Metrolinx, CN reach agreement to expand GO Rail service to Waterloo Region

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca speaks at an event announcing an agreement between CN and Metrolinx that will allow future two-way service of GO Rail service to the Region of Waterloo.
Region of Waterloo/Twitter

Through Metrolinx, the regional transportation authority for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Ontario has secured an agreement-in-principle with Canadian National that will allow GO Regional Express Rail to be built along the Kitchener GO corridor.

 

The agreement-in-principle also begins the planning and technical analysis to build a new freight corridor that will allow CN to shift most of its freight traffic from the section of the Kitchener corridor the company owns – roughly between Georgetown and Bramalea -– to the new corridor. That will free up capacity for more GO service through Brampton to Kitchener.

To build a modern and integrated transit network in the region and seamlessly connect communities and businesses, Ontario is committing up to CA$43 million (US$33 million) to help fund the Region of Waterloo’s proposed transit hub in downtown Kitchener. This hub will make it easier for transit users to connect to GO rail and bus service, the light-rail transit line being built in Waterloo Region, VIA Rail Canada services and local and intercity bus services.

“We are strengthening the backbone of regional transit by introducing even more GO train and bus service to Kitchener. These new services will make it easier for people to leave their cars at home and take transit to get where they need to be,” noted Bruce McCuaig, president and chief executive officer of Metrolinx.

To improve connectivity in the short term, starting in September, GO will extend two morning and two afternoon peak train trips that currently run between Georgetown and Union Station to also serve Kitchener, Guelph and Acton. This will double the number of weekday train trips between Kitchener and Toronto.

Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province’s history, about CA$160 billion (US$123 billion) over 12 years. This is supporting 110,000 jobs every year across the province, with projects, such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals.

The agreement-in-principle between Metrolinx and CN will allow for continued planning and design on improvements to the Kitchener GO corridor to support more GO train service in the future and deliver GO Regional Express Rail along this line.

The province will be seeking support from the Canadian government to construct the new rail corridor and enable transformational changes in shifting freight rail operations to allow for increased transit choices.

Under the GO Regional Express Rail initiative, Metrolinx is transforming the GO rail network, including the Kitchener GO corridor, to provide faster and more frequent GO train service across the region, with electrification of core segments of the network. Weekly trips across the entire GO rail network are expected to grow from about 1,500 to nearly 6,000 over 10 years.

 

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