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{{Infobox rail line
{{Infobox rail line


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| name = Barrie
| name = Barrie

Revision as of 07:57, 14 September 2013

Barrie
BiLevel car at Barrie South
Overview
OwnerMetrolinx
LocaleGreater Toronto Area
WebsiteTable 65
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemGO Train
Operator(s)GO Transit
History
OpenedSeptember 7, 1982
Technical
Line length63.0 miles (101.4 km)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map
Template:Infobox rdt

Barrie is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto in a generally northward direction to Barrie, and includes ten stations along its 59.5 miles (95.8 km) route.[1] From 1982 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2007, it was known as the Bradford line, as that community then constituted the line's terminus. With the opening of the Barrie South station on December 17, 2007, the Barrie nomenclature was restored.

The line runs on the tracks of the Northern Railway of Canada, along the original route of the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway before that was extended far to the north in later years. The Northern was purchased by the Grand Trunk Railway, and thus became part of the Canadian National Railway (CNR) in the early 1900s. CNR referred to the line as the CN Newmarket Subdivision, or Newmarket Sub for short. Metrolinx purchased the entire line from CNR in 2009.

As of January 2012, the Barrie line serves about 7,500 passengers a day[2] (approximately 2 million per year).

History

In 1852, construction began on the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway, which would run from Toronto to Collingwood.[3] The line opened on May 16, 1853, when passenger train service began operating between Toronto and Aurora (then Machell's Corners).[4] On October 11, 1853, service was extended to Barrie.[5]

In 1888, the Grand Trunk Railway took over operation of the line.[4] In 1923, the Canadian National Railway inherited the bankrupt Grand Trunk Railway.

On April 1, 1972, CN introduced commuter service from Barrie to Toronto, as required by the Canadian Transport Commission. The service was transferred to Via Rail in 1978.[6]

As a result of federal government financial cutbacks to Via Rail, the service was transferred to the provincial government and integrated into the GO Transit network on September 7, 1982, but service only extended to Bradford.[6] On September 17, 1990, the line was extended to Barrie, but was again cut back to Bradford on July 5, 1993.

On September 8, 1998, GO Transit added a second train to the line. In the early 2000s, GO Transit opened four new stations on the line: Rutherford on January 7, 2001;[6] York University on September 6, 2002;[7] and East Gwillimbury on November 1, 2004.[8] On December 17, 2007, GO Train service was restored to Barrie after fourteen years with the opening of the Barrie South station.

On October 5, 2005, GO Transit issued a press release stating that the number of trains on the line would be expanded to four for the morning southbound trip, and four for the afternoon return.[9] This also affected all connecting bus lines with links to the train line, especially GO bus service from Barrie and Keswick.

On April 10, 2006, GO Transit announced the construction of a bridge at the Snider diamond,[10] which is the junction of the north-south line used primarily by GO transit for passenger service, and the east-west CN York Subdivision line used primarily by Canadian National Railway (CN) for freight service. Since CN controlled both corridors, the passage of passenger trains over the diamond was often delayed by freight trains passing through the intersection. Constructing the bridge and associated trackage resulted in a grade separation of the two lines, eliminating such delays. Construction of the bridge began in February 2006, and the bridge was completed and opened on December 2006. The entire project was completed on June 2007.[11]

GO Transit received some federal and provincial funding to extend the Bradford rail line to Barrie. The new station, named Barrie South GO Station, is located at the southern end of the city. Construction of the station began in June 2007, and it opened on December 17, 2007.[12] The project entailed "upgrading rails, ties, signals, and crossings" on the already existing rail line between the Bradford and Barrie South GO train stations",[13] as well as building 20 kilometres (12 mi) of new track and a layover facility. Overall, the project cost $25 million, of which one third was covered by the municipal government of Barrie.[13] Project construction began February 2, 2007.

On December 15, 2009, Metrolinx purchased the lower part of the Newmarket sub in central-north Toronto from CN for $68 million. The Barrie line trackage is now owned by Metrolinx all the way from Union Station to Barrie. As part of the agreement, CN rail will continue to serve five freight customers located on the Newmarket sub between Highway 401 and CN's main east-west York Sub.

The Barrie line was expanded with the addition of the Allandale Waterfront station on January 30, 2012.[14]

Stations

There are nine stations on the Barrie line, excluding the terminus at Union Station in Toronto.

Station Opened Parking spots Notes
Allandale Waterfront January 28, 2012 120
Barrie South December 17, 2007 628
Bradford September 7, 1982 93
East Gwillimbury November 1, 2004 637
Newmarket September 7, 1982 265
Aurora September 7, 1982 1,725
King City September 7, 1982 375
Maple September 7, 1982 1,146
Rutherford January 7, 2001 983
York University September 6, 2002 0

Services

The Barrie line has weekday service consisting of five trains southbound from Allandale Waterfront GO Station in Barrie to Union Station in Toronto in the morning, and five trains northbound from Union Station in the afternoon.

In the summer of 2012, a pilot train service was offered on weekends and holidays starting 23 June and ending 3 September.[15] Two trains in each direction completed the entire route, while an additional four trains ran between Union Station and East Gwillimbury GO station.[16]

Bidirectional weekend service is again offered in 2013, this time with four trains in each direction covering the entire route from Toronto to Barrie, making all stops. The service runs from 29 June to 2 September.[17]

Connections

The Barrie line makes connections with:

Future

The government of Ontario announced funding to Metrolinx for network expansion on December 13, 2007, which included $20 million to build a second track between Union Station and Bradford to enable all-day two-way service.[18] This is expected to consist of peak service between Bradford GO Station and Union Station of one train every 15–20 minutes, with some trains continuing to Barrie; and off-peak service between Bradford GO Station and Union Station of one train every 30 minutes, with bus connections to Barrie.[19]

As a part of the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension, a new GO station will be built to interchange with the Downsview Park Subway station.[20] The current York University station will be abandoned when the new station opens, which is expected to be in 2015.[1]

To provide an interchange with York Region's Viva bus rapid transit service, a new station will be built at Highway 7. The station is to be called Concord Station, after the community of Concord in which it will be located.[1]

A potential GO station could be placed at the Caledonia station on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT; that station's design includes a pedestrian bridge above the Barrie line, and the ability to build elevator access to a future GO platform will be incorporated. [21]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Baseline Report" (PDF). Metrolinx. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  2. ^ McInroy, Ian (27 January 2012). "GO rolls out free train trip". Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  3. ^ "Railways Appeared in Toronto in 1852". Toronto Railway Historical Association. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  4. ^ a b "Grand Trunk Railway Station". City of Aurora. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  5. ^ "CNR Allendale". CNR in Ontario. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  6. ^ a b c "GO Transit's Bradford Line". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
  7. ^ "Eves government opens new GO Transit station at York University". Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2005-12-30. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
  8. ^ "Media Advisory - GO welcomes customers to its new East Gwillimbury station next Monday morning". Canada Newswire. 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
  9. ^ "North Corridor Changes". Customer Bulletins. GO Transit. 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-12-11. Retrieved 2005-10-29.
  10. ^ "Bradford line improvements coming your way". Customer Bulletins. GO Transit. 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2006-05-14.
  11. ^ "Bradford Line - Snider Diamond". GO Transit. Retrieved 2007-12-05. [dead link]
  12. ^ "New GO stations". GO Transit. Archived from the original on 2007-11-24. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  13. ^ a b "Construction on the Bradford Corridor – Extension to Barrie Project". The Corporation of the City of Barrie. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Mackenzie, Robert. "GO TRAINS HEAD TO ALLANDALE WATERFRONT GO STATION, STARTING JANUARY 30". Transit Toronto.
  15. ^ "Home page". Gotransit.com. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Barrie Line schedule - summer 2012" (PDF). GO Transit. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
  17. ^ "Barrie Line Seasonal Schedule" (PDF). GO Transit. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  18. ^ Gray, Jeff (2007-12-13). "Ontario to deliver on $100-million it had promised for public transit". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  19. ^ "GO 2020" (PDF). GO Transit. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
  20. ^ "Winter 2010 TYSSE Newsletter". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  21. ^ "Caledonia Station Preliminary Design Presentation". Metrolinx. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
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