Stouffville line
| Stouffville | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Metrolinx | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Toronto; Markham; Whitchurch-Stouffville | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Commuter rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | GO Train | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | GO Transit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daily ridership | 15,000 (2014)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | September 7, 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 49.6 km (30.8 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating speed | 90 miles per hour (145 km/h) (max) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Stouffville line is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. Its southernmost terminus is Union Station in Toronto, and its northernmost terminus is Lincolnville in Whitchurch-Stouffville. There are connections from almost every station to Toronto Transit Commission and York Region Transit bus services.[2]
On weekdays during peak periods, trains operate approximately twice per hour over the entire route, but in the peak direction only. Outside of peak periods, trains operate hourly in both directions between either Unionville and Mount Joy stations and Union, with a small number of trips covering the full line to Lincolnville. GO bus routes 70 and 71 provide service in the directions, time periods, and segments not covered by train service. However, buses to and from Union Station bypass all other stations within the City of Toronto.[2] Weekend service is operated entirely by buses.[3]
Between Union Station and Scarborough Station, the Stouffville line shares tracks with the Lakeshore East line. Most Stouffville Line trains operate non-stop through the shared segment, but certain peak-period trains stop at Danforth Station and one train per day also stops at Scarborough station.[2]
History
Originally laid by the Toronto and Nipissing Railway, the track came into operation in 1871. The T&N merged with the Midland Railway of Canada in 1882. Only two years later, the Grand Trunk Railway leased most of the lines in the area as part of a major expansion plan and then purchased them outright in 1893. The Grand Trunk would later merge with the Canadian National Railway in 1923. CN would provide passenger rail service on the line until the formation of Via Rail in 1977.
On September 7, 1982, Via service was discontinued and replacement service—then just a single weekday run—was started by GO Transit.[4]
On June 29, 1998, GO Transit restored full service to the Lakeshore lines, and terminated Stouffville Line service to Template:GOs and Template:GOs, which are shared with the Lakeshore East line.
On December 13, 2007, the government of Ontario announced funding to Metrolinx for network expansion, which included $20 million to build a second track to enable all-day two-way service between Union Station and Markham.[5]
On September 2, 2008, the line was extended northwards from Stouffville to Lincolnville. Lincolnville station was built directly over GO Transit's Stouffville Yard, and so it consists of six tracks and platforms instead of the usual one or two.
On February 2, 2015, select trains began stopping at Danforth GO Station as part of a year-long pilot project to increase GO service within the City of Toronto. As of June 2017, many peak-period trains continue to stop at Danforth station, and one daily train also stops at Scarborough station.[2]
All-day weekday service was introduced on June 24, 2017. Trains began operating from as early as 5 a.m. to as late as 11:45 p.m. with hourly service in both directions between Unionville and Union Station during the midday and evening. Service in the counter-peak direction continued to be operated by buses.[2]
On April 8, 2019, midday train trips were extended to Mount Joy station, and buses continued the rest of the trip from Mount Joy to Lincolnville.[6]
On August 31, 2019, GO Transit began providing bidirectional late-evening service between Union Station and Mount Joy, hourly between 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. The final northbound trip continues past Mount Joy and arrives at Lincolnville at 12:29 a.m.[7]
Starting on November 2, 2019, two-way weekend train service between Mount Joy and Union Station will be provided every hour, with some late night trips arriving in Lincolnville.
Schedule
On weekdays, GO Transit train service on the Stouffville line consists of nine southbound train trips during the morning peak and eight northbound train trips during the afternoon/evening peak, running the entire length of the line. During midday non-peak hours, five southbound and five northbound trips are provided between Union Station and Mount Joy, and during the early evening non-peak hour, one northbound trip is provided from Union Station and terminates at Mount Joy.[8]
Bus service is provided approximately every 30 minutes in the direction opposite that of the train trips during peak hours.[3]
Route
The Stouffville line operates entirely over railways owned by Metrolinx. The line begins at Union Station and follows the Kingston Subdivision (GO Lakeshore East line) to Scarborough Junction, just east of Scarborough GO Station, with some trains stopping at Danforth Station along the way. It then branches north onto the Uxbridge Subdivision, originally the Toronto and Nipissing Railway.
Stations
In addition to the stations listed below, one train per day serves Scarborough GO Station, located between Danforth and Kennedy stations.[2]
| Station | Community | Municipality | Distance (km) | Connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincolnville | Lincolnville | Whitchurch-Stouffville | 49.6 |  
|
Constructed over GO's Stouffville Yard |
| Stouffville | Stouffville | 46.8 |  YRT
|
||
| Mount Joy | Mount Joy/ Greensborough |
Markham | 38.7 |  TTC YRT
|
|
| Markham | Markham Village | 36.7 | TTC YRT
|
Cannot fit 10- and 12-car trains due to platform restrictions[9] | |
| Centennial | Unionville | 35.0 | TTC YRT
|
||
| Unionville | Unionville/ Downtown Markham |
30.6 | 
|
||
| Milliken | Milliken | Toronto | 27.4 | TTC YRT
|
|
| Finch East (SmartTrack Finch–Kennedy) |
TTC
|
Proposed station | |||
| Agincourt | Agincourt | 22.9 | TTC
|
||
| Lawrence East (SmartTrack Lawrence–Kennedy) |
Dorset Park | TTC
|
Proposed station | ||
| Kennedy | Ionview | 16.4 |     (Under construction   ) TTC
|
||
| Danforth | East Danforth | 8.4 |  TTC
|
||
| Union | Downtown Toronto | 0.0 |            TTC
|
Future expansion
In June 2013 GO held a first "Public Information Centre" of an environmental assessment study for expanding rail service in the Stouffville Corridor. This represented the completion of the second of five stages of work to implement expanded service, and recommended adding double track segments and other improvements between Union Station and Unionville to support increased train service levels.[10]
Double tracking of the line from Unionville GO station to Scarborough GO was scheduled to begin in 2015. This section is proposed to become part of the SmartTrack line proposed by Toronto mayor John Tory.[11]
On April 16, 2015, the Ontario government announced a Metrolinx initiative to increase rail service throughout the GO Transit network over the subsequent decade, known as Regional Express Rail (RER). Under the plan, diesel trains would operate on the Stouffville line every 20 minutes from Lincolnville to Union Station during peak periods, and hourly or more frequently from Mount Joy to Union Station. In addition, electric trains would operate every 15 minutes between Unionville and Union Station.[12]
In June 2015, new stations were approved in Toronto at Finch Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue East, to be built alongside the RER electrification.[13]
There are long-term plans to extend service beyond Lincolnville to Uxbridge, over tracks already owned by GO Transit. Until such an expansion, Uxbridge is served by a GO bus stop at Uxbridge station, and the only rail service north of Lincolnville is the York–Durham Heritage Railway.[4]
References
- ^ "Regional Express Rail" (PDF). Metrolinx. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Stouffville line schedule" (PDF). GO Transit. January 5, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ^ a b https://www.gotransit.com/static_files/gotransit/assets/pdf/TripPlanning/FullSchedules/06042019/Table71.pdf
- ^ a b Daniel Garcia; James Bow. "GO Transit's Stouffville Line". Transit Toronto. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ 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.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "New GO Train Service". www.gotransit.com. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
- ^ "Table 71 - Stouffville" (PDF). GO Transit.
- ^ "Stouffville GO Train and Bus Schedule" (PDF).
- ^ "Markham GO Station - CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
- ^ "Stouffvile Corridor Rail Service Expansion Class Environmental Assessment Study PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE #1" (PDF). 2013-06-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
- ^ Richard Gilbert (2015-02-25). "Construction of second Stouffville track rolls forward". Daily Commercial News. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
A tender was issued earlier this month to expand and improve 17 kilometres of corridor on a section of the Stouffville line between Scarborough Junction to Unionville GO Station.
- ^ "Ontario Improving GO Transit Service Along All Corridors". news.ontario.ca. April 17, 2015. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
- ^ "GO Regional Express Rail 10-Year Program: New Stations Analysis" (PDF). metrolinx.com. Metrolinx. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
External links
- GO Transit: Stouffville GO Train & Bus Service Schedule
- Daniel Garcia and James Bow, GO Transit's Stouffville Line
- "Stouffville Corridor Rail Service Expansion - Environmental Study Report" (PDF). R.J. Burnside & Associates Limited. Metrolinx. July 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
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