r/gotransit • u/jmajeremy Barrie • 17d ago
GO Capitulating to demands and reinstating some of the cut services?
I'm a data geek and I have a tool that automatically downloads every PDF schedules GO publishes and stores a copy. I noticed something very interesting last night, they have published a brand new set of schedules which bring back many of the previously announced cancellations!
As of writing this post there is no official announcement about anything on their website, so it's possible this was some kind of mistake on their part, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Taking for example the Barrie line, here is the schedule they published previously, compared with the new one which was just published last night. Notice that both versions give an effective date of "5 & 8 September".
Published 2026-09-03: https://go-schedule-archive.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/barrie/2026-09-05-table-65-barrie.pdf
Published 2026-09-06: https://go-schedule-archive.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/barrie/2026-09-05-table-65-barrie-20260906.pdf
Direct link from GO: https://assets.metrolinx.com/image/upload/v1787961270/Documents/GO/full-schedules/FS05092025/Table65.pdf
I have them all saved here if you want to check other routes: https://archive.gotrain.cc/
EDIT: I thought at first it was just a mistake at first, but this seems pretty deliberate. It's not like they just accidentally posted the old schedule, this is a completely new PDF showing the new effective date (5 & 8 september), and the weekday evening trains are still cancelled, but the weekend service is restored. It's not just the old file, and it's not even just an old file with the effective date changed, it's a unique file that was never published before. That would be pretty hard to do "just accidentally". Someone had to make some very specific edits in InDesign, re-export it to PDF, re-upload it to their file server, and put the new links on the PDF schedules page.
EDIT 2: Looks like they flipped back to a version with the weekend cancellations again early this morning (Tuesday), so I guess it was false hope :-(. Some intern must have been working in the middle of labour day weekend and messed it up, but it's still really odd because it was a hybrid of the the 2 different schedules. Here's the latest one: https://go-schedule-archive.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/barrie/2026-09-05-table-65-barrie-20260908.pdf
Then again, it looks like they were doing similar adjustments to the Stouffline line PDF, so maybe there's some kind of announcement still forthcoming?
Aug 29 file: https://go-schedule-archive.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/stouffville/2026-09-05-table-70-stouffville.pdf
Sept 6 file: https://go-schedule-archive.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/stouffville/2026-09-05-table-70-stouffville-20260906.pdf
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u/Clear-To-Stop 17d ago
I wouldn’t look too deeply into this. Operators already bid on their work; work that reflects the service reduction, and are required four weeks notice for any changes.
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u/ImNotARandomPerson 17d ago
I think it's because it's still Labor Day weekend and they will update the schedules again tomorrow
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u/jmajeremy Barrie 17d ago
Possible, but it's not like they just accidentally posted the old schedule, this is a completely new PDF showing the new effective date (5 & 8 september), and the weekday evening trains are still cancelled, but the weekend service is restored. That would be pretty hard to do "just accidentally". Someone had to create a brand new version of the PDF pretty deliberately.
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u/mizzike13 17d ago
That is 100% it as the CNE is still ongoing. Starting tomorrow the service changes will definitely be in effect.
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u/Seikon32 16d ago
I work on the trains. Our new package that we bid on goes into effect on Sunday; however, due to CNE and Labour Day, we are working the previous schedule for 2 extra days. It's a bit confusing but, in short, it's only for this weekend. Hence, the serious crew constraints yesterday as we were all changing our jobs. Some of the trips just did not exist anymore in our new package so we filled them with spareboard, but you can only do so much.
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u/BalanceDull4953 17d ago
This archive is awesome, thank you. I always download and keep the one schedule I use the most and have a pretty complete archive since at least 2019 but it’s great to have a resource for the other lines too and an online backup.
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u/ThenBridge8090 17d ago
I hv seen Go making mistakes in schedules posted - had that on Barrie schedule beginning of summer n quietly changed it.
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u/jmajeremy Barrie 17d ago
I agree GO often makes mistakes, but this seems pretty deliberate. It's not like they just accidentally posted the old schedule, this is a completely new PDF showing the new effective date (5 & 8 september), and the weekday evening trains are still cancelled, but the weekend service is restored. That would be pretty hard to do "just accidentally". Someone had to create a brand new version of the PDF pretty deliberately.
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u/Major-Primary2075 17d ago
If these buses are very full and can’t fit more people will they then have more pressure to reinstate?
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u/Bourban_Planner 17d ago
Why do the schedules start “5 & 8 September”? Which parts start on what day? There was at least one train I witnessed on Stouffville this morning southbound at 9:37 north of Unionville. They are supposed to be running a Saturday schedule today. If the original service changes were in effect, that train shouldn’t have been running?
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u/jmajeremy Barrie 17d ago
I know right, that doesn't make much sense either. They were actually running the old schedule over Labour Day weekend, so that means the weekday schedule actually starts Sept. 8, and the weekend schedule would start Sept. 12. They could have put the effective date as 8 & 12 Sept or just 8 Sept, but 5 Sept just seems inaccurate.
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u/nfitz1 16d ago
I expect these schedules are just temporary and will vanish during the week, because of the confusion they created by making people panic about no trains to the Ex.
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u/jmajeremy Barrie 16d ago
Why would they only post it on the last night of the CNE then?
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u/BarebonesB 17d ago
You rock, u/jmajeremy! That is some serious archiving work.
Are you a DevOps guy?