Letters From Our Readers
Editorial threw me off the tracks

I read with complete and utter bewilderment, the comments that were contained in this (GO train) editorial.

Having been a commuter to the heart of Toronto (King and York) for over 15 years now, I cannot believe that someone of your supposed intellect would actually think that driving 15 minutes (not 20 or 30) either to Bradford or Barrie (depending where one lives in Innisfil) to get on the GO train, is so inconvenient that driving all the way to Toronto is a better alternative, because there isn't a station being built in Innisfil.

What kind of sense does that make?

Have you ever commuted to Toronto in your car on a weekday morning in rush hour?

If you have, did you pay to park your vehicle in the downtown Toronto core?

I dare say that you haven't or you would never have made the foolish comments that you did. If you don't leave by 5:30 a.m. the traffic at highways 400 and 401 is at a standstill by the time you get there.

If you don't leave the city by 3:30, good luck in getting home to Innisfil before 7:30. Try travelling on the 400 in a snow storm or whiteout conditions; both north and south are a real treat!

Do it just one winter, and you'll never do it again - and that drive to Barrie or Bradford will be your ticket to not getting early coronary disease from all that stress of white knuckle driving.

I commuted from my home in Orangeville to the Brampton GO train station to travel to Toronto (45 minute drive and a 40 minute GO train ride). I did this for 10 years.

I have lived in Innisfil for almost three years now, and drive to Bradford to get the GO train (25 minute drive and one hour and 20 minute train ride).

I can tell you right now, that I can't wait for the Barrie station to open (a nice six minute drive from my house, but adds 15 minutes to the train ride).

Once you are on the train, you can read, sleep, listen to music or just simply stare out the window at the scenery as it goes by. To say that none of this is worth it because there isn't going to be a station in Innisfil? Absolute craziness.

To add insult to injury, you think it would be great to have a station in Innisfil so that shoppers could go to Barrie?

My goodness - after reading your article, I needed a Valium just to calm myself down.

GO is a commuter service, not a shopping service!

It goes south in the morning and then north in the evening. Get it?

Your comment that because there is no station in Innisfil, it creates a safety issue because people don't stop at the tracks anymore is insulting the intelligence of your residents.

Somehow, when the lights are flashing and the guardrails go down, I think Innisfil residents will realize the trains are running again out of Barrie. The papers and the radio have been reporting the delightful and blessed event for months now. GO has had an advertising safety blitz for several weeks now.

Unless you have had your head in the sand, everyone knows the GO train is coming back. To say that seniors ignore rail crossings now because there hasn't been any trains is ridiculous.

Last but not least, I'm sure I read in your paper that Innisfil could have had a station, but Innisfil didn't want to pay for it.

I think the councillors of our fair town should have voted to have some of the millions and millions of dollars that are received from Georgians Downs go to building a station, rather than a palace for an office. Perhaps then all the seniors and children of Innisfil will be safe once more, because if they get a station, then they might pay attention! Come on.

Speaking from many years of experience, you need to find something else to comment on. You don't have a clue about this subject.

Wendy Szmik,

Innisfil