Defective heaters leaving GO customers in the cold
A little heat goes a long way during a frigid wait for a GO train, unless the heater is stone cold.
GO Transit has gone the extra mile by installing heating units in some of the passenger shelters on train platforms at its stations, providing a cheery bit of relief from the cold for its customers.
Anyone who has pushed the button to activate the overhead heaters and felt the blessed warmth wash over them — like sunshine at Miami Beach (OK, that’s stretching it) — knows they’re just the ticket.
But some heaters seem to work a lot better than others, at least at the Rouge Hill GO station, on Lawrence Ave. E., near Port Union Rd.
Janet Ashberry, who catches the train at Rouge Hill, emailed to say “I find it frustrating that I am unable to turn on the above head heaters which are located in the glass enclosure waiting area.
“The heaters do not turn on when I push the black button that supposedly activates them,” she said, adding that she wonders if they are connected to a timer that is malfunctioning.
We went there and found heaters that look like they were recently installed in the four shelters closest to the station on the westbound platform, where passengers are most likely to huddle while waiting.
Two of the shelters are equipped with small, square overhead units that lit up like a Christmas tree when we pushed the activation button. They radiate for 10 minutes before switching off, according to a sign next to the button.
The two shelters at the east end of the platform have long, narrow heaters that look like they’d be better than the smaller ones, but nothing happened when we pushed their buttons. We climbed up on a bench so we could get close to one and could feel a feeble bit of heat, but the electrical element in the middle of it didn’t glow like the smaller ones. Status: Anne Marie Aikins, who deals with media for Metrolinx, which operates GO, emailed to say that maintenance staff will try to jump-start the heaters right away. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer or call us at 416-869-4823. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.