Evolving West Toronto Junction (Above) Configuration of West Toronto Junction circa 1990 (Below) Configuration of West Toronto Junction before Metrolinx started work in 2011. Image courtesy Metrolinx. (Above) The West Toronto Diamond once complete in 2014.

Text by Daniel Garcia and Sean Marshall,
revised by James Bow.

See Also

• Station Walkthrough Videos: Bloor | Weston | Etobicoke North | Malton | Bramalea | Brampton | Mount Pleasant | Georgetown | Acton | Guelph Central | Kitchener
• Transit Toronto B-Roll Video: GO Train arrives at Weston station, October 2017.
• VIDEO: Rush Action at Bloor GO/UPX Station, March 14, 2019, by James Bow
• VIDEO: Kitchener GO Train Ride Along - Part 1: Eastbound.

Service Today

GO Transit operates its Kitchener GO Train between Union Station in downtown Toronto and Kitchener GO station near downtown Kitchener. Until December 19, 2011, the service was known as the Georgetown GO Train. On that day, two trains which previously terminated at Georgetown were extended west to serve stops in Guelph and Kitchener.

As of the time of this writing (October 2021), seven trains depart Kitchener on weekday mornings, two serving all stops, but the middle five operating express between Bramalea and Union, arriving in downtown Toronto after an hour and forty-one minutes. Another train departs Kitchener at 2:41 p.m. and at 8:39 p.m., making all stops to Toronto. Trains return to Kitchener at 9:34 a.m., 12:34 p.m., 3:34 p.m., 4:19 p.m., 4:49 p.m., 5:19 p.m., 5:49 p.m., 6:19 p.m., and 9:34 p.m., with a train departing Union at 10:34 heading to Guelph. The trains between 4:19 p.m. and 6:19 p.m. all operate express to Bramalea before continuing on to Kitchener. Service is complemented by hourly midday and evening service in both directions between Union and Mount Pleasant in northwest Bramalea. Train-buses operate to Kitchener during weekdays, and bus service operates between Union and Georgetown and Guelph during weekends. Further bus service operates hourly 7 days a week from Kitchener and Waterloo to Square One in Mississauga.

Effective October 18, 2021, Metrolinx launched a pilot project extending a train west from Kitchener to London, stopping at Stratford and St. Mary's. The morning train departs London at 5:20, becoming the 7:32 train in Kitchener and arriving at Union at 9:13. The 4:19 p.m. train departing Union arrives in Kitchener at 6:06 p.m. and continues on to London, arriving at 8:17 p.m.

The intermediate stations en route, from east to west, are Bloor (where a connection with the TTC's Dundas West station is possible, if inconvenient), Weston (near Lawrence Avenue), Etobicoke North (near Kipling Avenue), Malton (near the Airport Road/Derry Road intersection), Bramalea (near Steeles Avenue and Highway 410), Brampton (near downtown Brampton), Mount Pleasant (in northwest Brampton), Georgetown, Acton and Guelph. In 2014, the Kitchener line carried 18,000 passengers per day, up from 2008 when the Georgetown line boasted an average weekday ridership of 15,649.

From Bush to Main Line

Settlement in the towns and townships northwest of Toronto dates back to the early 19th century, as farmers followed the concession roads and the Credit and Humber rivers into the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Niagara Escarpment. Further north and west, the area was a dense forest known as "the Queen's Bush". The population was initially slow to grow, but villages did spring up at crossroads. The initial settlement of Brampton began at the "four corners" of today's Queen and Main Streets in 1822. Further northwest, the village of Stewarttown was set up as the seat of Nassagaweya township. Bolstered by a grist mill, a foundry and a woollen mill, the population grew, and in 1837 the village was founded as a town called Georgetown.

Development would pick up in the 1850s. In May 1852, Grand Trunk announced its intentions to build a railroad from Toronto through the villages of Weston and Georgetown. The railway opened for service in 1856, extending past Georgetown through Guelph and Kitchener (then known as Berlin) before reaching Stratford and London. The population of Kitchener, Guelph and Georgetown all increased dramatically as a result of the rail connections for freight and passengers between London and Toronto, although the line itself was soon overshadowed by other main lines operating between London and Toronto (via Cambridge and Brantford). As Grand Trunk well on hard financial times during and after the First World War, it was soon absorbed by Canadian National. As Canadian National owned the tracks operating between London and Toronto via Brantford and Oakville, the route via Kitchener and Georgetown became known as the North Main Line.

An Evolving Commuter Run

Passenger service has been running on the North Main Line since its inception. When Grand Trunk was merged into Canadian National, CN trains plied the tracks between Toronto and London, serving Guelph, Kitchener and Stratford and continuing or linking to Windsor and Sarnia. Connections were also available to Chicago via Port Huron or Detroit. Most of the service was long-distance based, as Kitchener, Stratford and London remained well outside Toronto's commuter watershed at the time.

But the idea of running commuter-style train service took hold early. In the 1950s, CN started service on a train between Guelph and Toronto, with one inbound train in the morning and a returning outbound train in the afternoon. This service was still running on April 29, 1974, when GO Transit started a new service along the route between Union Station and Georgetown.

The Georgetown line was GO Transit's second train line, launched almost seven years after the initial service along the Lakeshore between Pickering and Oakville. On day one, three trains left Georgetown Station in the morning and stopped at Brampton, Bramalea, Malton, Weston and Bloor stations before arriving at Toronto Union Station, and three trains returned in the afternoon. The Etobicoke North stop was added later that fall. Canadian National continued to run its Guelph-Toronto commuter train until November 14th, 1975 before abandoning it, a year and a half after GO started running trains to Georgetown.

Some of the more cynical critics suggested that the Georgetown GO line was a gift to the city of Brampton, which was celebrating its 100th anniversary at the time and which, coincidentally, was also the home of Ontario Premier Bill Davis. The line did not experience much growth early in its run. A fourth train was added to the schedule sometime between 1975 and 1978, but the line remained stable until 1990.

An Aborted Extension to Guelph

On the 29th of October, 1990, as part of a series of promises made by the David Petersen Liberals on the eve of their defeat, one train each day was extended to run from Guelph, with a stop at Acton. No connecting buses were offered from Guelph to Kitchener, which had expressed interest in improved rail service. Perhaps as a result of this oversight, the extended service foundered, with only 60 passengers per day riding the train in from Guelph. The extension became an obvious candidate for cuts when the NDP government was forced to reduce GO Transit's subsidies in 1993. The last run from GO departed Guelph's station on July 2nd, 1993.

But demand for service was increasing. After almost doubling in population in the 1980s (234,445 in 1991 compared to 149,030 in 1981), Brampton continued to see significant growth, especially in its northwest quadrant. By 2001, Brampton's population had reached 325,428, while Halton Hills (containing Georgetown) had reached 48,184. The Georgetown GO train was augmented by an hourly bus service between Brampton station and York Mills station on the Yonge subway. On January 29th, 2000, GO Transit added a fifth round trip between Bramalea and Union, with bus connections to Georgetown.

Growth Begins Again

On September 4, 2001, a new afternoon train was added that left Union Station at 14:50 making all stops to Brampton and then dead-heading back to Union Station to make a rush-hour trip elsewhere in the system. In April 2002, a major service revision was made, providing partial midday trains to and from Union Station as far as Bramalea, with bus connections to Brampton and Georgetown. The new trains left Bramalea at 5:50, 10:15, 12:15 and 1:45. From Union Station, the new trains left at 9:30, 11:30 and 13:00. Unfortunately, the configuration of the bus loop and parking lots at Bramalea did not facilitate easy bus connections for Brampton and Georgetown, and the bus loop is situated on the other side of a busy parking lot.

A new pocket track was completed at Bramalea in 2003. The rail was built connecting with the Weston Subdivision east of Halwest so that trains terminating at Bramalea would not interfere with CN freight trains on the Halton Subdivisions, or with future GO Transit express trains. Bramalea now has a three-track configuration, built to Lakeshore Corridor standards.

In September 2004, more changes were made to the Georgetown rail schedule. One morning train from Georgetown was converted to an express run, stopping only at Brampton, Bramalea and Union Station. A new local train from Bramalea was added to serve Malton, Etobicoke North, Weston and Bloor. The mid-afternoon departure from Union to Brampton was adjusted to leave at 15:15 at the same time. Five months later, Mount Pleasant station, located at Highway 7 and Creditview Road in northwestern Brampton opened on February 7, 2005.

In 2011, major work began throughout the Weston sub from Bramalea to Union. The construction included new underpasses for Strachan Avenue, Denison Road, and Carlingview Avenue, a tunnel through the old Town of Weston, station renovations, and the grade separation of the diamond between the Weston sub and the Canadian Pacific freight tracks near the Toronto Junction. These changes were part of a design to significantly increase the speed, frequency and reliability of the Georgetown Line, along with additional work related to the Union Pearson Express air-rail link. The changes did require that the midday trains between Union and Bramalea be switched back to buses, but the expectation is, once construction is complete in time for the Pan Am Games in 2015, midday service on the route will be restored, possibly as two-way hourly off-peak service between Union and Mount Pleasant.

The first of these changes to finish was the relocation of the Weston GO station from the north side of Lawrence to the south side. In the first half of 2013, the old Weston GO station was shuttered and, on July 24, 2013, passengers started to use the new facility. The new station was fully accessible, offered a kiss-'n'-ride passenger drop-off area and parking for 144 cars. The old Weston station could not be used as plans called for the tracks to dip down into a trench and then a tunnel through the old Town of Weston, digging beneath King and Church streets before rising to meet a widened bridge over Weston Road and the Humber River. These projects continued through 2013 for a late 2014 completion date.

GO Comes to Kitchener

In June 2006, the provincial government of Dalton McGuinty established Metrolinx, a Crown agency whose task was to look at ways to expand public transportation infrastructure in the GTA. In the summer of 2007, based on Metrolinx's recommendations, the McGuinty government launched MoveOntario 2020, which proposed 52 transit expansion projects over the next thirteen years. Included in these proposals were two projects located within Waterloo Region outside the GTA: the Waterloo Regional LRT, and an extension of the Georgetown GO train to Kitchener to meet it.

There were already proposals to take GO Train service to Waterloo Region by extending the Milton line to Cambridge. However, while Metrolinx and GO Transit (which were later merged) were committed to expanding service on the Milton line, extending service past Milton proved costly. The line the Milton train operates on is a major freight route for Canadian Pacific and, west of Milton, the right-of-way narrows to a single track. Laying down additional track and adding stations gave the Cambridge extension higher start-up costs than service to Kitchener.

Early in 2011, Metrolinx announced that service would be extended from Georgetown to Kitchener. Two trains that previously operated out of Georgetown would instead layover at a new temporary layover facility in Kitchener by the mainline railway tracks between King and Park streets. The extension was accomplished for just $18 million, a minimal expenditure that limited the number of trains that could serve this extension. To bring about service on December 19, a temporary accessibility ramp had to be built at Kitchener, while more extensive construction took place in Guelph.

The new service was announced to include stops at Acton, but cost-cutting measures meant that construction did not begin on this station before the extension started operation. Instead, work began in 2012, and trains started serving Acton station on January 7, 2013.

A Question of Ownership

The significant changes that began in 2011 would not have been possible had not Metrolinx purchased the Weston Sub from Canadian National. GO Transit announced its intentions to purchase the line for $160 million on April 8, 2009. The purchase covered the stretch of the line from Strachan Avenue in Toronto to where it joins CN's York Sub near Bramalea station. Northwest of Bramalea, however, the ownership question was more complicated. Between Brampton and Georgetown, Canadian National continued to own the line as its only means of routing trains between the Halton and York subdivisions. West of Georgetown, Canadian National had leased the line to the Goderich and Exeter Railway, who weren't interested in upgrading the line to handle faster passenger train speeds. Their lease with CN ran to 2020.

Negotations continued, however, and, on September 24, 2014, Metrolinx announced that it had purchased the rails between Georgetown and Kitchener for $76 million. This allowed Metrolinx to plan to extend two more rush-hour trains to Kitchener. Canadian National continues to own the line between Georgetown and Bramalea, however. This and the fact that the line is constricted by development and unlikely to be widened beyond two tracks meant that this segment would remain a bottleneck unless extraordinary measures, like a freight bypass between Milton and Bramalea, were considered.

A Tour of the Line

From Union Station, the Kitchener GO Train line enters the Weston sub at Strachan Avenue and follows it all the way to Bramalea. It also parallels Canadian Pacific's former Galt Sub to the Junction (officially known as "West Toronto") and CP's Mactier Sub from the Junction to the old Town of Weston. The line from Union to Bramalea has seen considerable changes since 2011. At one point, there were only a handful of tracks for a right-of-way that was wide enough to handle four different rail companies. By 2015, many of those tracks will have been restored.

From Bathurst Street to Bloor Street, the Kitchener GO train passes through Liberty Village and the old village of Parkdale. The old industrial areas have been completely rebuilt into a well-gentrified residential neighbourhood, with mid-rise and high-rise apartments crowding the right-of-way. North of Dundas Street, the West Toronto Railtrail takes one of the old trackbeds, providing a connection for bikers and walkers through the back streets of this revitalizing area. The bike trail extends north to Cariboo Avenue, and it is proposed that it extend as far south as Strachan.

Bloor station is the first stop along the way. For many years, it was an unmanned station with two open-air platforms linking to two sets of stairs leading down to Bloor Street. Although located close to the Bloor-Danforth subway at Dundas West, connections were inconvenient, requiring a long walk to get around the Crossroads shopping centre development. Proposals to build a second exit to Dundas West connecting directly with Bloor GO station surfaced around 2002 but were blocked by the owners of Crossroads. In 2013, work began upgrading Bloor station to make it accessible and make it a shared stop with the Union Pearson Express air-rail link. Once opened in 2015, this stop will feature that direct connection to Dundas West station, and be a fully accessible and sheltered station.

North of Bloor station, the line passes some of the industrial remnants of the West Toronto Junction, before diving into a tunnel beneath the Canadian Pacific tracks. The first GO Train through this tunnel ran through southbound early on the Monday morning of May 26, 2014, ending service across one of the busiest track diamonds in Canada. This complicated junction was the industrial centrepiece of the Junction neighbourhood for over a century, but also a source of potential delays for GO transit, and an obstacle to improved service. Work which started in 2010 created a gigantic trench to take the Weston sub beneath the CP tracks, as well as built an overpass for Old Weston Road and a connecting track to the CP's Mactier sub. Although trains started using the tunnel beneath the CP tracks in May 2014, a fair amount of work remained, completing the Junction Road bridge over the Weston Sub tracks, and expanding the number of tracks through the junction. Still, the first GO Trains through the tunnel were a good milestone for area residents, who have had to suffer through daily construction noise, and the pounding of pile-drivers to build the retaining walls.

On to Weston

North of St. Clair, the line parallels Weston Road, passing beneath Rogers Road and then rising above the height of land to cross Black Creek and Black Creek Road over a pair of bridges. These were completely rebuilt in 2013 to allow for four tracks across the gaps. North of Weston station, the trip past the back yards of residential Weston will change to the darkness of a tunnel. On the surface above, the Mactier Sub branches off to the north and goes on to run through Bolton (a possible destination for its own GO Train in a few years).

After veering northwest, the line rises above Weston Road and continues to a tall bridge (widened to accommodate additional tracks) over the Humber River. Then it's on to the industrial blocks of northern Etobicoke. Less work was required here to expand service, as the properties have been set back from the rail line, and the bridges over Islington and Kipling were more ready to handle the additional tracks. At Kipling, trains make a stop at Etobicoke North station, nestled into a niche formed by the 401 - 409 junction. There used to be a small industrial yard to the north of the station, one of CN's few ones left after the building of the MacMillian yard, but the factories are giving way to big box stores.

From Etobicoke North to Malton Station, the line runs arrow straight, again paralleled by industrial scenery for most of the way. An exception occurs at Woodbine raceway, which abuts the northern end of the right-of-way. The major work here is to place Carlingview Drive into an underpass beneath the tracks. It was here that some proposed to build a station to serve both Woodbine Racetrack and Pearson Airport (via a connecting people mover). However, after passing beneath Highway 427, the tracks for the UP Express train will instead break off and proceed south over a spur line to a new station built atop Terminal 1.

Leaving Toronto

As the line crosses Derry Road in Malton, the scenery changes from industrial to residential again, as the line passes through the 1940s community built up to serve the area's factories during World War Two. It isn't long before the factories and warehouses return, however, as the Weston Sub meets CN's York sub at Bramalea, where a major parking lot and connecting bus terminal has been built.

The line continues northwest, passing through historic Brampton. It's startling to see the scenery change from modern industrial to small town in an instant. Brampton's station is as different from Bramalea as night is to day. Brampton's parking is squeezed in amongst shops and housing. The original station building predates GO Transit, although a modern and sheltered second platform along the south side of the tracks in 2009. West of the station is an abandoned diamond with tracks that continue to Orangeville and once extended south to Streetsville. These tracks once belonged to Canadian Pacific, but are now owned by the Credit Valley Explorer tourist train. This train operates excursions between Orangeville and Inglewood, but has no plans, as yet, to bring trains as far south as Brampton.

Northwest of Brampton station, the scenery becomes suburban again. It isn't long before the train pulls into Mount Pleasant station, near Brampton's western boundary. This station, added in 2005, was designed as the eventual terminus of two-way hourly service seven days a week between Brampton and Union Station. There are two sheltered platforms between the three tracks, and ample parking for cars. The station is located close to a high density residential development, giving the area the air of a transit-suburb.

The line finally enters countryside northwest of Mount Pleasant station, passing through fields and an aggregate mine. After making a spectacular crossing over the Credit River, the line enters Georgetown and passes through older industrial and residential neighbourhoods. At Georgetown station, GO Trains switch off the main line and enter into a train yard north of the old station building. Platforms and underpasses connect these yard tracks with the historical station itself, as well as parking, and connecting buses.

Into the Countryside

The four trains which continue to Kitchener proceed out the western end of this yard and re-enter the main line. Before Metrolinx purchased this segment of line, delays could occur as the crew had to radio ahead to the Goderich and Exeter dispatchers to ensure the line was clear. Now that Metrolinx is the owner, delays are minimal, and the the hour-long run to Kitchener begins. It has taken these trains an hour to get this far.

Past Georgetown, the scenery is primarily rural, broken up by hamlets and by wooded areas. The next major settlement is Acton, where a stop has once again been built near the Olde Hyde House. West of Acton, it's back to rural scenery, before climbing an embankment and crossing over the Eramosa River into downtown Guelph and a stop at Guelph station. Then, west of Guelph Station, the train slows right down as it passes through a residential neighbourhood where houses face the tracks. Things don't speed up again until the line crosses the Hanlon Expressway, but then it's a fast run through Puslinch and Woolwich townships. After passing through the village of Breslau (where a station may be built to offer park-'n'-ride facilities to Waterloo Region), the line crosses the Grand River to enter the City of Kitchener.

Kitchener's train station is an older building that has seen passenger train service for decades. GO's arrival required a significant extension of the platform east almost to Margaret Avenue, and the closure of Ahrens Street across the tracks. The station building remains open as a waiting area and ticket office, but its days may be numbered. In 2011, Waterloo Region committed to building a new transit terminal at the corner of King and Victoria. This terminal would connect city buses with intercity buses as well as GO and VIA trains. Further work related to Waterloo Region's LRT meant the construction of new underpasses where level crossings had been.

Building and Planning for the Future

Starting in December 2011, Kitchener's two GO trains were stored at a new two-track storage facility immediately west of King Street. When additional trains were added, a new layover facility with additional tracks was built in the east end of Kitchener, with a gate onto Shirley Avenue, east of Riverbend Drive. As GO train service to Kitchener expands, a larger facility may be needed, and the proposed site for such a facility includes a possible Kitchener West station where the tracks cross Ira Needles Boulevard.

From 2011 to 2016, considerable work took place to expand the number of tracks, widen bridges and eliminating level crossings to ensure that service to Kitchener could be expanded, made faster and more reliable. On September 8, 2015, this investment paid off with the launch of an hourly midday service between Union Station and Mount Pleasant. On Tuesday, September 6, 2016, two more GO Trains departed a new additional layover facility in east Kitchener to serve Kitchener station and operate to Union. As well, further bus service was launched connecting Kitchener station with GO Trains to Union at Bramalea.

In 2013, during the construction of the Union Pearson Express, Metrolinx closed the original Etobicoke North station at the south side of the tracks and built a platform and a temporary station building at the north side of the tracks. The station itself may not last much longer. Metrolinx plans to add a new tunnel beneath Highway 401 to allow a four-track line to run further northwest, and Etobicoke North's platforms are in the way. The station could be replaced by a new station near Highway 27 and the Woodbine Racetrack, possibly in coordination with a proposed major expansion for the casino there. Metrolinx estimates that the capital costs for such a stop could range from $92 million to $117 million, and it could serve 14,700 daily riders, 3,600 of whom would be new to the network.

In June 2016, Metrolinx approved a plan to build a station near Greenhouse Road in Breslau in eastern Waterloo Region. Further, under Metrolinx's Regional Express Rail plan, electric trains could operate at fifteen-minute intervals between Union and Bramalea, with hourly service to Mount Pleasant, and half-hourly rush-hour trains in from Kitchener in the morning and out from Union in the afternoon. Eventually, two-way all-day service would operate between Toronto and Kitchener.

To complete this, Metrolinx initially called for the bottleneck between Georgetown and Bramalea GO stations to be addressed. This route, still owned by Canadian National and connecting their freight operations on the Halton and York subdivisions, complicated expansion plans through the area. The Ontario government under Kathleen Wynne proposed building a freight bypass, paralleling Highways 401 and 407 from Milton to Bramalea, allowing Canadian National to divert freight trains out of the way. Soon after the Ford government took over in late 2018, however, this plan was dropped, with the Minister of Transportation promising that all-day two-way GO Train service to Kitchener would be completed through additional tracks along the corridor, and negotiation for track time with Canadian National.

In December 2017, the newly elected Ford government announced the sudden launch of a fifth GO Train pair, with trains now departing Kitchener at 5:15, 5:40, 6:05 (express from Bramalea), 6:45 and 7:10 a.m. and returning from Union in the afternoon at 3:35, 5:02, 5:27, 6:00 and 6:50 p.m. This service started on Monday, January 7, 2019, but was accomplished by moving around established trains, and eliminating a train that departed Union at 4:50 p.m. and operated express to Bramalea. As a result of cutting one of the three Kitchener-line trains that departed Union at its busiest hour, crowds reached dangerous levels on the Union Station Kitchener line platform, and passengers complained about the cut in service during that hour. Metrolinx responded by lengthening the 5:02 p.m. train departure from a 10-car consist to a 12-car consist and, near the end of January, announced that the 4:50 p.m. departure to Kitchener (operating express to Bramalea) would be restored effective February 13. This was accomplished by shortening the 5:02 p.m. train to terminate at Georgetown.

Speeding Up and Extending Service

In the summer of 2021, residents in London, not to mention rail and transit fans, were surprised to see GO Train equipment operating along the North Main Line to London Station. While GO Train service to Stratford had been proposed, serious work to build that link hadn't occurred. However, in September 2021, Metrolinx announced the launch of a pilot project extending a single GO Train west from Kitchener to London, serving stops at Stratford and St. Mary's. The service launched on Monday, October 18, 2021.

The extension was criticized as something that was done more for political expediency than to address a pressing transit need. It was noted that the extension was done as inexpensively as possible, using a trainset that would otherwise be laying over, and connecting to a trip from Kitchener to Union and back that was already in place. The stations at Stratford, St. Mary's and London were not upgraded to handle GO equipment, and so proved less than convenient for those with special mobility needs (although mobility services were available at these stations). Most of all, it was noted that VIA Rail already served these stops with two trains a day (although this was reduced to one due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The track between Kitchener and London had also been allowed to deteriorate, slowing service considerably. In 1990, VIA Rail used to make the trip between London via Kitchener to Union in two hours, fifty-five minutes. GO's service required two hours, nine minutes just to move from Kitchener to London. The entire trip from London to Union was scheduled at close to four hours.

However, residents in southwestern Ontario countered that the operation was one more travel option for them, not just to ride into Toronto, but to access the communities between London and Kitchener, and that these options had been getting sparse of late. A number of critics have called for enhanced rail services into southwestern Ontario, but have suggested that provincial support be made to VIA Rail, possibly including paying for new equipment and subsidizing new runs, such as the State of California does with Amtrak services under the Amtrak California monicker. Such an arrangement could still happen -- especially so if the pilot project proves to be a success with residents in southwestern Ontario.

As for the slow speeds resulting from deteriorating track, Metrolinx has stated its interest in upgrading the tracks to increase speeds and reduce travel times. By 2021, they had already done substantial work to this effect. During the Summer of 2021, engineering crews worked on the track operating through the City of Guelph immediately west of Guelph Central Station. Poor track conditions and multiple crossings had reduced train speeds there to just 16 km/h. In October 2021, Metrolinx announced that the speed limit had been increased to 30 km/h, and would be increased in stages, reaching 72 km/h in January 2022. The trip between Kitchener and Guelph, which had been 30 minutes long has been reduced to just 25 minutes, and is likely to be reduced further. The total travel time between Kitchener and Toronto, thanks to these and other improvements, may soon reach just 90 minutes, making the line a credible alternative to a congested Highway 401.

Commuter Rail or Regional Rail?

GO Train service between Toronto and Kitchener has grown rapidly in the last decade because Waterloo Region has grown dramatically in influence, both as a community of residents travelling to jobs in Toronto, and as a high-tech jobs centre increasingly drawing commuters from the Greater Toronto Area. Plans for installing two-way all-day, seven-day-a-week service are progressing rapidly, but they're opening the door to something more: the potential for support of increased public transit into southwestern Ontario. Such a service demand may be quite different from the type of service GO is used to, and it may require that Metrolinx look at different ways of serving it (such as building up VIA Rail as a long-distance regional carrier), but the investments Metrolinx has made to the corridor within the GTA is enhancing the potential for service throughout southwestern Ontario, and realizing that potential could improve service for everybody.

As inexpensive as London GO Train pilot project might have been, and as lengthy as it's trip is, Metrolinx's venture promises to be the start of a service enhancement that looks beyond the Greater Toronto Area's boundaries.

---

Kitchener GO Train Image Archive

	The cover of the initial Georgetown GO train service, effective April 28, 1974. Image courtesy DV Transit Archives.
	The inside of the Georgetown GO Train's timetable on its first day of service, April 28, 1974. Image courtesy DV Transit Archives.
	An official GO map of the Kitchener GO Train and associated by services, effective June 26, 2017.
	GO cab car #230 leads a Georgetown-bound train westbound into Union Station during the height of the afternoon rush hour on June 10, 2015. Photo by James Bow.
	For GO Transit, all trains lead to Union or, if it's the afternoon, all trains lead from it. Here, in this 2000 shot, a northwest bound train passes Bathurst Yard where numerous rush-hour only trains are stored during the midday. Photo by Daniel Garcia.
	A Georgetown train crosses Strachan Avenue on its way northwest in this 2000 shot. A Bradford GO train can be seen just behind it. Photo by Daniel Garcia. All has changed since then. The area has become more built up and, by the end of 2014, trains will be passing beneath Strachan Avenue.
	A southbound morning GO Train emerges from the Dundas Street bridge, heading along freshly groomed rail on the Weston sub on May 6, 2015. Photo by James Bow.
	The last morning inbound Kitchener line train passes a Union Pearson Express test train while approaching Dundas Street in this May 6, 2015 shot. James Bow took the photograph.
	The first GO train from Kitchener greets the sunrise at Bloor station on the morning of December 19, 2011. Photo by James Bow.
	A Georgetown GO Train has just left Bloor station and is approaching the crossing with the CP main line. A lot has changed since this 2000 shot by Daniel Garcia. By 2014, the level crossing between CP freight trains and GO trains will have been eliminated.
	Northbound Georgetown train (out of service) crossing Old Weston Road at West Toronto in 2000. Photo by Daniel Garcia. The level crossing closed soon after work began on the diamond separation in 2011, and will be replaced by an overpass in 2014.
	As seen from a Kitchener GO train on the afternoon of July 17, 2014, Metrolinx construction workers have laid down asphalt tarp as part of the reconstruction and expansion of the Weston subdivision, south of Weston GO station. Photo by James Bow.
	Weston station awaits one of five evening GO Trains. This shot is taken looking south from King Street. Sean Marshall took this picture in 2001. The station closed in 2012 and was replaced by a new facility south of Lawrence.
	The southern entrance of Weston GO station, as seen across the street on Lawrence Avenue, in August 2009. The entrance would soon be boarded up and demolished as work on the Weston Tunnel moved Weston GO station south of Lawrence. Photo by Martin Proctor.
	The community of Weston, with a strong sense of its history, helped put up pictures of Old Weston at the Weston GO station. This large photograph on the wall shows old Weston station, which used to exist on the site before being demolished. This shot was taken by Sean Marshall in 2001, and has itself since been demolished.
	A view of the newly opened west platform of the new Weston GO station, looking north towards Lawrence on July 10, 2013, while a southbound Kitchener GO train disembarks. Photo by James Bow.
	On the afternoon of July 14, 2014, the second platform and its associated station structure of Weston GO station rise from the trackbed. This, the southern end of the Weston station platform is seen from a passing Kitchener GO Train. Photo by James Bow.
	The rear of a morning GO Kitchener train is brought up by new cab car #307, seen here at Weston Station on April 25, 2017. Photo by James Bow.
	A view of the completed Weston station building, taken by James Bow on April 25, 2017.
	The 17:45 departure from Union pulls into Etobicoke North in the early evening of April 23, 2013. The station is unmanned in the afternoon, but does see use from commuters who park in the lot nearby. Photo by James Bow.
	A detailed plan of the proposed Woodbine/Highway 27 GO station, issued by the City of Toronto Development Information site.
	A drawing of the above-ground structures of the proposed Woodbine/Highway 27 GO Station. The image is courtesy of the City of Toronto Development Information Site.
	GO passengers leave an evening GO Train at Bramalea on a snowy and cold January 31, 2013. Soon after the two Kitchener trains were inaugurated, an additional connection was added to Guelph and Kitchener in the form of buses that connected with a later evening departure between Union and Mount Pleasant at Bramalea. Photo by James Bow.
	GO Kitchener train led by cab car #318 enters Bramalea station westbound on the afternoon of May 30, 2018. Photo by James Bow.
	A Kitchener GO Train, led by cab car 325, pulls into Bramalea station as passengers look on in the evening of February 8, 2019. Photo by James Bow.
	A view o fBramalea GO Station's tracks 3 and 4, looking east, showing the work being done upgrading the platforms. This photo was taken by James Bow on October 11, 2019.
	GO Transit F59PH locomotive #560 pulls a Union-bound Mount Pleasant GO Train eastbound into Bramalea station. This photograph was taken by James Bow on October 11, 2019.
	Kitchener-bound GO train enters ten minutes late to Brampton station on June 13, 2013. The second platform is a recent addition to this station, but is already seeing much use. Photo by James Bow.
	An early morning Kitchener GO Train leaves Mount Pleasant GO station on July 10, 2013, with cab car #219 bringing up the rear. Photo by James Bow.
	Led by GO Cab Car #230, a Kitchener-bound GO train pulls into Mount Pleasant station on a rainy afternoon on March 22, 2016. Photo by James Bow.
	Passengers detrain at Mount Pleasant GO station, beneath the station's clock tower on March 22, 2016. Photo by James Bow.
	GO locomotives #9808 and 9861 team up to shepherd a line of single-level coaches across the Credit River bridge east of Georgetown. The day is April 27, 1974, and the trains are on a test-run for Georgetown GO service, which would start on the 29th. This image is courtesy of the D&T Illingworth collection.
	GO HEP unit #9861 heads up a ceremonial first train at Georgetown station, celebrating the opening of the Georgetown GO Train on April 27, 1974. Central Vermont steam locomotive 1057 and various CN diesels were in attendance. The photographer is unknown.
	The very first train to depart Kitchener GO station in revenue service pulls into Kitchener station from the layover yard early in the morning on December 19, 2011, on its way to Union. Local media were among the many passengers aboard. James Bow was there to capture this photo. The station was unfinished; note the wooden temporary access ramp.
	The sun rises while a GO train bearing an advertising wrap for Alberta's tourism industry picks up passengers at Kitchener GO station in the early morning hours of July 4, 2014. Photo by James Bow.
	At the western end of the GO Kitchener line, two GO Kitchener trains backed by cab cars 255 and 306 wait to enter service at the Kitchener GO layover yard between King Street and Park. This temporary facility will be replaced by a new four-track facility being built further east, near Shirley Avenue. A temporary dome enclosing the King Street underpass project for the Waterloo Region LRT can be seen in the background. This photograph was taken on February 27, 2016 by Iain Hendry.
	A view of the whole GO system, including the Lakeshore and Georgetown lines, circa late 1974. Image courtesy GO Transit.