March 23rd Game - No GO Service west of Union

[annie]

ON THE GO ALERT Log in View in Browser Starting in the late evening of Friday March 22, and throughout the March 23 – 24 weekend, GO train service will be replaced by bus along the Lakeshore West line while important construction work takes place. Replacement GO buses will be available at West Harbour, Aldershot, Burlington, Oakville, Clarkson, and Union Station Bus Terminal. There will be no GO Transit service at Appleby, Bronte, Port Credit, Long Branch, Mimico, and Exhibition GO stations. Please consider local transit options. Niagara Falls trains will make all regular stops between Niagara Falls GO and Aldershot GO. Please check your schedules before you travel. On Friday night, some late-evening trains have been adjusted. If you’re travelling westbound: The 10:17 p.m. trip departing Union Station will be extended to West Harbor GO, arriving at 11:40 p.m. The 11:17 p.m. train from Union Station has been adjusted to depart at 11:19 p.m. This train will make all stops to West Harbour GO, and it will be the last train of the night. Trains that normally depart Union Station at 11:47 p.m., 12:17 a.m., and 12:47 a.m. will be replaced by GO Bus Route 18 service from Union Station Bus Terminal. If you’re travelling eastbound: The 10:24 p.m. and the 11:20 p.m. trips from West Harbour GO and the 11:05 p.m. trip from Aldershot GO will be cancelled and replaced by GO Bus Route 18. On Saturday and Sunday, GO Bus Route 18 replacement buses will be available at Aldershot, Burlington, Oakville, Clarkson and Union Station Bus Terminal. If you’re travelling towards Niagara Falls from Union Station Bus Terminal: Take GO Bus Route 18 to Aldershot GO, where you can connect with a train to Niagara Falls If you’re travelling towards Union Station Bus Terminal from Niagara Falls: Take the GO train from Niagara Falls GO to Aldershot GO, where you can connect to a GO bus continuing to Union Station Bus Terminal GO Bus connection and departure times have also been adjusted, please check your schedules in advance. What type of construction work is happening? We are performing maintenance on sections of track near Burlington GO and in the Union Station Rail Corridor, as well as bridge maintenance between Mimico and Exhibition GO. Work is also happening to reposition a section of rail track near Exhibition GO to prepare for the future Ontario Line.

[OgtheDim]

Which is also a good place to remind people that the King car is disable all season with no King St service west of Bathurst or east of Roncesvalles.

There are King buses west of Bathurst that go to Shaw.



Ossignton buses will run now to Sunnyside Loop and back.

[OgtheDim]

So on March 23rd - take the Exhibition streetcar from Union (no double fare anymore if you use Presto or Interac or CC)

or

King Bus to Shaw and walk across the bridge to Liberty Village

or

Ossington bus into Liberty Village

[annie]

The issue for those of us travelling from Mississauga and further west is getting to Union in the first place
(1) GO is replacing the 2 trains an hour with 3 buses an hour from select stations only. There’s no way that’s enough capacity.
(2) TTC isn’t increasing any capacity as a result of GO Trains being shut down

With parking being so limited near BMO, March break, other events going on that day/evening it leaves very few options for those of us in the west end who want to go to the game. The worst part is that this is going to happen several times over the summer.

[spe18]

The issue for those of us travelling from Mississauga and further west is getting to Union in the first place
(1) GO is replacing the 2 trains an hour with 3 buses an hour from select stations only. There’s no way that’s enough capacity.
(2) TTC isn’t increasing any capacity as a result of GO Trains being shut down

With parking being so limited near BMO, March break, other events going on that day/evening it leaves very few options for those of us in the west end who want to go to the game. The worst part is that this is going to happen several times over the summer.

It's likely GO will have extra busses on standby for during really busy periods. . Quite sure this is what was done last year for Jays games when the entire Lakeshore East line was shutdown - for going to/from Durham Region.

Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if either:

1. they ran some sort of a shuttle between Union & Exhibition - I seem to recall this be done for closures like this previously, but probably pre-pandemic; and/or

2. they'll run special trains on the lakeshore west for before and after the match, as I believe has been done for Leafs & Raptors matches.

[annie]

I’ve confirmed with GO Transit that there will be 3 buses per hour from select stations only to Union. Can’t have service at Exhibition at all that weekend due to the scope and type of work being done for the Ontario line - no trains no buses. No trains due to track work and bridge maintenance, no buses as there will be no room/no safe spot for buses to arrive to/leave from due to large areas surrounding the station at Exhibition being “under construction”.
I asked if they would put on extra buses at least during the lead up to the match and after the match at Union. They said no - there’s simply not enough buses or available room at Union Station to deal with crowds.
I also pointed out there is a Raptors game that night and by not providing a “lot” of extra buses westbound from Union it will lead to dangerous overcrowding - they seem largely unconcerned!
Apparently MLSE are aware of all this.

[fergiejr]

Raptors AND TFC game that weekend? Wow.
Would be interesting to see how long it takes to get down there and back home from the West.

Get to Kipling or Islington stn. (not sure which has parking anymore, it's been decades since I took the subway downtown).
Take Line 2 to Ossington.
Take Line 1 to Union
Take GO to Exhibition

Google tells me this will be 51 minutes, assuming you hit all the trains on time with no gaps in between.

7:30 start. Game over by 10. Get home sometime Sunday morning.

[fergiejr]

More fun. Gardiner east of the stadium is going down to 2 lanes in each direction sometime in March.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/02/12/major-road-work-impact-toronto-gardiner-expressway-three-years/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWork%20on%20the%20underside%20of ,Dufferin%20Street%20and%20Strachan%20Avenue.%E2%8 0%9D

[Mr. Inbetween]

^^

<EDIT>

Chaos; no doubt throughout the year. IIUC, only reprieve is that for TFC’s home match season opener it is early enough in the calendar of a cold climate location for Apple to allow a 2PM start. Would have been more convenient if it was that same start time for the 23MAR24 match.

[OgtheDim]

The streetcars from the Ex to Union that night are going to be packed. Yeeesh....

[Red CB Toronto]

The streetcars from the Ex to Union that night are going to be packed. Yeeesh....

How early do you think it will be jammed, I usually get down tow BMO about 3 hours before kickoff, hit a bar in Liberty, set the up south end etc.

[OgtheDim]

How early do you think it will be jammed, I usually get down tow BMO about 3 hours before kickoff, hit a bar in Liberty, set the up south end etc.

From my past experience, coming in early is usually easy enough - I like to get down 3 hours before for drinking as well. But with the King car out, who knows.

Likely with the new integrated fares I will be taking a train from union to the ex this weekend.

We'll have an inkling this Saturday for how jammed Liberty will be on game days but the first night game is the 23rd so we shall see.

Getting out on the 23rd...might be worth the walk over the Duoro bridge to catch something going east on King at Shaw.

[Red CB Toronto]

I have taken the Ossington bus up to Bloor in the past, jumped on the subway there. You can also catch the Dufferin Bus right on the Ex ground. There are ways without to much of headache for those in the city.

From my past experience, coming in early is usually easy enough - I like to get down 3 hours before for drinking as well. But with the King car out, who knows.

Likely with the new integrated fares I will be taking a train from union to the ex this weekend.

We'll have an inkling this Saturday for how jammed Liberty will be on game days but the first night game is the 23rd so we shall see.

Getting out on the 23rd...might be worth the walk over the Duoro bridge to catch something going east on King at Shaw.

[spe18]

I've now taken a look at the schedules GO has posted for the 23rd (https://www.gotransit.com/en/see-schedules), and depending on the station your're getting on from and time of day, looks like there could be as much as 9 busses per hour!

Though for Clarkson, the most I'm seeing is up to 3 busses per hour that was mentioned in an earlier post.

There's also the Kitchener line as well. In which case, you can also get off @ Bloor station, and transfer to TTC from there. Though this line only runs once an hour, and has had "issues" with the number of bikes on board.........

[fergiejr]

I have walked from Union to Ex before. It's not a bad walk, takes about an hour. Good exercise if the day is nice. I don't know about doing the walk back after the game though.

[Blindside16]

I’ve confirmed with GO Transit that there will be 3 buses per hour from select stations only to Union. Can’t have service at Exhibition at all that weekend due to the scope and type of work being done for the Ontario line - no trains no buses. No trains due to track work and bridge maintenance, no buses as there will be no room/no safe spot for buses to arrive to/leave from due to large areas surrounding the station at Exhibition being “under construction”.
I asked if they would put on extra buses at least during the lead up to the match and after the match at Union. They said no - there’s simply not enough buses or available room at Union Station to deal with crowds.
I also pointed out there is a Raptors game that night and by not providing a “lot” of extra buses westbound from Union it will lead to dangerous overcrowding - they seem largely unconcerned!
Apparently MLSE are aware of all this.

That is typical from metrolinx. They have zero forethought as to what is going on. They continually make peoples life more cumbersome than it should. Not to mention the present your fare police prior and after every TFC game. I have yet to see them set this up for any other event or at any other station.

[wopchop]

No train service at the Ex after the game will be insane. The 12 car train has a capacity of ~5200 people when they are packed. They usually fill like 1.5-2 trains going westbound.

For the double decker buses you are talking 80-people each if they are packed tight.

Really awful coordination on this one.

[Blindside16]

No train service at the Ex after the game will be insane. The 12 car train has a capacity of ~5200 people when they are packed. They usually fill like 1.5-2 trains going westbound.

For the double decker buses you are talking 80-people each if they are packed tight.

Really awful coordination on this one.

There is zero forsight on this. Has they pushed the construction/closures to the April 5-7th weekend, the only conflict would have been a 6pm Raptor game on the Sunday. Metrolinx is a joke of a company

[Ultra & Proud]

Well they've ballsed this up to a level that I'm not even going to bothering trying to go. What a mess Metrolinx is.

[Kamp Berg]

Well they've ballsed this up to a level that I'm not even going to bothering trying to go. What a mess Metrolinx is.

Rumour has it they have pretty toxic management. Not very surprising.

[spe18]

So while the 23rd will be hellish, some bright news (though not officially announced)....... GO will start having 15 minutes service on weekends in afternoons & evenings, between Oshawa & Oakville starting late April!

https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/03/...sit-expansion/

[nfitz]

With the Canada Copa America qualifier at 4 pm, and the TFC game at 7:30 pm, it maybe a TFC game to miss, with the lack of GO trains, given the extra travel time that will be require to get to the game.

GO is recommending to use TTC 509 from Union. I can't imagine what a shit-show that will be for those coming from the east. And I have no idea what those from the west will do.

[Oldtimer]

And I have no idea what those from the west will do.

I figure I'll have to be there many hours before. Going home will be a nightmare.

[Red CB Toronto]

I figure I'll have to be there many hours before. Going home will be a nightmare.

With the Canada game at 4 pm, I am planning on being in the area early anyways to watch it in a bar.

[spe18]

I was "eagerly" awaiting for the usual everything you need to know e-mail from the team that is usually sent a day or so before a home game - just to see what the getting there section would say for this week.

To my surprise, and I suspect of others, they've proactively sent a message this afternoon warning of Exhibition station been closed this weekend.

I've put the important part in red.

Due to construction, Exhibition GO Station will be closed to any direct service this weekend. In addition, there will be no Lakeshore West trains between West Harbour GO and Union Station. Fans are encouraged to allot longer than usual travel time when taking public transportation and carpooling. GO buses will replace trains, stopping at select stations only, including West Harbour, Aldershot, Burlington, Oakville, Clarkson and Union Station Bus Terminal.Fans arriving at Union Station are encouraged to take advantage of increased TTC service on the 509 Exhibition streetcar route. The 511 Bathurst streetcar will also have increased service to the Dufferin Gate Loop.

[Oldtimer]

Driving wasn't that bad, arrived early, plenty of parking at the time, return home was fast.
I think the low attendance made it easier than I expected.

[benito]

Likewise, I was concerned about getting to and from the game to Mississauga. I arrived very early, grabbed food in liberty village and left at the final whistle. The drive home wasn’t bad and I was home about 20-25 mins later than when I take the train.

[nfitz]

How did those who took transit? I looked on the TTC tracker last night, and there were only five 509 streetcars in service after the game (none extra). 501 service looked better ...

I stayed at home, did they announce the attendance?

[Oldtimer]

How did those who took transit? I looked on the TTC tracker last night, and there were only five 509 streetcars in service after the game (none extra). 501 service looked better ...

I stayed at home, did they announce the attendance?

25,768.

[spe18]

Hourly service on Lakeshore West on April 20 & 21

https://www.gotransit.com/en/service...uction-updates

April 20 and 21 Lakeshore West service adjustment


Lakeshore West trains will run on an hourly schedule
Lakeshore West train service will run on an hourly schedule to accommodate removal and replacement of old track at Exhibition GO as well as other maintenance between Mimico and Port Credit.


There may be a longer than usual wait time for bus connections.


Please check schedules before you travel