Significant work required to bring two-way all-day GO trains to Kitchener

KITCHENER — Metrolinx officials say 2024 remains the goal for introducing two-way, all-day GO Train service to Kitchener, but considerable work is required to make that happen.

2024 “is still the objective,” director of service planning Chris Burke said in an interview following an information session in Kitchener Friday. But specifics on the service, such as the number of trips that may be offered each day, remain elusive.

“We do try to model what is the right service level,” said chief communications officer Judy Pfeifer, adding that those service models haven’t been released.

Currently, there are four morning trains and four afternoon trains between Kitchener and Toronto, and $1.2 billion was invested between 2010 and 2015 to improve the corridor between the two cities. But extensive new construction and upgrades are still required to further boost service and speed trips up to the 70- or 75-minute range from the current two hours or so.

A fourth track needs to be constructed between Union Station and the Mount Pleasant GO station in Brampton, while a second 52 kilometre-long track is required between Georgetown and Kitchener. A new tunnel under Highway 401 will be built, and signalling and communication systems need to be upgraded

There’s also the matter of building a new 30-kilometre rail bypass between Bramalea and Milton to shift freight trains off a corridor that’s currently shared with GO trains.

That project in itself could require up to 35 new bridges, the relocation or modification of up to 17 hydro towers and relocating up to 3.4 kilometres of major gas lines. A total of 60 kilometres of new track would be laid (two tracks at 30 kilometres each), a new signal system is required and a new grade separation would be built where the new bypass meets the existing rail corridor.

While an agreement in principle with CN Rail for the bypass has been reached, a formal agreement is still needed.

Ideally, service to Kitchener would also be electrified by 2024, Burke said. But that would require overhead wiring and other electrical infrastructure and a new fleet to replace the current diesel trains.

Last week, the federal government announced $752 million in funding to help improve infrastructure along the Kitchener rail corridor. On Friday, Metrolinx officials couldn’t provide a total budget for the project to bring two-way, all-day service to Kitchener, but said all of the required work has been funded. It’s part of $30 billion in ongoing investment to improve transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas.

“The amount of infrastructure being built is significant, and the investment is significant,” Pfeifer said.