All-Day, Two-Way GO Train Service Coming to Communities Across GTHA

Ontario is taking a major step forward in bringing more all-day, two-way GO train service to families and commuters in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), with new stations and upgrades across the GO network.

Transportation Minister Kathryn McGarry was at Union Station today to announce that Ontario is moving ahead with the next phase of work to build the province’s GO Regional Express Rail (RER) system.

Ontario has already increased GO train service by more than 70 per cent, adding approximately 800 more train trips every week across the GO network than there were in 2013. To continue to bring major service improvements, in the coming weeks the province will launch the process to design and build six new GO stations and six new City of Toronto SmartTrack stations, as well as upgrades and improvements to over 20 existing GO stations, including major renovations to station buildings, new bus loops, digital signage, and other enhancements. The province will also move forward with the procurement of new maintenance facilities, trains, tracks, and other infrastructure necessary to increase GO service.

Ontario’s GO RER program is the largest rail project in Canada, and will transform the way people travel to and from work, school, and appointments. Weekly trips across the entire GO rail network will grow from about 1,100 in 2013 to nearly 6,000 by 2025, with more all-day, two-way, 15-minute electrified GO service for commuters and families across the region.

Ontario’s plan to support care, create opportunity and make life more affordable during this period of rapid economic change includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25, and 65 or over, through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

QUICK FACTS

• Ontario is investing $21.3 billion to transform GO Transit from a commuter transit service to a regional rapid transit system.
• Ontario will issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to select a proponent to design, build, finance, operate and maintain GO RER. This contract will integrate rail operations and maintenance with the infrastructure and vehicle upgrades required to deliver electrified rail service on the GO rail network.
• Ontario will also issue RFQs for six new GO stations, 22 existing GO stations, and six new City of Toronto SmartTrack stations. GO RER, will provide the foundation for Toronto’s SmartTrack project, which includes integrated rail service on Stouffville, Lakeshore East and Kitchener GO rail corridors, and the Eglinton West Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension between Mount Dennis and Renforth Gateway.
• GO RER includes more than 400 separate projects across more than 40 municipalities, and is the largest single investment in rapid transit in Canada.
• The new SmartTrack stations will be financed in partnership with the City of Toronto.
• Since 2013, Ontario has built four new GO stations, renovated 10 existing GO stations, and added approximately 7,000 new GO station parking spots. The province has also purchased 264 new GO buses, 150 new GO train coaches, and 10 new GO train locomotives.
• Ontario is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, public transit, roads and bridges in the province’s history. To learn more about what’s happening in your community, go to Ontario.ca/BuildON.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• GO Expansion
• Transit Projects in your Region
• BuildON