Half-hour train trips to Toronto from Brampton coming with huge new Metrolinx service update
Published March 11, 2024 at 10:17 am
Upcoming changes to the Metrolinx service schedule will make it quicker and easier to get between Brampton and downtown Toronto.
In a service update that was reportedly sent out early last week, Metrolinx laid out plans for a major increase in train trips starting next month.
The update has since been taken down but included plans for more than 300 additional weekly rail trips, or a 15 per cent overall increase from 1,999 trips to 2,307.
One of the expansions includes bringing 30-minute weekday service on the Kitchener GO Line from Brampton’s Bramalea GO station to Union Station in downtown Toronto in the midday and evenings.
Other updates include plans for an additional rush-hour trip to Union on the Milton Line, and 15-minute frequency on the Lakeshore West line on weekend afternoons and evenings between the Oakville GO station and Union.
The new schedule is expected to start on April 28.
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Brampton City Council is looking to bring more public and active transportation options to the city, and Mayor Patrick Brown has said he wants the provincial and federal governments to increase funding to the city as ridership is on the rise.
With a population of more than 656,000, the city says Brampton only receives $5,030 per capita for transit project funding – a number Brown said is too low compared to other Ontario cities like Toronto ($14,240) or Hamilton ($5,970).
A report showed transit ridership in Brampton saw an increase of 160 per cent between 2009 and 2019, and a 30 per cent recovery in ridership since the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Metrolinx introduced two-way weekend GO Train service on the Kitchener Line last April with service running hourly in both directions between Mount Pleasant GO station in Brampton and Union Station in Toronto, replacing weekend GO Bus on Route 31.
Additional changes on the Kitchener Line also included one additional express trip from the Kitchener GO station and an additional trip from the Bramalea GO, making all stops to Union Station.
The province has also introduced the One Fare plan, letting users transfer for free between Brampton Transit, MiWay, Durham Region Transit, York Region Transit, GO Transit and TTC buses among others.
The city also wants to move ahead with an underground Light Rail Transit expansion and wants to see the provincial and federal governments increase funding to the city as ridership is on the rise.
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