The future of the Greater Toronto Area’s urban growth can arguably be boiled down to one word: trains. Over the past decade, improvements to GO Transit’s rail network has positioned it to be amongst the best commuter rail systems in North America. With most lines seeing major service increases, it has begun to morph from being almost entirely focused on traditional commuting patterns (rail service into Downtown Toronto on weekday mornings and the reverse in the evenings, with almost no off-peak or weekend service) into one that can accommodate passengers outside of weekday commuters. Most importantly, it gives workers with non-traditional schedules the ability to utilize the system – and allows them to live in suburban areas without being fully dependent on cars. The largest changes, however, are still to come. Ontario’s massive GO Expansion plan will, in tandem with land-use policies favouring high-density, transit-oriented communities, completely change the residential real estate landscape in the suburbs surrounding Toronto.
What is the GO Expansion Plan?
Also known as Regional Express Rail, upon its completion GO Expansion will transform transit in the Greater Toronto Area. While this particular plan has only come to the forefront in the past decade or so, preparations for increased GO Transit rail service can be traced all the way back to the 1960s. In 1965, Canadian National opened a massive new rail yard in Vaughan. Known to day as MacMillan Yard, it was built in tandem with a new freight bypass route running north of the City of Toronto. This new route allowed CN to re-route traffic from the older main line running through the heart of the city, and provided space for service on the Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West lines to start in 1967.
As the GO network expanded in the following decades, the province (more recently under the Metrolinx brand) began buying up trackage – with the result that most or all of the tracks on five of the agency’s seven rail lines are owned by the province.
Sharing trackage with freight traffic is one of the largest impediments to running frequent all-day service, and their removal (combined with Metrolinx’s operational control of the tracks they own) clears the way for the crown jewel of the GO Expansion project: all-day, high-frequency service on a significant portion of the network. Additionally, the project is to include electrification on the provincially-owned lines, as well as assorted other improvements such as the elimination of grade crossings at busy streets and new train storage facilities. When full build-out is achieved, the entirety of the Barrie and Stouffville lines will be electrified and seeing service every 15 minutes or better on their inner portions (from Union Station to Aurora and Unionville, respectively). The inner portions of the Kitchener line and both Lakeshore Lines will also be electrified and see similar service frequencies, but their outer segments share trackage with major freight corridors and will continue to be served by conventional diesel trains at lower service headways. Profound changes are slated to occur in the areas along each of the corridors seeing improvements, and specific effects to local communities along the routes will be discussed in regards to each individual line.
Map of planned electrification for the core GO network. Certain additional projects (such as the Bowmanville GO extension) are not included. Image courtesy of Metrolinx.
*Note: all discussion of current service levels are not based on current timetables, which feature reduced service due to increased levels of COVID-19 cases.
Kitchener line
Extending approximately 197km from Toronto to London, Ontario via Brampton, Guelph and Kitchener, the Kitchener line has already received some of the most transformative infrastructure improvements in the entire network. While it will see increased service on its inner and outer segments (trains every 15 minutes or better between Union Station and Bramalea, along with improved off-peak service to Guelph and Kitchener), opportunities for upgrades to the central section through Brampton are limited by Canadian National’s continued ownership of the line.
As a result, electrification is currently planned to end at Bramalea, with diesel trains running the full length of the line. Yet despite the issues presented by CN’s control of a large portion of its trackage, the Kitchener corridor has the potential to be a truly transformative transit route not just for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) but for Southern Ontario as a whole. The Kitchener-Waterloo area has grown tremendously in the past two decades, and – buoyed by a burgeoning tech industry, two major universities and a lower cost of living relative to the GTA – is poised for further growth. Upon the completion of infrastructure upgrades, Toronto-Kitchener rail service planned to switch from the current rush hour-focused schedule to one featuring more frequent trains all day. Once that change occurs, this will become a vital corridor for both regional and national commerce by connecting the country’s largest city with one of its largest tech hubs. Additionally, the upgraded rail line will make commuting between Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Toronto a much more appealing prospect. This combination of factors can be expected to fuel the construction of new residential communities oriented around train stations, especially in Downtown Kitchener, Guelph and Georgetown.
The portion of the line from Bramble GO to Georgetown GO, while hamstrung by freight traffic, also presents opportunities for urban revitalization. Brampton’s 2040 Vision envisages the city’s transformation from a car-dependent bedroom community into one where public transit and active transportation play a larger role in residents’ lives. Brampton GO station sits in the heart of the city’s downtown core, and provides an excellent opportunity for transit-oriented development. Bramalea GO’s location in an industrial district causes it to lack the pedestrian-friendly nature of Brampton’s other two stations, but close proximity to multiple major roadways makes it a natural location for a large multi-modal transportation hub.
Aerial view of plans for increased density around Brampton GO station in the city’s downtown. Image courtesy of the City of Brampton.
Stouffville line
The majority of the improvements to the Stouffville line – as well as the largest service increases – are set to occur within the city of Toronto, and these (along with other GO Expansion projects within the city limits) will be covered in a separate article. However, the portions of the line in Whitchurch-Stouffville and Markham are slated to be electrified, which will do much to change the urban form of the latter. In the south, Unionville GO station is planned to be the terminus of high-frequency service to Union Station, and is currently being rebuilt into a multi-modal transportation hub. A large master-planned community is being designed to occupy the empty fields that presently surround the station site, and these will (together with the existing Downtown Markham project) create a new mixed-use node oriented around the train station. Further north, Mount Joy GO station’s non rush-hour service consists of trains in both directions each hour – a level of service that is not planned to be significantly improved as part of GO Expansion. However, the prospect of off-peak and weekend service (the latter of which was only introduced in late 2019) on the line has led to the planning and construction of several new condominium buildings in the vicinity of the station. Together, they will give this portion of northwestern Markham a more urban character. This, combined with the new neighbourhoods being built around Unionville GO, will give the city two higher-density districts while presenting the opportunity for the preservation of historic communities in other portions of the city.
Barrie line
The Barrie line is slated to be electrified along its entire length from Union Station to Allandale Waterfront GO in Barrie, with frequent all-day service planned to run as far as Aurora GO station. While all of the communities along the corridor (such as Aurora, Newmarket and Bradford) will benefit from easier access to the rest of the region, three stations (existing ones at Maple and Allandale Waterfront, as well as one that is currently proposed for Innisfill, Ontario) are to see the greatest changes to their surrounding neighbourhoods – and in one case, will serve as the catalyst for an entirely new master-planned community. Even though the bulk of increased service is still years away, new condominium communities are already starting to sprout up in the vicinity of Maple GO station. With Downtown Toronto just over 30 minutes away, this trend of high-density development is likely to continue in advance of the 15-minute frequencies planned to be introduced to the station. Further north, Allandale Waterfront GO currently receives only limited service outside of rush hour, but hourly service in both directions is planned. By improving connectivity between it and the Greater Toronto Area, this improvement will have the effect of making Barrie an even more attractive place to live and work. Just to the south, the town of Innisfill has endorsed a truly unique vision for its future. Dubbed The Orbit, this master plan envisions an entirely new city radiating outward from a newly-built Innisfill GO station. If this one-of-a-kind plan is completed, the Barrie Line’s importance as a regional transportation artery will increase further.
Aerial view of The Orbit. Image courtesy of the Town of Innisfill.
Lakeshore West line:
Now extending as far as Niagara Falls, the Lakeshore West line boasts the network’s busiest station outside of Downtown Toronto (Oakville GO) and serves as a major public transportation artery for three of Canada’s largest cities: Toronto, Mississauga and Hamilton. Along with the Lakeshore East line, it has featured service on weekends and outside of rush hour much longer than the rest of the system. This, combined with Metrolinx’s ownership of much of the line, has allowed for service at 15-minute frequencies to begin in advance of the GO Expansion project, whereas much of the rest of the network must wait for the completion of ongoing projects such as the building of additional trackage. Because it has enjoyed higher levels of service for years, the Lakeshore West line has catalyzed redevelopment along its length more quickly than in other parts of the GO network. For example, new condo buildings have already been built around Burlington GO station, with more planned to be constructed in the near future. In the vicinity of Oakville GO, the Midtown Oakville urban growth plan will transform 100 hectares of land surrounding the station. Further north, the Port Credit area of Mississauga has long been a dense, mixed-use neighborhood with its GO station in a centralized location. A wave of new condominium buildings has begun to descend on the neighborhood – no doubt fueled in large part by the continued importance of such a convenient transportation amenity. The combination of these projects, proposed redevelopments at Bronte GO and Appleby GO and several smaller-scale communities around Clarkson GO, will (if all are completed as planned) revitalize the land around every Lakeshore West station from Port Credit to Burlington. Taken together, they demonstrate the importance of the line to the region, as well as the desirability of transit-oriented living – a factor that will be even more essential upon the completion of GO Expansion’s improvements to the line.
Lakeshore East line:
Like its counterpart to the west, the Lakeshore East Line has had higher levels of service for longer than much of the rest of the GO system. As a result, the gap between existing service levels and what will be operated upon the completion of GO Expansion is smaller than on the Barrie, Stouffville and Kitchener lines. Yet while there has been an increasing amount of residential development surrounding stations, such development is hamstrung by the location of the rail corridor from Pickering to Oshawa. The dedicated tracks built specifically for the line (known as the GO Subdivision) are sandwiched between Canadian National-owned tracks and Highway 401. Thus, rather than passing through or close to dense, built-up neighborhoods in, Whitby or Oshawa (as would be found in Brampton or Port Credit), the stations in these communities are built away from populated areas. This has the effect of making their ridership more dependent on commuters driving to large station-side parking areas than on those who arrive on foot. Innovative solutions such as the award-winning Pickering Pedestrian Bridge have been devised, but accessibility – particularly when crossing the 401 – remains an issue. However, the planned extension to Bowmanville offers the chance to build stations that are not as reliant on car traffic to generate ridership. In particular, the proposed Ritson Road station in Oshawa and the terminus in Bowmanville present promising opportunities. The former sits close to Downtown Oshawa and has the potential for residential intensification, while the latter is set to be the centrepiece of a new mixed-use neighborhood. If both come to fruition, along with continued densification around the stations east of Oshawa, then the Lakeshore East Line will be catching up to its western counterpart in the race for creating transit-oriented communities.
Site map of the Bowmanville West Urban Centre, the centerpiece of which will be the new Bowmanville GO station. Image courtesy of the Municipality of Clarington.
Conclusions:
The GO Expansion project will, upon its completion, bring extensive upgrades and increased service to the Lakeshore East, Lakeshore West, Barrie, Kitchener and Stouffville rail lines. While the scale and specifics differ according to each line, it is clear that this massive infrastructure investment will bring profound changes to the urban form and built environment of the communities along their routes. This is especially true for the Lakeshore lines, the Stouffville line and the Barrie line, with stations on all three lines slated to be focal points of new master-planned communities. Additionally, connectivity between the Greater Toronto Area and several other major Ontario cities (particularly Kitchener-Waterloo and Barrie via their namesake rail lines) will be greatly improved. Finally, the planned electrification of the busiest parts of the system will allow for services to run at much higher frequencies than at present, allowing for these sections to operate more like subway lines than commuter rail. The end result of these changes will be a region whose built form will be altered irrevocably, with a greater focus on dense mixed-use communities centered around frequent transit service. As a result, GO Expansion will go down in history as one of the most transformative projects not just in Ontario, but in all of Canada.
Featured image courtesy of GO Transit’s website.
