Sixty-four GO Transit rail stations already serve thousands of passengers daily throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Metrolinx is working to build and connect a transit network that supports more frequent, electric, continuous service - regional express rail or “RER”.
To meet that goal, Metrolinx has been looking at a number of sites for potential new stations. Access to stations and frequent service are key factors in convincing pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers to use a larger GO rail service. It’s planning to develop stations that are important hubs for daily activities, not simply arrival and departure points.
According to Metrolinx, staff considered several locations as part of the plan to expand the regional transit network. They chose these locations by analyzing the whole system and including sites that are part of other municipal and public plans. A clear process for assessing all locations helped them review possible new stations for positive and negative impacts. For example, well located stations may integrate regional and local transit and improve access to transit for surrounding communities. However, stations in some locations could mean longer travel times and delays that, in turn, discourage riders from using the trains. The process for evaluating new stations, Metrolinx says, also balanced service frequency, expansion and cost.
At its meeting last Tuesday, June 28, the Metrolinx board of directors approved staff reports recommending ten new GO stations to further RER. Some of the new stations — in west and east Toronto — also support the City of Toronto’s SmartTrack scheme for even more frequent service along parts of the GO network.
The new stations:
- on the Barrie line:
- at Spadina Avenue in the City of Toronto;
- near Bloor Street West / Lansdowne Avenue in the City of Toronto;
- at Kirby Road in the City of Vaughan;
- at Mulock Drive in the Town of Newmarket; and
- near the Sixth Line in the Town of Innisfil.
- on the Kitchener line:
- at Liberty Village / Parkdale near King Street West in the City of Toronto;
- at St. Clair Avenue West in the City of Toronto; and
- near Greenhouse Road and the village of Breslau in the Township of Woolwich (Waterloo Region).
- on the Lakeshore East line:
- Don Yard / Unilever between Cherry Street and Eastern Avenue in the City of Toronto (also serves the Stouffville line); and
- Gerrard Street East and Carlaw Avenue in the City of Toronto (also serves the Stouffville line).
- on the Stouffville line:
- Don Yard / Unilever between Cherry Street and Eastern Avenue in the City of Toronto (also serves the Lakeshore East line);
- Gerrard Street East and Carlaw Avenue in the City of Toronto (also serves the Lakeshore East line);
- Lawrence Avenue East (near the site of the present Lawrence East Station on the TTC’s 3 Scarborough rapid transit line) in the City of Toronto; and
- Finch Avenue East in the City of Toronto.
This year, Metrolinx will start planning the stations in more detail, possibly updating business case analyses, if necessary, for certain stations. It will also start the formal environmental assessment / transit project assessment processes.
It expects to start construction by 2018 as part of the whole RER project.
Metrolinx staff also analyzed the business cases for three more potential stations. Although they did not recommend that the RER plan include these stations — for now — they did propose considering them further as more information becomes available and municipalities complete more work on various transportation plans:
- on the Barrie line:
- at St. Clair Avenue West in the City of Toronto; and
- at Concord (Highway 7) in the City of Vaughan.
- on the Lakeshore West line:
- at Park Lawn Road in the City of Toronto (this could potentially replace Mimico GO Station).
Finally, they suggested two more sites for analyzing as possible stations, if more information emerges to justify studying them:
- on the Kitchener line:
- between Woodbine Racetrack and Highway 7 in the Cities of Toronto, Mississauga and Vaughan.
- on the Lakeshore West line:
- near Cumberland Avenue / Walkers Line in the City of Burlington.
Metrolinx did not recommend new stations for the Milton or Richmond Hill lines. However, construction is already underway to extend the Richmond Hill line one station northward to Gormley. Metrolinx has also approved yet another station on the line at Bloomington.
Metrolinx also recently announced plans to add four more stations to the Lakeshore East line, extending service to Bowmanville. It also plans a line to Niagara Falls with at least four more stations — it’s not yet clear whether that would be a separate line or part of GO’s Lakeshore West service.