This month’s tour takes place on Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m. The cost is $10 for each person attending the tour. You don’t need a reservation. Meet by the Traveler’s Aid counter in the centre of the Great Hall at 10:50 a.m.

We originally intended this post to encourage people to join the tour. Unfortunately, the tour is already sold out, so this post is simply to remind those of you who have booked the tour that it’s just one week away.

The TTC has also scheduled more tours of the Greenwood Shop and of other TTC facilities this year, including lower Bay Station, Mount Dennis Bus Garage, Harvey Shops and the TTC Operations Training Centre. The next tours of Greenwood Shop takes place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 24.

You can find out more about the tours here.

As a result, 501/301 Queen streetcars do not operate between Neville Loop and the Queen Street East at River Street. Shuttle buses will operate in both directions.

GO is closing the platform serving track 3 at the station from 7 a.m. Saturday until 5 p.m. Sunday. Trains only use tracks 1 and 2 during this time.

Please listen for information about which platform you should use and be careful around the station during the construction.

The following Monday, VIVA will add five express buses to its Blue route, skipping key stops, including Richmond Hill Centre, to make the run between Newmarket and Finch subway station in an hour — a time comparable to the GO service.

The Toronto Star has further details on this development, including quotes by GO and YRT officials. It is also reported that York Region Transit is considering ways of handling the Newmarket-York University service, which is still due to be cancelled at the end of April.

• Suffolk Street East between Norfolk and Woolwich Street

for a construction project. (The City has not specified why it is closing Suffolk East, although the closure likely relates to the upcoming project to rebuild Norfolk Street between Quebec and Woolwich / Norwich Streets.)

Guelph Transit is detouring buses during the project.

• Collier Road between Rose Avenue and Richmond Street

for a project to rebuild the roadway.

The St. Catharines Transit Commission is detouring buses during the project.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 17, 2010, Laurie Swim, “one of Canada’s most esteemed artists”, City of Toronto and TTC officials, members of the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA)’s Local 183, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)’s Local 113 and the Central Ontario Building Trades will unveil a permanent art installation in York Mills Station to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the tragedy.

Although the men did not die while helping to build the subway, York Mills Station is the perfect permanent home for piece. The subway station sits in Hogg’s Hollow, a few meters from the site of the accident, which trapped the men 35 feet underground in a cramped, dimly lit tunnel, beneath the west branch of the Don River. Their deaths sparked a public outcry over the lack of safety standards in construction. Ultimately, that led to better conditions for men and women working in hazardous construction sites.

MT is also renaming and renumbering several routes so that route names and numbers are consistent throughout the network of routes.

The Toronto Star reports that, for the first time in 40 years, GO is revising all of its schedules to better reflect real trip times and to respond to an increasing number or riders. GO is adjusting the times of about 40 train trips by one to eight minutes — three minutes on average.

GO’s ridership has grown from about 36 million passengers in 1998 to about 55 million each year. More riders means trains have to stop longer as passengers board and exit. GO is also operating longer, 12-car trains on the Milton route and expects to operate 12-car trains on half of the Lakeshore trains later this fall, after it finishes its project to build a third set of tracks along the lines. Longer trains mean more people getting on and off the trains and that means trains need more time at each station.

During this work, GO will restrict access to the trains and will only open the doors on the west-end coaches of the train, starting from the fifth car from the locomotive.

GO expects work to continue for about three months.

Just a reminder that you’ll need an extra 25 cents to travel by GO Transit, starting next Saturday, March 20.

You can read the details oF GO fares here.

You’ll have to add another quarter to the farebox, starting April 1. The cash fare for adult, student and senior passengers goes up by 25 cents from $2.75 to $3. The cash fare for children between 5 and 12 years of age also goes up by 25 cents from 60 to 65 cents.

You can see a list of current and upcoming Burlington Transit fares here.

But first, members of the public have on more chance to look over and comment on their plans. You can review the report on-line here and submit any objections in writing before Sunday, April 11.

If the minister receives no objections, he likely will approve the environmental project report. That means that the City and TTC can proceed with building the line, likely starting to build parts of the sections along the surface this summer and the western entrance into the underground part of the line — around Black Creek Drive — later this fall.

You can also read the draft environmental report and related documents here.