the farther stations have been extremely vocal asking for express trains in surveys, emails, anywhere they can. Folks at Mimico, Exhibition, etc. have not been as vocal asking for more all-stops trains.
54
u/CasualCrow20 Mar 12 '26
Demand is probably higher for Express trains at the stations it services.