Going Urban

The Lakeshore Line is the route of Toronto's original GO Train service started in 1967, the year of Canada's Centennial.  Originally started purely as a commuter service, focused on rush hours, to get people from the surrounding suburbs to downtown Toronto, today GO goes much further.  Currently there is service seven days per week, and regularly every 30 minutes but more frequently as demand dictates.     No longer is the GO Lakeshore Line a service only for downtown workers with weekends running frequent schedules for people coming into the city to experience all the city has to offer, great restaurants, major concerts, professional sporting events, and more.

The Greater Toronto Area Transit 2050 Plan introduces "Urban" service which brings the more densely populated areas of the corridor service with much greater frequency (10 minutes or less) and new stations to better serve the communities along the way.  This "Urban" service acts and feels like a subway in every way except that it doesn't run underground, with electric propulsion, fast acceleration, more doors to get off and on quickly, and the frequency you expect on urban transit services.

Three major initiatives would be delivered to this line as part of this proposed plan:

1. Opening new stations to support "Urban" service: In 2031 the new stations will open are Maple Grove and Clearview in Oakville, Lorne Park and Lakeview in Mississauga, and Lakeshore and Park Lawn in Toronto.  Additionally the East Harbour station, a major complex with connections to subway, streetcars, and other GO services will open in 2033 as part of the current Ontario Line project.  Service at these stations will start with limited frequencies and ramp up with the completion of the electrification of this portion of the line and the arrival of the urban electric multi-unit train fleet.  

2. Launching regularly scheduled "Regional" rail service to the Niagara Region:  Regular 7 days per week service would reach St Catharines in 2031, with new stations Crown Point in Hamilton, Casablanca in Grimsby, and Beamsville.  In addition, with an investment in a new tunnel under the Welland Canal regular service to Niagara Falls will launch in 2040 with new stations Merritton in St Catharines, and St Davids.  Unrelated to this initiative, service to Confederation station in Hamilton will start shortly as an extension of current services to West Harbour station.

3. An eastward extension serving central Oshawa and Bowmanville:  The current railway station serving Oshawa is located far from the core, and the CN line that most passenger rail services use is located south of the 401, inconvenient to the majority of residents that could benefit from transit services.   The Bowmanville extension would deliver "Suburban" service to Oshawa Centre, and "Regional" services to Darlington and Bowmanville.