SETAC – South Etobicoke Transit Action Committee

Province enhancing Lakeshore GO service starting April 7.

Enhanced service coming to Lakeshore GO, UP Express train lines, new morning and late-night trips aim to make taking the trains ‘more convenient,’ says Transport Ministry

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/go-train-up-express-metrolinx-1.4579326?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_feed%3B%2BVOZFW%2FESGm9Wbcwpx86cA%3D%3D

New changes to the Lakeshore GO Train corridors and the Union-Pearson Express schedules will soon accommodate early birds and night owls alike. In total, 66 new trips a week are being added to the train lines, with 52 added to the Lakeshore lines and 14 added to the UP Express.

The enhancements, which will cost around $2 million annually, aim to add more consistent service, “making it easier and more convenient for commuters and families” to use the trains, according to a release sent out by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation on Friday. The changes are set to begin April 7.

With the new service, the Lakeshore West line, from Oakville to Toronto, and the Lakeshore East line, from Toronto to Oshawa, will run new weekend morning trips and new daily late-night trips. Lakeshore trains will run every 30 minutes.

“This will provide more consistent service every 30 minutes, seven days a week,” wrote the ministry in a release. “We knew … that a lot of people would decide to drive because the trains weren’t quite late enough coming back from their events, their games, that sort of thing,” Anne Marie Aikins, spokesperson for Metrolinx, told CBC Toronto.

The UP Express will also add two early-morning trains, at 4:55 a.m. and 5:10 a.m. “That will get people to some early flights it will also get airport workers into their early shifts,” Aikins explained. “It’s a really exciting time of progress for transit, and that’s going to be going on for the next number of years,” she said.

The service upgrades are part of a provincial investment of $21.3 billion to “transform GO Transit from a commuter transit service to a regional rapid transit system,” the release said. “Every quarter we’re going to be increasing service, and in the meantime we have to build our infrastructure,” said Aikins. “That all costs a lot of money and we’re in the very fortunate position of being supported by our provincial government as well as our federal government and our municipalities.”

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