Why electrify GO's Lakeshore Line?

Yesterday the Government of Ontario announced its transit plan and what new lines will be put in. They want to electrify the Lakeshore Line so it can make it faster. I don't think they should, GO Transit doesn't need to have it electrified I don't want any diesel traffic to go away, plus it is a CN Line so it would make it so much harder for them to do construction without affect frieght traffic. SO what do you think?

Electrification of the Lakeshore Line would have its advantages. As mentioned, electric locomotives permit faster acceleration speeding up trip times, especially with the constant stop-and-go that GO trains experience. Electric locomotives last longer with less maintenance costs. Electricity is less expensive than diesel to operate and is generally considered to be more environmentally friendly, depending on the source of the electric power.

There is very little CN freight along the line east of Burlington, so there should be little interference there, if any. The Deux-Montagnes line north of Montreal has been electrified for almost a century without preventing conventional diesel or steam trains to operate there. CN freights continue to use that line today. Assuming overhead catenary would be used for the Lakeshore Line, I believe clearances can be built to allow for overheight cars (like autoracks) and double-stack containers.

By the way, MoveOntario 2020 is also being discussed on General Discussion: Commuter and Transit

First off, the whole thing is an election ploy... love being bribed with my own money.

Second, the electrification is in there purely for the "Green" aspect of it. No operational advantages that would even come close to justifying the MASSIVE costs associated with putting up and maintaining the wires. How gives a flying rats butt that the engines would last longer and can accelerate faster, the added maintenence of overhead wiring would be huge. Plus, one downed tree or ice storm and there is no GO Train service.

I guess another issue is that the locomotives would most certainly be built by BBD. Pork festival.

To me, it's a pretty stupid idea, purely for the benefit of the Government in their bid to get re-elected.

lock4244 wrote:First off, the whole thing is an election ploy... love being bribed with my own money.

I'd rather have my tax dollars put to use for something like this than some of those other pet projects our elected representatives choose to waste them on. Unfortunately, McGuinty's plan calls for long-term borrowing to be repaid over 50 years. This means a lot of our money will go towards paying interest on debt too.

My guess is the electrification will not be done.

But the prospect of GO Trains on CP's Belleville and North Toronto Sub's is interesting. I would have thought they'd have announced GO service to Peterborough, like they wanted to when the NDP (with OUR money) rebuilt the Havelock Sub for GO service, then walked away. CP was pleased... thanks Bob.

God, how did we ever survive those NPD baffoons?

I cannot see it being done for one reason: cold weather

What does that mean? Snow? Ice? Simple cold?

You surely forget that much of Europe is electrifed, and some of that gets much worse weather than GTA has. And I did not just call you Shirley.

Dave Becker

Construction would take too long, and the cold weather would be an issue. Europe is built around high speed even though they have cold weather too, North America is not built around high speed.

That makes no sense. Try again. For instance...perhaps they are trying to build around high speed now. Or a "higher" speed.

Dave Becker

Well, I say Dave is right.

Oops, there are two Daves here

Seriously, cold weather hasn't really been an issue in railway electrification, either during construction or in regular use. And high-speed isn't the only use for electric trains. There are plenty of examples of electric lines used for freight as well as slow-speed passenger trains in climates much colder than Toronto, not only in Europe, but also in North America. Besides Montreal, which I've already mentioned, there's also the former Tumbler Ridge line in northern BC and the much abandoned Milwaukee Road line across the northern U.S.

Ken V wrote:Well, I say Dave is right.

...former Tumbler Ridge line in northern BC and the much abandoned Milwaukee Road line across the northern U.S.

Hmmm, these examples really bode well for electrification... former and abandoned

Sorry, I simply couldn't resist.

Can you imagine the delays/service canellations and costs of one ice storm taking out even a portion of the overhead wires? We had one small one here in Toronto just this past winter. GO's diesels just kept on running.

what locomotiv will be use GO ?

Start thinking about the high cost of diesel now as in the future along with the budget deficits it creates. Electrification is the way to go. Cold weather is not an issue, there are many locations around the world that are colder and have electric trains operating, not to mention light rail in Buffalo and Toronto itself.

And for the poster that said who cares about faster acceleration - I guess you don't ride otherwise who wouldn't want a faster travel time. Nostalgia also is not a reason to keep a slower, costlier, less green service.

Are any of the Go tranist lines electrified ?

None of the GO route is electrified. Also, the entrance to Hamilton is on CP track.