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Thursday, November 30, 2017

Packed train?! Why not sit on the toilet?


Gross, but resourceful.

Photo via @Jeremy32414144 on Twitter

Between January 2010 and Oct. 23, 2017, there were 85 fatalities involving GO trains, according to statistics provided by Metrolinx

Simcoe.com asked Metrolinx for the data and conducted an interview with its head of Transit Security.

When a fatal incident occurs, there is immediate concern for commuters and the victim's family, but these collisions also take a toll on the train engineers and emergency responders. There are usually two workers at the front of the engine. After the crash, they are quickly joined at the site by police, paramedics, rail special constables and other emergency responders.

READ MORE

List of municipalities where a fatality has occurred (as of Oct. 25, 2017)*:

Toronto — 32
Mississauga — 15
Oakville — 8
Burlington — 5
Newmarket — 4
Richmond Hill, Innisfil — 3 each
Brampton — 2
Kitchener, Whitby, Guelph, Pickering, Georgetown, Aurora, Holland Landing, Stouffville, Scarborough, Ajax, Hamilton, Barrie and East Gwillimbury — 1 each

* Source: https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/7936336-track-tragedy-how-85-go-train-fatalities-since-2010-took-a-toll-on-metrolinx-staff/

Monday, November 27, 2017

You can't top this. No one can

The hell was that this morning?!

I was seated on the 7:03 Oshawa to Untion train at about 6:53 am when I got the first tweet that something bad was happening just outside of Guildwood GO station. We were told we could expect delays of up to 10 minutes due to a malfunctioning signal - the same signal system we were told three years ago was due for an upgrade.

That worked out well, didn't it? What the hell do we pay fare increases for? Isn't it for system improvements?!

Ten minutes was generous. I rolled into work at 9:18 am, one hour and 18 minutes later than I usually arrive. Thankfully I am up to date with my tasks, otherwise, I'd be staying an extra hour to make up the time.

All of the trains affected this morning by the signal mess qualify for the Go Transit service guarantee. I'd give it a couple of days before trying. The information is entered manually and a lot of trains were affected.

By the way, does the acronym for the title of this web page stand for "Fucking GO System"? Seems appropriate.


Thursday, November 23, 2017

So back in October Bombardier staff delayed an LSW GO train to make a coffee run



Just because the train is moving away from Union is not an excuse. Commuters heading out of the city are entitled to a properly kept schedule. Is this normal? I should hope not.

Friday, November 17, 2017

No, no, no and hell no - but don't panic! It's an error on Presto's part. Card cancellations sent in error (who built this piece of crap?)

Hi! How are you?

It's not that there isn't anything to report (other than a HUGE Presto card mess last night that made for an annoying commute this morning for those of us who could not tap last night and then had to line up at stations to have our cards reset this morning) because there is, I've just been a lazy blogger. As I've mentioned before, Twitter now trumps the website and I forget to blog.

But hey, wanna know what I've learned recently? That six years later, now that I'm driving again, people still have no idea how to park properly. I call every parking donkey out for his or her shit if I happen to encounter one. How hard is it to park straight between two lines? In fact, if you were truly skilled, you wouldn't need lines to be able to accurately measure a polite and courteous distance between your car and one next to you. There is so much dumb at the Oshawa GO station lot, I don't know where to start.

So ya, hi, how are ya? Hope you're well. And I miss you, too.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017