#go train

Had a few days off, one was because I was tired and then the rest were rain. It was nice to get back and see how things were doing. I also did a bird walk that was very nice.

Another one of my ink and paper comics! This one's about a lady I met on the GO

On Sat, I was supposed to take the GO Train from Toronto to Barrie to celebrate my sister's b-day.

Usually when I've taken the train, I've taken the one that leaves Union (Toronto) at 11:54am.

This Sat however, I got to Union early enough, I saw there was an earlier train that was leaving 10:54am. After texting my sister to see if getting there early would be alright (in case she wasn't ready or whatever) I was met with an enthusiastic 'yes, come early! We'll get more visit time.' So, I did.

The screen for this train just said 'Barrie board 5/6', the one underneath it (the 11:54am one) said 'Barrie - Allandale, TBD'. (Allandale is the name of the stop in Barrie, which also happens to be the last stop of the line)

Before hopping on the train, I asked a Union GO worker 'Is this (pointed to a stairwell that said 4/5 [the other option was a stairwell that said 6/7]) where I get on for the Barrie train?' Worker said 'Yes, you can get on there'. Then I asked, 'And this IS the Barrie train, right?' Again, worker said 'yes'.

So, I hop on the train.

We pull out of Union, and the conductor says something like, 'Happy Sat and welcome to the all stops Barrie train. The train is on time and should be smooth sailing.'

We get two stops away from Union, and then I hear the announcement change. Now the conductor is saying the train will go Out of Service in Aurora. (Which I found out later is only like 1/4 of the way there)

I text my sister and ask her Barrie is not in Aurora, right? What the heck? She says no Barrie is not in Aurora (I suck at geography and thought it might've been one those 'it's called Different Name county where the city is' things) and said the website showed no delays or problems or anything.

Now, I'm starting to panic a little. I asked a worker and when I got on the conductor said it was the Barrie train.

So, something must be wrong with the train, right?

We get to Aurora - which was under construction so there is NOTHING around - and the conductor again tells everyone 'This train is now out of service. Everyone needs to exit the train.' I get off the train with everyone else. Most of the other people look as confused and annoyed as I am.

I see two workers in orange vests run down the platform. Then one hops in the door and the other climbs up to the roof. Then the train takes off back the way we came.

I figure, after seeing the two workers jump on, I must be right that there was a problem. My sister texts and says I should wait 10ish minutes to see if they'll announce a replacement train is coming.

So, I wait.

Another train DOES come but this one says it's going to Toronto/Union. It's not going to Barrie. I ask a worker from that train if he knows if we'll be getting a replacement train, and he just shrugs and says he doesn't know.

Most of the passengers got on that train, which I thought was weird. My guess was maybe they weren't paying attention and thought it would take them to Barrie.

So I tell my sister there's been no announcements and the only other train that showed up was to Toronto. She says she can drive down and pick me up, but it would take about 40min. I feel bad, but ask her to since there's no new train info. She agrees and starts driving. I search for a bus shelter because it's cold and windy.

For context, I'm only 5'2", and as I said everything was under construction, so there's fences and giant piles of dirt, etc. which makes it hard for me to see anything down the platform. I stop in the first bus shelter I find and sit to wait.

After maybe 20ish minutes, a nice old couple come into the shelter and ask me if I'm waiting for the train. I tell them what happened and they tell me there's apparently a car park down the furthest end of the platform and I'll need to wait there for my sister. I thank them for the help and leave the shelter. At this point, all I can see is a chain link fence with a giant black tarp on it (so you can't see through it) the one set of train tracks, and giant piles of dirt on the opposite side.

I decide the couple had to have come from somewhere and probably wouldn't send me down a murder alley and walk down the fence. After just long enough I start to question if I was wrong, the fence opens up and there's a bigger shelter and a small car park.

I text my sister that I'm waiting in a closer-to-the-car-park shelter. She's still about 20min out.

While I'm waiting in there, a worker comes in and asks me if I'm waiting for the train. I tell him about what happened and that my sister is driving fown to pick me up.

HE tells me apparently this is a known problem and that the 'early' train WASN'T EVER GOING TO BARRIE! It only goes as far as Aurora. And apparently, they get a lot of people from Toronto stranded here being confused. When I told him I asked a worker, he said, 'It's called the Barrie Line. But the Union workers also think of it as an out of sight out of mind thing. They say yes and then just expect us (Aurora workers) to deal with it.'

So he told me the actual options were to wait for the next train (which would've been the 11:54am Union one, which gets to Aurora around 12:44pm) and/or make sure when you're checking the board screens or asking someone, to instead ask if it's the Allandale train.

Anyway, long story long, my sister got there about 5min before the actual Barrie train would've (I was stranded in Aurora 40min), and I told her what happened and even she was like 'that doesn't make sense'. We ended up having a nice visit anyway.

I think it's funny/frustrating though, that this kind of confusion happens so often they KNOW it's a problem and just... don't do anything about it?

I don't know how it works, but can't they like, send out an e-mail to the Union workers or something?

Also, if we were never going all the way to Barrie WHY DID THE CONDUCTOR SAY WE WERE ALL STOPS?????

I get part of this was my fault, because I assumed, 'Is this the Barrie train?' could only be translated to 'the train going to Barrie' and not 'the Barrie LINE' but I feel like there was also a lot of miscommunication from the workers.

So, yeah. I'm annoyed.