Province says two-way, all-day service in the works for GO Train line that runs through Brampton

Published August 6, 2020 at 2:41 pm

The province says two-way, all-day service on the Kitchener GO Train line, which runs from Union Station to Kitchener and stops in Brampton, is closer than before. 

The province says two-way, all-day service on the Kitchener GO Train line, which runs from Union Station to Kitchener and stops in Brampton, is closer than before. 

The Kitchener GO line currently offers rush-hour commuter service.

Today (Aug. 6), Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation, announced the completion of excavation on tunnel one of two rail tunnels under Highways 401 and 409.

“Reaching 100 per cent excavation of tunnel one marks a major milestone for the Highway 401 and 409 Rail Tunnels project,” Surma said in a statement. 

“This priority project is part of the Ontario government’s commitment to expand GO rail service and to deliver better, faster and more frequent rapid transit throughout the province’s GO Transit network.”

The province says this breakthrough for the first of two tunnels is the latest achievement since the start of construction. The project includes the construction of two rail tunnels under 21 live lanes of Highways 401 and 409 to accommodate two additional tracks, future signaling and communications infrastructure to help increase capacity on the Kitchener corridor.

Each rail tunnel under Highway 401 and 409 will be approximately 180 metres, or about 360 metres when combined, and 11 metres in diameter.

The province says the completion of the tunnel involved the removal of approximately 35,000 cubic metres of material.

Toronto Tunnel Partners is digging at the second tunnel with completion expected for late 2020.

The province says the value of the contract is approximately $116.9 million.

“The GO Expansion program and increased capacity along the Kitchener GO Line is about building a modern, comprehensive transit service that offers vast improvements to our network, changing the way residents travel across the region and allow us to bring more trains and more service that our customers deserve,” said Phil Verster, President and CEO of Metrolinx, in a statement. 

“In a post-COVID world, two-way, regular train services are going to be even more important than before and this is particularly true for how we serve all our communities along the Kitchener line.”

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