The Ontario government says it is adding 300 weekly GO train trips to routes throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), a service expansion Metrolinx is billing as the largest in more than a decade.
The additional trips on the Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Milton, Stouffville and Kitchener lines will begin April 28, Premier Doug Ford said at a news conference Monday.
Changes riders can expect include:
- Weekend train service increased from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes in the afternoon and evening on the Lakeshore west and east lines between Oakville GO, Union and Durham College Oshawa GO stations.
- One additional train trip during both the morning and evening weekday rush hours between Milton GO and Union Station.
- Every second UP Express train will be non-stop between Union Station and Pearson Airport seven days a week.
- Evening train service seven days a week on the Stouffville Line.
- Thirty-minute weekday service during midday and evenings on the Kitchener Line between Bramalea GO and Union Station.
Ford speaks in Milton, where byelection looms
Ford announced the impending GO service expansion at a rail yard in Milton, where voters will choose a new MPP in a byelection on May 2.
The seat has been empty since former Ford cabinet minister Parm Gill resigned to run for the federal Conservative Party.
During his remarks, Ford said his government remains “1,000 per cent committed” to bringing all-day, two-way GO service to Milton, something local leaders in the growing suburb have long called for.
Ford said the province needs federal funding help to build a fully separated passenger rail line to make the service expansion possible.
“We’re going to keep urging the federal government to join us in a true cost-sharing partnership,” Ford said.
In 2021, the federal Liberal government said it would cover a share of the costs to make all-day, two-way service to Milton a reality, but the province has argued that a larger commitment would be necessary for such a massive project.
The Milton corridor is the fourth-busiest line in the GO rail network.
Source: cbc.ca