Metrolinx adding new GO train trips, extending service across GTHA

Metrolinx says it is adding dozens of new GO train trips and extending service in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.

The changes will take effect Aug. 31 and including 84 more GO train trips each week on the Lakeshore East, Lakeshore West and Kitchener lines and 65 extended trips on the Lakeshore West, Kitchener, and Stouffville lines.

Rush-hour weekday service for customers travelling out of West Harbour GO will be doubled with four more trips – two in the morning and two in the afternoon. It will include a new homebound Lakeshore West train from Union Station at 4:45 p.m., running express to Clarkson GO and arriving at West Harbour GO at 5:57 p.m. Metrolinx says the three other options are extensions of existing trips.

Weekend Niagara GO train service between Niagara Falls and Union Station will now be offered year-round. Metrolinx says the schedules will be the same as they are today.

Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney also announced new late-night weekday service between Kitchener and Toronto’s Union Station and hourly weekday evening service between Brampton and Union Station.

“We’re delivering on our promise to expand transit in Ontario by offering more service, more trains and more choice for GO customers,” said Mulroney in a news release. “For GO Transit, this means an expansion program that will transform GO into a comprehensive two-way, all-day rapid transit system with service every fifteen minutes on core segments of the network.

Metrolinx says once the new and extended train trips go into service, GO train service will increase by eight per cent over the last year.

“The new midday, peak and evening services we’re adding across the GO Transit network will make taking the GO more reliable and give customers more choice when planning their trips,” said Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA) in a news release. “We’re building a transportation system that puts people first by offering them transit options that fit their schedule, whether they’re meeting up with family and friends, staying late at the office or wanting to get home early.”