The TTC may be
limping along, but things are positively jumping at provincially-run
GO Transit. The regional commuter service carries about one tenth of
the riders the TTC does, but its bus and rail system is steadily
expanding. A new station seems to open every few months, and
bulletins appear regularly to announce more parking, new elevators
and renovated station buildings.
GO will receive
hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from all levels of
government over the next decade, with the aim of doubling ridership
by 2031, to around 90 million rides a year. Planners and private
consultants have already started preparing for a string of major
rail improvements across the GTA -- and some will have considerable
impact on both train service and nearby neighborhoods.
Along GO’s
busiest corridor, known as the Lakeshore East and West lines,
residents are being consulted about adding a third track at several
key bottlenecks. The combination of these bypass tracks and the
arrival of new locomotives and more split-level rail cars means more
service can finally be added. Riders will see more options to a
schedule that is now at capacity, and there are a lot of motorists
just waiting to fill those new trains.
Along the other
rail lines that fan out from Union Station, plans are underway to
separate GO’s trains from busy freight routes. The main east-west
rail corridors of both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National cross
these radial lines at several locations -- all on the same level.
Depending on the junction, new bridges or tunnels will separate the
intersecting tracks, allowing trains to move more freely.
One of these
projects -- along the Georgetown line in Toronto’s west end, has a
lot of nearby residents concerned. Soon, In Transit will examine the
controversy brewing in the Weston area. Riders on the north-south
Bradford and Stouffville lines can also look forward to less delays
when two more rail intersections are separated over the next four to
five years. Most of GO’s larger construction projects will not be
finished until the end of this decade, even though commuter demand
has been been building for years.
Metro readers
have asked me when GO will stretch outside the GTA. Managing
director Gary McNeil reports, “As far as expansion to areas beyond
GO's current service area (i.e. Niagara and Peterborough), GO does
not intend to extend its current operation.” However, he adds that
private bus services may eventually provide better connections with
GO Transit.
Those who have
been waiting for passenger trains to return to Barrie will get their
wish -- perhaps by the end of 2006 or early 2007. Thanks to
foresight that preserved the tracks north of Bradford, central
Ontario’s train network is again growing outward. To celebrate, the
pro-transit organization Transport 2000 Ontario is holding a public
forum in Barrie on Saturday, April 16. For the latest news on
commuter relief, make your way to Barrie City Hall at 1:30 p.m. Call
416-504-3934 for more information.