As summer breaks wrap up and families gear up for school, GO Transit is set to reduce train services on several lines – a move that’s being labeled as “temporary.”
A recent update from GO Transit announced that the Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, Barrie, and Stouffville lines will see changes starting as soon as Saturday.
The announcement mentioned that these service cuts are intended to “support our rail partner (Alstom) with their advancement of crew training and certification” and to “provide the capacity for future service needs,” which ties into the ongoing expansion program for GO Transit’s infrastructure.
Here’s a quick overview of significant train service adjustments:
Barrie: Three late-day weekday trains will be canceled, with bihourly afternoon and evening weekend train service (reduced from hourly). Lakeshore East: Weekend train services will shift to 30-minute intervals (down from 15-minute intervals during afternoons and evenings). Lakeshore West: Three weekday trips between Union Station and Niagara Falls will be canceled, while weekend train service between Aldershot and Union Station will switch to 30-minute intervals (down from more frequent service in mornings and afternoons). Stouffville: Six late-day weekend trips will be canceled along with one new trip added, resulting in bihourly weekend train services (reduced from hourly).
In addition, several bus routes are also set to receive extra trips amid these upcoming changes.
Click here for a master list of GO Transit train and bus schedules.
During an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria addressed questions regarding the service adjustments.
“It’s temporary, all of those changes are temporary in nature,” he stated.
Sarkaria noted that GO Transit regularly updates its service levels multiple times each year for various reasons. He highlighted issues like slow orders affecting Lakeshore West trains heading to Niagara Falls, which have caused delays while buses are brought in as alternatives to rail service.
“There are impacts or very limited minor impacts on those GO routes, but it also allows us to do more enhancements to service by doing some of the infrastructure upgrades at those sites (along the Barrie and Stouffville lines) as well,” Sarkaria explained.
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