15 Minutes from Wilson to Downsview

Having given up on the Trip Planner for now ( Can’t Get the Trip Planner to Work ) I reckon on taking an hour, door-to-door, and elect to leap on the bus that leaves here at 9:22 a.m.

That’s actually when it leaves Markland at Bloor , but since it makes three or four stops before it gets to me, I reckon on walking out my door at 9:22. The bus is late 7 times out of 10 anyway.

I catch the bus, the subway train to St George subway station, and hop aboard the next northbound train to Downsview subway station.

As we roll into Wilson I catch a glance at the overhead clock display.

10:16 a.m.

I am early, which is how I like to be. I don’t like to keep friends and colleagues waiting.

As I climb out of Downsview station I catch a glimpse of the time from the transfer machine.

10:31 a.m.

Allowing one minute for me to climb two sets of escalators, it has taken us a quarter of an hour to travel between two subway stations!

Where did the time go?

Well, immediately we arrived at Wilson, the train driver exited the car for a few minutes. Maybe Five minutes. Maybe a pee-break. I neither know nor care.

Because once she was back in, we crawled the distance.

There are 15 Km/hour restrictions over the 401 highway bridges, and the rear of the previous train was visible to us, stationary ahead, for much of the trip.

What is the hold up?

Line work can account for only so much delay.

I don’t think the driver exit contributed at all, because within 60 seconds of us restarting, we were stopped again at a red signal.

Approaching Downsview I could see the previous train parked ahead of us alongside the eastern edge of the island platform.

Ah-Hah! We are destined for the western edge; I know how this works on account of travelling in and out of Kipling subway station most of the time.

I can see the rails ahead, and the switch is not yet set to cross the tracks.

There must be another train waiting to exit our platform.

No.

After a wait of, perhaps, 3 minutes, the tracks switch and we arrive at the platform.

Where is the signalman of my youth who grabbed the lever with both hands and pulled lustily to let the Slow Down Goods go through?

And why isn’t this system automated by now?

And if it is, what’s gone wrong with the system?

That’s a scary thought.