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3 · Thursday, March 25, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Don't miss the train as GO makes overhaul By Tim Foran OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The train hasn't left the station, but GO riders should check their schedules to make sure they don't miss it. Trains departing earlier or arriving later by a few minutes and the cancellation of some buses and off-peak trains are among the highlights of the first major overhaul of GO Transit's schedule in 43 years. The transit agency has announced it will revise the schedules of a significant percentage of its routes, including changes to 40 of its 185 train trips, beginning April 3 "to better reflect actual travel trip times." Other major changes affecting Halton commuters include the cancellation of three round trip buses operating between Oakville and Milton, the extension of an early afternoon train to Georgetown from Union, and the cancellation of three round trip off-peak trains and buses operating in the Georgetown to Union corridor. Commuters are advised to check www.gotransit.com and click on service changes to see the new timing for their buses and trains. The majority of changes to trains running in Halton region involve pushing up their departure times or pushing back the arrival times, but a GO spokesperson said this is not an attempt by the agency to increase its on time performance percentage without actually speeding up the trains. The new schedules are designed to reflect the actual departure and arrival times of GO trains, which take longer now due to changes that have been seen in recent years, said GO spokesperson Vanessa Thomas. "Typically, GO Transit issues routine schedule changes about five times a year for a few reasons, such as we've added a new train or we've adjusted the schedule to complement our buses that connect with trains," explained Thomas in an email. "This time, a group of GO Transit's transportation planners and engineers conducted in-depth research on the schedules and travel patterns of commuters at various transit agencies across North America. What they found was that we needed to change GO Transit changes beginning April 3 Trains Eastbound trains departing from: · Oakville at 7:05 a.m. and 7:25 a.m. will arrive at Union three minutes later. Check the schedule for departure times from your station. · Oakville at 5:30 p.m. will now depart five minutes later at 5:35 p.m., arriving at Union at 6:16 p.m. · Saturday, Sunday and holiday eastbound trains will arrive into Union three minutes later, at ten minutes past each hour. Westbound train trips departing from Union: · Trains departing from Union at 4:30 p.m., 5:02 p.m. 5:34 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. have schedule adjustments made between Clarkson and Hamilton to reflect actual travel times. · The 5:13 p.m. train from Union has had its schedule adjusted between Mimico and Oakville. · The 5:19 p.m. train leaving Union to Burlington, now departs four minutes earlier at 5:15 p.m. Buses Northbound departures from Oakville to Milton · The following weekday northbound bus trips departing Oakville to Milton will no longer be operating: 6:54 a.m., 9:29 p.m. and 11:29 p.m. Southbound departures toward Oakville · The following weekday southbound bus trips departing from Milton to Oakville will no longer be operating: 5:45 a.m., 8:40 p.m. and 10:40 p.m. with the times. Our ridership has grown which means it takes longer for passengers to load and unload and it means that the trains are required to pause at stations longer to accommodate our passengers. Also, more and more stations have become accessible, adding a little more time at each stop to deploy the ramp. Also, our trains have become longer, moving from 10-car trains to 12-car trains, which increases the number of people one train can carry." She said the agency's on time performance goal ­ for trains to arrive at a destination within five minutes of schedule - for its system remains at 92 per cent, the same figure it outlined in its GO2020 strategic plan released in December, 2008. However, with the extra cushion of time added to the schedules of trains in Halton, it is possible that on time performance will increase following the April 3 changes. According to statistics provided by GO, the average on time performance for weekday trains running in Oakville were: Lakeshore West Westbound, (departing Oakville, Burlington or Hamilton) -- 89.32 per cent and Lakeshore West Eastbound ­ 87.38 per cent.