The following is a much longer draft version of the story appearing in
Metro Toronto on Wed. Jan. 28, 2004.
Yesterday was a bad day for anyone trying to get out the
front door, let alone to work. Even before the major storm that just
walloped Toronto, GO Transit was already experiencing many delays and
cancellations throughout December and January, but yesterday was difficult
for everyone.
Tuesday afternoon, GO Transit’s website showed a daunting
list of cancelled trains and buses -- at one point it announced that the
express bus service between Toronto and Hamilton would be shut down
starting at 4 p.m. And GO riders were not alone. I also monitored the GTA
traffic flow map during rush hour -- almost every highway was marked red
or yellow, meaning very slow speeds.
Last Wednesday, In Transit spoke to chairman Gordon Chong of
GO Transit about the recent train delays -- reportedly due to signal
failures earlier in the month and problems with frozen track switches last
week. After reading the Wednesday column, Kim Berry of Burlington wrote:
“In response to your article today regarding the recent
delays on GO Transit, I would suggest you re-ask Gordon Chong to provide a
truthful explanation as to why there continue to be delays and
cancellations for no reason and unannounced track changes. Since Mr. Chong
issued his press release January 12, 2004, there continues to be major
problems on a daily basis despite warmer temperatures, no recent
snowstorms; few of these problems have been attributed to switch problems
according to GO staff or it's website. In fact, most times riders are not
given any explanation at all. When we asked the GO staff at Appleby this
morning why there continue to be delays, they simply referred us to their
customer service department.
“Last night ... my husband's
train arrived ... over one hour late.“My husband's train (5:19 westbound from Union) has been late
every single night for the last week. 1/2 hour on Friday, 25 minutes
Monday and over 1 hour yesterday. In fact they were kicked off the train
at Oakville last night, again with no explanation, and told the train was
"out of service." According to the GO Transit employee I spoke to it was
because of an unscheduled stop they had to make at Mimico to pick up a
crew member that showed to work late. This train is an express train to
Oakville. According to GO's website, the reason for this trains delay was
‘due to late arrival of equipment’. A quick check of the GO Transit web
site last night showed at least 8 cancellations and delays. For the past
week each morning and evening GO's web site shows on average 8 to 10
delays/cancellations with no explanations provided.
“My husband and I have taken GO transit for over 13 years on
the Lakeshore west line. GO Transit should be honest with its riders and
let them know the truth about what is really going on so that riders can
decide whether we want to continue to pay for a service that is
unreliable.”
It’s all about communication. Whether you’re waiting for a
late commuter train or stuck in a subway tunnel, announcements to riders
can dramatically reduce frustration. Checking the “Service Update” page on
GO Transit’s website www.gotransit.com since last week, I noted that
roughly half the delays mentioned also list a reason. When it comes to
individual problems with late or missing trains, announcements in stations
and on trains are currently relayed to passengers by GO Transit or railway
employees. They in turn occasionally have to wait for confirmation as to
the cause of problems up the line.
Some GO stations have a computer which allows station staff
to see the same information available on the web site, and relay it to
waiting customers. Appleby station in Burlington does not have a computer,
so GO staff may not have the most up to date information. Spokesperson
Heather Burnett also travels from Appleby station, and reports that if
train crews are able, they will hold any train that arrives at a different
track than usual. If a second train happens to be close behind, the first
may leave without boarding all passengers. Ms. Burnett was not able to get
details on the first track mix-up that Ms. Berry experienced, but says,
“if it did happen that way, it absolutely should not have. (Train crews)
are instructed that if they are coming in at a track where they don’t
usually come and they see people on the other platform, that they are
supposed to wait -- and usually (the crews) are very, very good.”
The GO spokesperson was herself at the station for the second
incident, and recalls hearing announcements while waiting on one of the
platforms. As for the train that stopped to pick up crew, GO reports that
a scheduling problem by Canadian National railways, which provides the
train engineers and conductors, failed to account for an employee that had
booked off work in advance. An off-duty employee, who was having dinner at
the time, got a call and agreed to be picked up along the route -- which
happened to be near his home. GO says the CN has since fixed the
scheduling “glitch.”
I spoke to a few riders at Union Station during last Friday’s
p.m. rush hour, most seemed acceptant of the recent delays. One woman who
rides the Stouffville line said she had experienced very few problems --
she even raved about train staff who immediately inform passengers about
any hold-ups.
However, such timely reassurance is clearly not the
experience of all riders. After learning of Ms. Berry's complaint last
week, GO chairman Gordon Chong said “At the moment, I’m not happy with the
timeliness of message getting out, and I’ve asked staff to try and speed
things up -- the sooner the customers hear the reality and the actual
situation, the more likely they’re going to be understanding. If the delay
is too long in getting a message out, people just stew... it’s human
nature.” To get a better idea of the limits of technology and human
efforts, I will visit GO’s Rail Operations Control Centre today.
As for informing riders in general, GO has a challenge ahead
of it - on top of dealing with the weather. In Transit has heard other
explanations for the delays, many of which relate to how trains and tracks
are coping with the recent cold. It’s nothing new that Canada has a chilly
climate, and coupled with the previous signal problems, it’s perhaps not a
surprise that frustrated riders wonder if something else is up.
As seen in the story on Metro’s front page, GO users are
hearing rumours about labour negotiations, and their possible effect on
train service. GO Transit relies on private railway companies CN and CP to
provide track space and signalling, as well as the crews that operate the
trains. There have been several contract negotiations underway recently
that involve workers who directly or indirectly keep GO going. Such talks
can be a delicate process, necessarily involving some secrecy, but GO
officials need to allay the concerns of riders about the larger causes of
the current delays.
To quell rumours among riders that the widespread delays had
anything to do with ongoing labour disputes at both GO and Canadian
National Railways, Chong said in Metro last week that “I’ve been assured
that nobody is doing anything to sabotage our operations.” CN reached a
tentative deal with affected workers last Friday, although GO employees
are still in ongoing talks with the transit agency.
According to the the Service Update’ page on GO Transit’s
website www.gotransit.com, Thursday afternoon rush hour went reasonably
well with only a few train delays from Union Station of less than 15
minutes. Earlier in the day, the site featured a brief apology for morning
service disruptions that were “due to switch problems”.
To change from one track to another, especially near busy
Union Station, GO and other trains must pass through switching
devices, many of which still do not have special heaters to prevent them
from freezing. Because of high costs, not all the switches have special
heaters at this point. Yet the rash of switch problems followed a wave of
delays earlier in the month, caused by program failures of the computers
that control trackside train signals. The shut-downs caused the signals to
automatically go red, forcing train crews to get verbal approval before
proceeding.
Before this latest storm, GO trains experienced over 240
short delays and 50 partial or outright cancellations in January.
Montreal’s commuter trains experienced 97 delays between January 1 and 22
over a less extensive system of five lines.
Cold and snow are definitely affecting all modes of
transportation this winter. According to CAA Central Ontario, the auto
club is experiencing a record high demand from stranded members. In
January alone, the CAA has had to issue almost 20 “Code Red alerts”,
warning members of unusually long waits for service. By comparison,
spokesperson Carey-Ann Greenham says there were 20 Code Reds all last
winter.