I started my trip to work this morning by taking the GO train from Burlington to Oakville. Once in Oakville, I got off so I could transfer to a train that would take me to Port Credit. (Had I stayed on, I would have found myself on a train that turned into an express to Toronto.) After about 5 minutes I heard an announcement that the 7:25 train had been cancelled. So – I ended up waiting until 8:15 for a train that would actually stop at Port Credit for me.

This is not the first time that this sort of thing has happened. This past January, it was because of bad weather conditions. (This morning, it had been because a freight train had de-railed and caused problems.) I can easily understand that basic delays and cancellations are out of the hands of the engineers and those who control the traffic flow of the trains they manage.

However. By there being no train for an hour that will make local stops, it causes havoc to passengers (such as myself) who rely on using GO transit to get to work. In terms of customer service, recognising the trouble, how hard could it be for the next express train (following a cancellation) to make local stops that it wouldn’t ordinarily make – just so as to accomodate people that need to get to local train stations in order to get to work on time? Yes, this would cause those used to the express train to be delayed a little bit. But, this delay would be nowhere near as “disastrous” as for all of the passengers who miss out getting to work on time completely.

It’s just common sense.