Metrolinx is on the April 3rd Council agenda; title of their deputation is “Creating Connections in King City.” I think this will be a very interesting presentation. Here is what I am looking for: electrification schedule for the GO trains; noise assessment and mitigation; whistle blowing protocols for all day both ways frequent service.
Yes, they need to cut down on the noise, the frequency and the length of the trains. They have gone from no trains to 10 trains/day going north and south on weekends. I have taken the weekend trains and they are mostly empty?? Reduce the frequency and the number of cars …
Peter…Expanding transit service takes time to be successful in terms of ridership. If there are not trains and/or too infrequent people don’t start using them.
I am concerned about the noise in the King City core. On the other hand, I believe the weekend trains are great and would love to see it extended to a few days during the week. It would be lovely to go downtown to shop during the week or attend a live show in comfort.
Hi Toni, I share both your worries and your excitement about the positive aspects. A couple key things I heard last evening. i) With electrification the noise caused by the diesel engines will be gone but there will still be the “clickety-clack” of the wheels on the tracks. ii) Trains will be more frequent but very likely shorter..hence each train will not create equal noise. iii) Second track is being laid up to Barrie (required in order to have the frequency of every 15 minutes) and it will be of newer technology; hence trains on it will be somewhat quieter. Whistle cessation is the responsibility of the municipality in terms of applying for it from Transport Canada. I believe we need to do this; and I will be championing it with my Council colleagues.
Debbie,
Thanks for the update. It sounds like Metrolinx confirmed what we suspected during our conversation over the weekend, namely that the electric engines are anticipated to be quieter, the higher frequency likely means shorter (and quieter) trains and a new track is needed for two-way service.
I also raised the possibility of a whistle cessation by-law approximately 2 years ago and you advised that it was a municipal issue and that the “old technology” at the Station Rd crossing meant that we’d need an investment of at least $100k before the municipality could qualify the crossing. I followed up with a representative at Metrolinx in December 2015 and she also advised it was a Municipal issue and she didn’t provide any further comment/response. From my own research, I believe the legislative framework starts with subsection 23.1(1) of the Railway Safety Act. To the extent that new technology is needed, I’m hopeful that the municipality could successfully lobby Metrolinx for the upgrade.
Let us know how members of the community might be able to help.
Hello Franscesco, I think your comments are entirely consistent with what I know. As for whistle cessation it is definitely a Municipal responsibility. I asked Metrolinx Monday evening and they confirmed. The barrier gates will be changed with the all day/both ways schedule because of the double tracks; hence Metrolinx will be spending capital $$ to do this. Clearly, we need to partner with Metrolinx to get the new barrier gates designed such that the requirement for whistle cessation are met. It is my intent to champion the need to get this project started within the municipality. You can be sure I will make sure interested community knows when its support is needed.
Hi Debbie,
Thanks for confirming this matter during April 10th meeting. It would be great if you can assure the residents that the additional measures will be taken to stop the whistle. It is becoming more and more annoying and will be intolerable when the all day schedule kicks in.
I believe now that Metrolinx is going to do half of the job, it will be less costly for the city to implement additional security measures.
What I can assure you is that Staff is already engaged with Metrolinx to understand the project in terms of schedule; and that we will be diligently tackling the need to have whistle cessation. As you say there is the opportunity to partner with Metrolinx in terms of capital expenditures for the new equipment at the crossings. As confirmed at the Council meeting it is the municipality which needs to make the application to Transport Canada.
Hi Debbie,
Definitely, the whistle cessation is a big nuisance in noise. It blows even 11pm at night.
Plus we definitely need more trains, especially on later hours after 8pm.
Hopefully, it’ll operate like the Lakeshore lines where there are more frequency of trains for extended hours and more trains. As the trains are getting pretty full during rush hours.
I always try to set reasonable expectations. If/when we do get whistle cessation for the all day/both way GO trains there will continue to be whistles…hopefully not as many as there would be with current protocols. i) The train engineers always has authority to blow the whistle if they believe there is danger. ii) There are freight trains on the track(s) and I don’t know if a separate application would have to be made. We will get a plan in place with clear definition of goals etc.
I like to suggest the idea for the trains instead of blowing the whistle they can simply reduce their speed when approaching the crossings to minimize the possible dangers, but obviously that would cost everybody time, just an idea,
I think you have provided the “answer” so to speak to your idea about slowing down. It clearly would cost time; plus it would need to go pretty slowly to eliminate the safety concern…I think.