For all the hate that Metrolinx is rightfully getting for the Eglinton Crosstown project, what they've done with GO in the last 5-10 years has been inspiring. These projects are so incredibly necessary to take cars off the road and give people a great alternative to driving. I do hope they move a bit faster on the South/South-East expansion though. More regular GO service through Stoney Creek, Grimsby, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls would be absolutely massive for that region and future growth.
Agreed. Metrolinx has also done well on Line 6 Finch West so far. The Eglinton crosstown is IMO more on corruption of govt than on Metrolinx itself. That's just my opinion though
Having a longtime railroader at the helm of the organization with decades of experience in the public domain will do that. Unfortunately, in most other cities, these positions are usually filled by political flunkies friendly to the administration in power at the time.
Not really. They completely botched the design of the Agincourt station and cut the community in half with this line. There used to be a track-level walkway to cross the tracks that never caused any issues for decades and decades. Now they force everyone to go into a deep, out-of-the way tunnel to cross the tracks. Totally stupid design. Screws up pedestrian traffic in the neighbourhood. Stupid for high school students who live on one side of the tracks. Terrifying for the elderly and women to go into this unmonitored tunnel at night time. A total gong show.
@@1-among-many Yeah... everything you said is completely invalid and irrelevant. Re-read my original comment. I'm not describing a road-rail crossing. I clearly said track-level WALKway. There was no mention of cars, because cars didn't come anywhere near the WALKway I'm describing. It was just yet another stupid planning decision that just makes life harder for the actual people of the community. But at least you proved one of my points for me. The new UNDERGROUND pedestrian tunnel under Agincourt completely removes ALL sightlines, making it the perfect ambush spot for criminals making it FAR more dangerous and uncomfortable for people to use at night. Already there's been incidents down there since my comment was posted.
@@1-among-many @one-among-many @one-among-many the solution is very simple: don't destroy something that has worked fine for more than a century in a community. Your comparison to a rural road vs highway is beyond ridiculous. A grade level pedestrian walkway with a blinking light and arm was always more than enough to prevent pedestrian accidents there. The comparison to a rural road vs highway is beyond laughable. I suggest you stand by the 401 or dvp safely, and then recreate that experience at the Agincourt go station. Even if you increased Go train traffic tenfold you wouldn't even come close to a highway. Not to mention that 2 tracks is way narrower than a 6 lane highway. Maybe you're a fan of big government spending and dysfunctional civic 'planning', but in the real world, real people actually prefer to live lives that are safe and convenient, and are more than capable of observing the rules of a grade level pedestrian crossing as they had already done for GENERATIONS in Agincourt. The tunnel I'm specifically referencing will stand as a testament to civic mismanagement for a very long time. Frankly, your approach to this matter really epitomises what's going wrong with so much government planning these days. All theory, limited practicality, and a total deafness to local lived experiences and voices and input. There may be a nice paying job for you at city Hall! (if you don't already work there)
7:25 YES! I lived in Markham, so it's nice to see my hometown get a shoutout. The Kitchener-Stouffville connection definitely was needed - there's a lot of people in Markham who might work in Brampton or vice versa, or students in Kitchener looking to go home to Markham
Waiting eagerly for the Milton Line to get similar upgrades! Another interesting thing about the Stouffville line though is that the former CN Uxbridge Subdivision on which the service runs actually used to extend all the way to Lindsay in what is today Kawartha Lakes. My own personal pipe dream would be to see this segment revived with summer weekend service similar to Niagara Falls making cottage country more accessible by transit instead of having to deal with all the insane traffic jams on the highway every summer!
I would turn it and have it go through Uxbridge to Port Perry, but I can see the potential you've highlighted as there's so much undeveloped land up there that I would not be surprised to see start to boom as North Durham grows.
@@harrisonthorburn7415 I'm not even saying to use it as a development tool, just that there is already a market in the form of tourists and cottagegoers looking to get out of the city, and expanding train service to up north can really open it up to people who would otherwise want to go and visit the countryside but either don't have a car or don't want to put up with the rush of summer traffic that happens every year
The Milton Line tracks are sadly owned by CP rail, which is hostile to GO expansion. I hope the government buys the tracks in the future, but I'm not optimistic.
Milton receiving even hourly service would be a big change for transit in Sauga, but the corridor is wildly important to CPR as they need it to reach the Midtown corridor. They made an offer of somethjng like $500mil to the government of Ontario and the government turned down the hefty price tag to buy the corridor. Instead, Ontario owns the Lakeshore (to Burlington), Kitchener (to Mount Pleasant), Barrie, and Stouffville (to Unionville) lines and operate all day service along them
@@TheHothead101 the offer was from the federal government to pay $500 million of the $1 billion cost to upgrade the Milton line, but the Ford government turned them down in favour of further negotiations with CPKC. Such a shortsighted decision imo.
Definitely one of most impactful GO projects in Toronto. Having a frequent fast connection to downtown along this route is such a game changer. New Asian mall at Milliken? You mean the long announced Remington Center? Will that ever get built? Other than the electrification the next big thing I’m waiting for is the grade separation at Finch. But there are a raft of other smaller grade separations as well at Passmore, McNicoll, Huntingwood etc.
@@RMTransit Possibly but given how people drive and the potential numbers of children in the residential areas I think it’s worth having an extra margin of safety plus it ensures the trains can maintain higher speeds.
I agree that one is desperately needed at finch. One train can back up traffic on finch so badly and really messes up the finch bus routes. The other ones do seem a bit small but who knows in the future.
I've been using the Stouffiville line ever since I was a kid. From Markham YMCA Karate, Pacific mall, Agincourt CI (my highschool) and just rollerblading on the smooth new (at the time) unionville parking lot, this line holds so many memories. I still remember the line not having any service on the weekend. 😅 While I moved out to California, it's great seeing this line get some love and upgrades. From someone who grew up in this area, thank you so much for making this video!
This video came at the right time, I was just looking at the screens in Union a few hours ago wondering why Kitchener was running hourly but Stouffville wasn't. I figured it had to do with upgrade work along the corridor, but there wasn't any clear information anywhere. This channel always keeps me well informed on what goes on in Toronto.
Thanks Reece from Roger Sexton for an excellent and very informative video. As a Brit who has studied at Birmingham University I immediately think of the south-west section of the Birmingham Cross-City line, Until 1978 this line had just a handful of trains, peak hour only. In 1978 the Cross-City line opened with diesel trains every 15 minutes and a new station at the University. The service was an instant success and was electrified in 1993 and now goes out to Redditch and Bromsgrove, The new station at the University has had to be modernized for capacity reasons... twice!
I also studied at Birmingham Uni in the late 90s and the CrossCity was so useful, even if there were major reliability issues at times (service was about 40% of trains on time at one point!)
Great video as always! The GO and TTC networks used to always feel separate, like their own networks that simply happened to operate in the same region. Things like non integrated fares, a lack of connecting infrastructure, and just plain bad connections in general made transferring at almost any stations (aside from Union) kind of a pain in the ass. I'm really glad to see this is slowly changing! Its far from perfect, but stuff like this doesn't happen overnight, and to see that they're trying to put in the work to get it done is a good feeling. (Still disappointed that the TTC decided to stay out of the transit fare integration everyone else did, though. Hopefully they change their minds soon)
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation announced last month (April 2023) that TTC-GO fare integration will be going ahead by the end of 2023, so there is some evidence of them changing their minds. But like any other promise made by a politician, I am not believing any of it until I see it at work.
Thanks Reece. Nice to see the upgrade. This used to be my line, I was at Mount Joy, and it needed upgrading. I'm now on the Barrie line and I now this is being upgraded too,
I remember Milliken station being a nightmare pre covid. Traffic around the area on Steeles was horrible with so many stoplights in such a short distance plus the rail street crossing adding to that mess. Also, parking would be filled early in the morning. Never understood why they abandoned extending Redlea Ave to Passmore to get another entrance/exit to the station.
Hey Reece! Another great video! but I would love to see Brisbane's rail network as a dedicated video, and not just the Cross River Rail Project. I'm sure many people have asked this and I know your always busy with so many things to make videos on. but having another Aussie City makes all the Suburban trains in Australia all have a dedicated video (except for Adelaide, but that's a little different....). Great quality videos as always and cant wait for more content! Thanks!
There is more expansion coming for the stouffville line. The Old Elm station is being located just south of ninth line to make it easier to access and might be helpful when metrolinx double tracks the line fully!
Hi Reece! Will you be doing this type of video going over all the upgrades once they're complete for other GO lines? Also, I really hope that Stouffville line trains will go back to serving Danforth and Scarborough GO in the future. Fingers crossed!
would love to see a video on all of the greater Toronto areas transit one day because the TTC gets covers alot but there's alot of agencies that surround it
I love seeing the evolution of the Stouffville line. I went to high school in the upper Beaches area, walking distance from Danforth GO. I was able to walk to school from my dad's house in the Beaches, but my mom lived significantly further away in Scarborough, coincidentally walking distance from Milliken GO, on the Stouffville line. When I was up in Scarborough, the commute to and from school really taught me how horrendous transit service out there was. Without a car, it'd be a 40 minute ride on the Kennedy bus to Kennedy station, then 3 stops on the subway, then a 10 minute bus ride and 5 minute walk. In grade 10, I started to experiment with taking the GO train to school when I was up in Scarborough and it simplified things quite a bit. Initially, the Stouffville trains ran express to Union beyond Kennedy GO. GO did not consider Scarborough GO or Danforth GO to be on the Stouffville line even though Stouffville trains would use the same tracks on the Lakeshore East line and physically bypass these stations, although apparently they did in the 1990s but discontinued that service. So I had to take the Stouffville line train Milliken to Union, transfer at Union to a Lakeshore East train, and then backtrack one stop to Danforth (which was quick, fortunately) and walk to school from there. This was a little awkward considering I watched Danforth station pass by out the window as I flew past on the Stouffville train earlier. Going back was the same in reverse. I wrote to Metrolinx in 2014 and asked if they would consider having Stouffville line trains make stops at Danforth and even Scarborough GO. I don't think this played much of a part in what happened next, as I take it they were already studying the feasibility of this. In February 2015, a select number of northbound and southbound Stouffville GO trains began stopping at Danforth GO. This came just in time for my final year of high school, and I was overjoyed that my commute to/from my mom's house in Scarborough had gone from 1h and 35 mins by TTC, to a 28 minute ride on a single GO train plus about 20-25 minutes walking. It was absolute bliss. Milliken GO station is, in every aspect, unrecognizable to me now. It used to look like a massive parking lot with a yellow line painted next to the tracks, a fence, some presto machines, a tiny little brick building. And who can forget the level crossing over Steeles Ave? The transformation of that station and much of the Stouffville line has been incredible and I'm excited to see the two way all day GO service! That area of the city very much needs it.
My parents live right next to Centennial Station so it's convenient to take GO train to Union. I transferred at Union to take the UP express and was pleasantly surprised that it's continuing on the Kitchener. I could have easily stayed on and transferred at Weston or Bloor!
Really appreciated your effort in making videos like these consistently.. just hope that they can increase services around GTA not just going in and out downtown. GTA is growing like crazy
3:30 I was loving the clean modern lines and then oh my god a kitsch tubular steel clock tower silhouette from the 1980's rears it's ugly head! What on earth? Greaty video as usual Reece!
Ironically, just a few weeks before this video released, the Stouffville line experienced a major cut of service that not only the weekend train service was completely removed again, the weekday service is now only existing during rush hours, one direction (i.e. southbound train only in the morning before 9:33am and northbound train only in evening between 3:15 - 7:15 pm).
Sad isn't it? They are going back in time. I live in NE Scarboro and the Stouffville train was a quick way for me to get to downtown TO. From Agincourt GO to Union GO is 28 minutes. GO buses are now used but they don't stop at the Agincourt GO. We are told to use the TTC. Short for TakeTheCar.
I have only taken this line once in my life about a month ago in March for Jury duty. I've lived in toronto since I was approximately 4 or 5. I have to say it was a nice experience! I kinda wish I had had the confidence to take the go train to university from '08 to 13' while I was attending university at U of Toronto! The TTC RT and subway got the job done in my day, though it really did take long, approximately 1h 15 min to get downtown and maybe 45 min to an hour to get back. It would have made such a difference for exam weeks. People who get to use this line are lucky! Have a nice day :)
Used to live just south of the Agincourt Station. GO is far faster to get downtown then trying to drive or taking TTC. 30min service would have been a dream when I was there.
I believe they cancelled the trains from stouffville line to Union station on weekends. The nearest station where we can park the car is the scarborough Go in the st.clair area.
Any news on this line stopping at Danforth and Scarborough? It's so bizarre it just skips those stations. To get from Danforth to Agincourt the GO planner says to go backwards to Union, switch trains, then head back to Danforth.
Really great they’re thinking of off-peak as well as “reverse” commuters. The LIRR down here added a 3rd track to a chunk of the main line to allow for more trains running in the opposite direction of rush hour for people that might be going to work away from the city. It was complex work as they needed to replace a bunch of rail and road bridges (installed to reduce level crossings.) and they had to try to limit the amount of land they needed to acquire from property owners abutting the right of way.
Great content, my nearest GO station is Unionville so this video was very salient to me. I hope they extend electrification and frequent service to the rest of the line eventually, it's definitely needed. If you look at the official plan for downtown Markham, it appears that the Viva bus lane will connect directly to Unionville GO station instead of the current stop that is some 400 metres away.
i took my first go train this year (after living in toronto since 2018 lol) and i'm a big fan. i went out to take photos of the hurontario lrt construction in february and then this month i took a train to kitchener on a whim and went to see my dad's childhood home. pretty comfy even on a longer distance trip, my butt only went numb a little. i did take the wrong train on my way back the first time but i didnt have anywhere to be so i just adopted a tranquil acceptance of my fate and took out my sketchbook
This is great to hear! what I really want to hear to progress on the Kitchener line that reaches Kitchener-Waterloo. More rural areas between Kitchener-Waterloo and London need to blessed by better transit options. Right now, I can't visit family past the West of Kitchener because service is odd or sucks. If Ontario was the Netherlands, I could.
This! I grew up in a rural area outside K-W & it took me nearly 3 hours daily to get home from my high school in Kitchener. there was one bus that went barely to the area I lived & rarely operated. Visiting family & friends there, now that I live in a city is a mission, I rly hope they connect out the Kitchener line more. (Mind u I was in high school before the LRT in K-W)
Wish more frequent train service could come to the Milton line. Now during off-peak hours with the new schedule, we need to take the GO bus to a Lakeshore station, then transfer to a GO train... this essentially doubles the ride time.
I'm very surprised you made no mention of the new Old Elm (previously Lincolnville) station. Although from your video it seems that there's much less frequent service out to there, it seems live quite a large project. I'm not quite understanding the huge parking lot they've made though--where are people coming from to use that? There's not a whole lot of population north of Stouffville (except maybe from Uxbridge), and the towns further east can access the Newmarket line.
It’s a good thing 15-minute service will be on the Stouffville Line, but frankly it’s still a bit disappointing that frequent trains stops at Unionville, leaving the rest of Markham with only 60-minute services after electrification. (Though it could be harder to grade separate, especially at Markham GO since it is in the historical area) Though I still hope GO will eventually extend 15-minute service to Mount Joy. Transit-oriented developments are happening around Centennial and Mount Joy, so that could bring up the demand north of Unionville. Great video Reece!
You know train lines go both ways right? Not everything is done to serve torontonians. I know it is hard to believe, but Toronto isn't the center of the world.
@@atomixfang if a railway is only beneficial to passengers of one direction rather than both directions, it limits the potential of the system by half. Of coz, go train should not be designed only for Torontoians, but it's the same to not only prioritize the 905.
@@jjmaia If you like biking I would suggest riding the Barrie line to Aurora or Newmarket and ride the lake to lake route to the end of the Nokidaa trail. You can stop at downtown Newmarket along the way and grab lunch/dinner at one of the many restaurants in the historic district. Very nice route. Only part of the route that isn't part of the old rail trail is between the Aurora GO and St John's Sideroad, so I suggest taking the line to Newmarket if you aren't comfortable on sidewalks.
Seeing this line and others rebuild/revamp their existing stations and add near-24 hr service on this line is going to be a godsend to those who live in the GTA without a car. The area is getting very expensive to live in but if one gets rid of their car, then it's great that there's another option in their area. Also it's good for those who live in areas such as Stouffville to be able to work along the line or downtown and get there without a car.
Excellent video. Could you please do an explained video of the transit system of my home La Paz, Bolivia 🇧🇴? It's a really unique transit system and I think it'd make an excellent video
That’s an interesting journey but just goes to show that with great regional rail people can get to all sorts of places, not just in the downtown core.
So excited for these upgrades! I regularly take the barrie line and the new upgrade at rutherford also looks amazing. How come the richmond hill line wasn't included in this video?
The through-running to Kitchener is great for getting to the airport from Scarborough or Markham. Stay on the same train all the way through to Weston and transfer to the UPX for one stop.
I am eagerly awaiting the Bowmanville Go extension; commuting to Pickering from Clarington is a chore and the Oshawa go station is almost half way there already.
This is a sterling example of "investing for the future" by investing in infrastructure and transit. This is one of many things that has made Toronto such a great "world city!" I wish we could do it right here in the States!
It looks inspiring GO trains are so impressive that my aunt in San Jose near SFO said that she wishes to ride in them when she visits Toronto.. however I do wish there were more snack bars and Tim's/subway/Starbucks/juice/convenience stores inside the GO stations with lounge area there should be 5-6 stores in each one giving additional business to Metrolinx this way.. plus if they can connect the platforms with convexed a canopy it would be proper protection from rain/sun/snow then
IMHO you are lucky to live there. I used to like my home country, USA, but it’s gotten so crazy negative I cherish my days in Toronto in the mid 70s even more. That was a lucky adventurous time. Someone messaged me it’s not the same as it was then. It’s unfortunate if it has changed for the worse because I found it such a wonderful place then. A very nice place to live. While America has its nice aspects, I think Canadians are lucky to not be Americans. You live in the best country on the continent. My country is partially losing its mind. I always felt Toronto is the city of the future for North America. It’s a gem of a city imho. I really like what is happening with transit there. I get feel good vibes, always, from watching your videos! 👍
Wow! Had no idea. Several years back I used to get on at Milliken Station in the mornings and getting a seat on a train was always an issue with all the commuters headed downtown. Wonder if that is still an issue with more frequent service. Also, so many people wanted to get to the station by car and get on the train avoiding TTC altogether. Wonder what the parking situation is now.
The future of the line north of Unionville is also very bright. The sea of parking lots around Markville Mall, adjacent to Centennial GO, are being redeveloped into a mixed use high density neighborhood fitting for its current status as a makeshift transit hub, More high rise developments under construction north of Mount Joy GO, a possible extension out to Uxbridge, we're not done with the Stouffville line just yet.
Hey! Could you talk about the Stockholm transit again, but bring up all the other things too not only the metro and tvärbana! Stockholm have 5 trams/light rail lines and also the pendeltåg that travers in tunnel through multiple stops in the city centre and then going out towards far away suburbs or uppsala and Arlanda airport!
I was someone who took the only reverse direction peak morning train from union to unionville train. Took it for two years. Never more than a handful of people. Terrible timing because the train took twice as long as it should because the train would have to wait for the southbound train. The train was only cancelled a few times but it also meant you then had to take the subway instead. Eventually the scheduled train had been rescheduled to run direct to mount joy, so you had to ride it to there and then back track to unionville.
Since the making of this video Stouffville line trains currently run on an all day hourly service at lest to Unionville or mount joy. There is a gap in the afternoon in which southbound trains stop between 4pm and 8pm but during this time northbound trains run on an even better half hour service. correct me if I'm wrong.
I remember taking the Stouffville line from Union Station to Milliken in the morning to get to the Pacific Mall, but I had to return prior to 3:15 PM (the last train back to Union Station). Now, the train runs in the Stouffville direction only in the afternoon. If there is less service, why the improvements? You did mention a potential change. I hope it happens.
I grew up in a suburb of Seattle next to the Puget sound, we have the technology to build bridges and tunnels 4 land next to cities that people can live on. Vancouver island may be the most underutilized land on the planet 😢
That's an odd statement at best. The closest point of Vancouver Island to Puget Sound is Victoria and there's a few people there and there's a far less populated Olympic Pennisula on the western side of the Sound. Did you mean Vanshon Island perhaps? I can see that being a bit galling.
I grew up at Mussleman's Lake, and we used to take the, way back then, once daily train to Toronto sometimes. If you miss it tho, you're taking the bus! Then I moved into town to an apartment right next to the tracks and a couple of blocks from the station. If I heard the train in the morning, I knew I'd slept in 😂 It used to go all the way up to Uxbridge. Will it ever extend further north again? I'm sure commuters up there would prefer the comfort of the train over the traffic on the highway. Stouffville and Uxbridge are so huge now, compared to when I was a kid growing up there. (half a million years ago 😉)
nice video, thank you... too bad I just moved out of Stouffville Line and moved to the Barrie line whichi seems the upgrade progress is bit slower than the Stoffivile line. Unionville station seems a great future suburb town center of Markham and I know there are a lot of development going on with it.. but the current land and road structure seems pretty bad around the station that is actually very car-dependent and non walking friendly... I haven't been able to find a detailed master plan from the city to illustrate how the neirbourhood around Unionville Go will eventually look like but hopefully they don't screw up that area.... would you consider to cover more topices regarding the land use around transit station in addition to the transit system themselves? Thanks,
Upgraded Stouffville line will have a transformative effect on Scarborough. If the province fully implements Fare Integration it will be a game changer for the community.
A consistent experience I have when using the GO system is uncertainty about which platform to be on from everyone who isn't a regular commuter. Very often I get asked by other riders if they are on the right platform. It seems like a lot of people are haunted by an experience of waiting for a train, only to see it pull up on the opposite platform. Do you think GO Transit needs to improve their signage in this regard? How would you do it?
The through service would be exceptional. The only thing is it has to go through Union and there aren't hubs or services that track across east/west. One can dream of service that takes you from Markham to Brampton avoiding the 401 and without needing to go through the downtown core. Also I do wonder if there's eventual plans for rail expansion to Uxbridge.
Just rode it yesterday. Updates: double tracking is almost complete with short segments in between stops in Scarborough still needs to be completed, stations all largely completed (Kennedy still needs a bit of touch up). Announcements saying that passengers wishing to go to YYZ can stay on the train and transfer at Bloor or Weston on the Kitchener Line. I hope this kitchener to stouville through union is permanent as this is amazing for Markhamites and Scarborough residents who want to travel to the airport. Better wayfinding on station screens showing the actual destinations including bramalea, guelph and kitchener would be awesome! I'm feeling the pain of the buses and can't wait for this line to go back to its original schedule (or better).
This was the first time I heard about the Finch/Kennedy station construction and I'm so excited for this! Hopefully as things continue to develop around Unionville station, there will be some effort made to actually connect the station to the built up area. It's current about a 20 minute walk from Birchmount and Enterprise to the GO Station but this could be cut in half with access to the GO platform/station from the west side instead of walking all the way past the station to University Blvd and backtracking. Great video.
Man, Toronto is really on another level with the modern station design! I feel like if we had similar stations here in the US, as well as the various other upgrades the GO network is getting, more people would actually be drawn towards the trains!
Surprisingly and despite its reputation of old decrepit stations NYC has a lot of renovated, clean, high tech stations. Still a minority of all of the stations but they’re slowly but surely updating more of them. The new LIRR station is huge and grand as is Moynihan train hall.
For many years the Stouffville line was one track. Service was morning and late afternoon rush hour. I live in NE Scarboro and was happy when the all-day sevice started, once every hour all day, including weekends. I discovered a few days ago that GO Service reverted back to the old days. Providing rush hour service only out of the Agincourt GO station. They will be running GO buses out of Unionville during the day, Agincourt GO users are told to travel by TTC. We in Scarboro will lose the LRT in November and from then on there is no quick way to reach downtown Toronto. I am not happy with the GO/Metrolinx decision.
All good stuff! But...... What's with all the delays to the lakeshore west expansion? Announcements for increased service down the peninsula, but where are the fancy stations like the GTA? 😞
For all the hate that Metrolinx is rightfully getting for the Eglinton Crosstown project, what they've done with GO in the last 5-10 years has been inspiring. These projects are so incredibly necessary to take cars off the road and give people a great alternative to driving. I do hope they move a bit faster on the South/South-East expansion though. More regular GO service through Stoney Creek, Grimsby, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls would be absolutely massive for that region and future growth.
Agreed. Metrolinx has also done well on Line 6 Finch West so far. The Eglinton crosstown is IMO more on corruption of govt than on Metrolinx itself. That's just my opinion though
Having a longtime railroader at the helm of the organization with decades of experience in the public domain will do that. Unfortunately, in most other cities, these positions are usually filled by political flunkies friendly to the administration in power at the time.
Not really. They completely botched the design of the Agincourt station and cut the community in half with this line. There used to be a track-level walkway to cross the tracks that never caused any issues for decades and decades. Now they force everyone to go into a deep, out-of-the way tunnel to cross the tracks. Totally stupid design. Screws up pedestrian traffic in the neighbourhood. Stupid for high school students who live on one side of the tracks. Terrifying for the elderly and women to go into this unmonitored tunnel at night time. A total gong show.
@@1-among-many Yeah... everything you said is completely invalid and irrelevant. Re-read my original comment. I'm not describing a road-rail crossing. I clearly said track-level WALKway. There was no mention of cars, because cars didn't come anywhere near the WALKway I'm describing. It was just yet another stupid planning decision that just makes life harder for the actual people of the community. But at least you proved one of my points for me. The new UNDERGROUND pedestrian tunnel under Agincourt completely removes ALL sightlines, making it the perfect ambush spot for criminals making it FAR more dangerous and uncomfortable for people to use at night. Already there's been incidents down there since my comment was posted.
@@1-among-many @one-among-many @one-among-many the solution is very simple: don't destroy something that has worked fine for more than a century in a community. Your comparison to a rural road vs highway is beyond ridiculous. A grade level pedestrian walkway with a blinking light and arm was always more than enough to prevent pedestrian accidents there.
The comparison to a rural road vs highway is beyond laughable. I suggest you stand by the 401 or dvp safely, and then recreate that experience at the Agincourt go station. Even if you increased Go train traffic tenfold you wouldn't even come close to a highway. Not to mention that 2 tracks is way narrower than a 6 lane highway.
Maybe you're a fan of big government spending and dysfunctional civic 'planning', but in the real world, real people actually prefer to live lives that are safe and convenient, and are more than capable of observing the rules of a grade level pedestrian crossing as they had already done for GENERATIONS in Agincourt. The tunnel I'm specifically referencing will stand as a testament to civic mismanagement for a very long time.
Frankly, your approach to this matter really epitomises what's going wrong with so much government planning these days. All theory, limited practicality, and a total deafness to local lived experiences and voices and input. There may be a nice paying job for you at city Hall! (if you don't already work there)
This does actually look nice, I wish I could daily commute on a train
Its a wonderful experience and different all around the world!
That's good that people like you exist, because a train might just appear near you! 😁
Like I live in a small German town, a bus every half hour is all we get
I use the Stouffville GO line, I'm looking forward to the increase in service, hopefully soon!
@@Foxy_AR Hey, i am also living in germany (near berlin), so i am very privileged
7:25 YES! I lived in Markham, so it's nice to see my hometown get a shoutout. The Kitchener-Stouffville connection definitely was needed - there's a lot of people in Markham who might work in Brampton or vice versa, or students in Kitchener looking to go home to Markham
Waiting eagerly for the Milton Line to get similar upgrades!
Another interesting thing about the Stouffville line though is that the former CN Uxbridge Subdivision on which the service runs actually used to extend all the way to Lindsay in what is today Kawartha Lakes. My own personal pipe dream would be to see this segment revived with summer weekend service similar to Niagara Falls making cottage country more accessible by transit instead of having to deal with all the insane traffic jams on the highway every summer!
I would turn it and have it go through Uxbridge to Port Perry, but I can see the potential you've highlighted as there's so much undeveloped land up there that I would not be surprised to see start to boom as North Durham grows.
@@harrisonthorburn7415 I'm not even saying to use it as a development tool, just that there is already a market in the form of tourists and cottagegoers looking to get out of the city, and expanding train service to up north can really open it up to people who would otherwise want to go and visit the countryside but either don't have a car or don't want to put up with the rush of summer traffic that happens every year
The Milton Line tracks are sadly owned by CP rail, which is hostile to GO expansion. I hope the government buys the tracks in the future, but I'm not optimistic.
Milton receiving even hourly service would be a big change for transit in Sauga, but the corridor is wildly important to CPR as they need it to reach the Midtown corridor. They made an offer of somethjng like $500mil to the government of Ontario and the government turned down the hefty price tag to buy the corridor. Instead, Ontario owns the Lakeshore (to Burlington), Kitchener (to Mount Pleasant), Barrie, and Stouffville (to Unionville) lines and operate all day service along them
@@TheHothead101 the offer was from the federal government to pay $500 million of the $1 billion cost to upgrade the Milton line, but the Ford government turned them down in favour of further negotiations with CPKC. Such a shortsighted decision imo.
The pedestrian bridge across Milliken makes the station look attractive and easily one of my favourite !
This channel gives me "Not Just Bikes" vibes... Subbed!
Amazing to see the transformation. I was living along Lakeshore West when it got a similar treatment and it was a clear recipe for success.
Better facilities and services are a great way to get people on the train!
I love watching transit evolve! I hope we get similar upgrades down here in LA.
Definitely one of most impactful GO projects in Toronto. Having a frequent fast connection to downtown along this route is such a game changer. New Asian mall at Milliken? You mean the long announced Remington Center? Will that ever get built? Other than the electrification the next big thing I’m waiting for is the grade separation at Finch. But there are a raft of other smaller grade separations as well at Passmore, McNicoll, Huntingwood etc.
I think the smaller grade seps are excessive honestly
@@RMTransit Possibly but given how people drive and the potential numbers of children in the residential areas I think it’s worth having an extra margin of safety plus it ensures the trains can maintain higher speeds.
@@RMTransit if they go 15 mins both ways during peak, the crossings will close 8 times an hour. Spend the money now to remove future problems.
I agree that one is desperately needed at finch. One train can back up traffic on finch so badly and really messes up the finch bus routes. The other ones do seem a bit small but who knows in the future.
I've been using the Stouffiville line ever since I was a kid. From Markham YMCA Karate, Pacific mall, Agincourt CI (my highschool) and just rollerblading on the smooth new (at the time) unionville parking lot, this line holds so many memories. I still remember the line not having any service on the weekend. 😅 While I moved out to California, it's great seeing this line get some love and upgrades. From someone who grew up in this area, thank you so much for making this video!
This video came at the right time, I was just looking at the screens in Union a few hours ago wondering why Kitchener was running hourly but Stouffville wasn't. I figured it had to do with upgrade work along the corridor, but there wasn't any clear information anywhere. This channel always keeps me well informed on what goes on in Toronto.
Thanks Reece from Roger Sexton for an excellent and very informative video. As a Brit who has studied at Birmingham University I immediately think of the south-west section of the Birmingham Cross-City line, Until 1978 this line had just a handful of trains, peak hour only. In 1978 the Cross-City line opened with diesel trains every 15 minutes and a new station at the University. The service was an instant success and was electrified in 1993 and now goes out to Redditch and Bromsgrove, The new station at the University has had to be modernized for capacity reasons... twice!
I love the cross city line! It deserves a video someday!
I also studied at Birmingham Uni in the late 90s and the CrossCity was so useful, even if there were major reliability issues at times (service was about 40% of trains on time at one point!)
Great video as always! The GO and TTC networks used to always feel separate, like their own networks that simply happened to operate in the same region. Things like non integrated fares, a lack of connecting infrastructure, and just plain bad connections in general made transferring at almost any stations (aside from Union) kind of a pain in the ass. I'm really glad to see this is slowly changing! Its far from perfect, but stuff like this doesn't happen overnight, and to see that they're trying to put in the work to get it done is a good feeling.
(Still disappointed that the TTC decided to stay out of the transit fare integration everyone else did, though. Hopefully they change their minds soon)
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation announced last month (April 2023) that TTC-GO fare integration will be going ahead by the end of 2023, so there is some evidence of them changing their minds. But like any other promise made by a politician, I am not believing any of it until I see it at work.
... and now your wish has been granted with OneFare! I have to say I can't believe the Ontario govt actually pulled this off
Thanks Reece. Nice to see the upgrade. This used to be my line, I was at Mount Joy, and it needed upgrading. I'm now on the Barrie line and I now this is being upgraded too,
Everything about the Barrie Line is negative. After two years I am back in the car. What a horrible service.
it's so cool to watch good news that is relevant for me. It's also so cool to see things I use daily.
I remember Milliken station being a nightmare pre covid. Traffic around the area on Steeles was horrible with so many stoplights in such a short distance plus the rail street crossing adding to that mess. Also, parking would be filled early in the morning. Never understood why they abandoned extending Redlea Ave to Passmore to get another entrance/exit to the station.
Hey Reece! Another great video! but I would love to see Brisbane's rail network as a dedicated video, and not just the Cross River Rail Project. I'm sure many people have asked this and I know your always busy with so many things to make videos on. but having another Aussie City makes all the Suburban trains in Australia all have a dedicated video (except for Adelaide, but that's a little different....). Great quality videos as always and cant wait for more content! Thanks!
It would be great if it expands even further, especially to serve the venues that will be used for the 2032 Olympics.
Who knows, maybe in the future!
There is more expansion coming for the stouffville line. The Old Elm station is being located just south of ninth line to make it easier to access and might be helpful when metrolinx double tracks the line fully!
I ride this line often and it's encouraging every time to see construction people around :)
Hi Reece! Will you be doing this type of video going over all the upgrades once they're complete for other GO lines?
Also, I really hope that Stouffville line trains will go back to serving Danforth and Scarborough GO in the future. Fingers crossed!
It's possible, but the Stouffville line is more or less seeing the most change! Maybe the Kitchener Line post Smarttrack!
would love to see a video on all of the greater Toronto areas transit one day because the TTC gets covers alot but there's alot of agencies that surround it
Most of them suck
I love seeing the evolution of the Stouffville line. I went to high school in the upper Beaches area, walking distance from Danforth GO. I was able to walk to school from my dad's house in the Beaches, but my mom lived significantly further away in Scarborough, coincidentally walking distance from Milliken GO, on the Stouffville line. When I was up in Scarborough, the commute to and from school really taught me how horrendous transit service out there was. Without a car, it'd be a 40 minute ride on the Kennedy bus to Kennedy station, then 3 stops on the subway, then a 10 minute bus ride and 5 minute walk. In grade 10, I started to experiment with taking the GO train to school when I was up in Scarborough and it simplified things quite a bit. Initially, the Stouffville trains ran express to Union beyond Kennedy GO. GO did not consider Scarborough GO or Danforth GO to be on the Stouffville line even though Stouffville trains would use the same tracks on the Lakeshore East line and physically bypass these stations, although apparently they did in the 1990s but discontinued that service. So I had to take the Stouffville line train Milliken to Union, transfer at Union to a Lakeshore East train, and then backtrack one stop to Danforth (which was quick, fortunately) and walk to school from there. This was a little awkward considering I watched Danforth station pass by out the window as I flew past on the Stouffville train earlier. Going back was the same in reverse. I wrote to Metrolinx in 2014 and asked if they would consider having Stouffville line trains make stops at Danforth and even Scarborough GO. I don't think this played much of a part in what happened next, as I take it they were already studying the feasibility of this. In February 2015, a select number of northbound and southbound Stouffville GO trains began stopping at Danforth GO. This came just in time for my final year of high school, and I was overjoyed that my commute to/from my mom's house in Scarborough had gone from 1h and 35 mins by TTC, to a 28 minute ride on a single GO train plus about 20-25 minutes walking. It was absolute bliss. Milliken GO station is, in every aspect, unrecognizable to me now. It used to look like a massive parking lot with a yellow line painted next to the tracks, a fence, some presto machines, a tiny little brick building. And who can forget the level crossing over Steeles Ave? The transformation of that station and much of the Stouffville line has been incredible and I'm excited to see the two way all day GO service! That area of the city very much needs it.
Thank you Kathleen Wynne! No one should ever forget that she was the person who spearheaded this.
Thanks for this! I'm regular passenger on the Stouffville line.
The new Milliken Station looks amazing! Hard to believe that there used to be a level crossing there.
My parents live right next to Centennial Station so it's convenient to take GO train to Union. I transferred at Union to take the UP express and was pleasantly surprised that it's continuing on the Kitchener. I could have easily stayed on and transferred at Weston or Bloor!
They recently switched back to rush hour only. They used to have one hour service all day.
I remember Milliken being a couple of bus shelters on an asphalt platform on the Markham side in the 90s.
Really appreciated your effort in making videos like these consistently.. just hope that they can increase services around GTA not just going in and out downtown. GTA is growing like crazy
Eagerly looking forward to your coverage (and Metrolinx's updates) on two way Barrie line train service!
3:30 I was loving the clean modern lines and then oh my god a kitsch tubular steel clock tower silhouette from the 1980's rears it's ugly head! What on earth?
Greaty video as usual Reece!
Ironically, just a few weeks before this video released, the Stouffville line experienced a major cut of service that not only the weekend train service was completely removed again, the weekday service is now only existing during rush hours, one direction (i.e. southbound train only in the morning before 9:33am and northbound train only in evening between 3:15 - 7:15 pm).
Sad isn't it? They are going back in time. I live in NE Scarboro and the Stouffville train was a quick way for me to get to downtown TO. From Agincourt GO to Union GO is 28 minutes. GO buses are now used but they don't stop at the Agincourt GO. We are told to use the TTC. Short for TakeTheCar.
The weekend service came back!
@@lininrabbit well looks like finally someone is awakened.
I have only taken this line once in my life about a month ago in March for Jury duty. I've lived in toronto since I was approximately 4 or 5. I have to say it was a nice experience! I kinda wish I had had the confidence to take the go train to university from '08 to 13' while I was attending university at U of Toronto! The TTC RT and subway got the job done in my day, though it really did take long, approximately 1h 15 min to get downtown and maybe 45 min to an hour to get back. It would have made such a difference for exam weeks. People who get to use this line are lucky! Have a nice day :)
Used to live just south of the Agincourt Station. GO is far faster to get downtown then trying to drive or taking TTC. 30min service would have been a dream when I was there.
I believe they cancelled the trains from stouffville line to Union station on weekends. The nearest station where we can park the car is the scarborough Go in the st.clair area.
Wish these trains would call at Danforth. I'd love to be able to get to Milliken from here.
Any news on this line stopping at Danforth and Scarborough? It's so bizarre it just skips those stations. To get from Danforth to Agincourt the GO planner says to go backwards to Union, switch trains, then head back to Danforth.
Really great they’re thinking of off-peak as well as “reverse” commuters. The LIRR down here added a 3rd track to a chunk of the main line to allow for more trains running in the opposite direction of rush hour for people that might be going to work away from the city. It was complex work as they needed to replace a bunch of rail and road bridges (installed to reduce level crossings.) and they had to try to limit the amount of land they needed to acquire from property owners abutting the right of way.
Nice to see my signal designs in service.
Great content, my nearest GO station is Unionville so this video was very salient to me. I hope they extend electrification and frequent service to the rest of the line eventually, it's definitely needed. If you look at the official plan for downtown Markham, it appears that the Viva bus lane will connect directly to Unionville GO station instead of the current stop that is some 400 metres away.
The entire Stouffville line will be electrified :)
i took my first go train this year (after living in toronto since 2018 lol) and i'm a big fan. i went out to take photos of the hurontario lrt construction in february and then this month i took a train to kitchener on a whim and went to see my dad's childhood home. pretty comfy even on a longer distance trip, my butt only went numb a little. i did take the wrong train on my way back the first time but i didnt have anywhere to be so i just adopted a tranquil acceptance of my fate and took out my sketchbook
We went downtown last Sunday to the blue jays game from unionville and the Train was not running. We had to take the Go Bus.
This is great to hear! what I really want to hear to progress on the Kitchener line that reaches Kitchener-Waterloo. More rural areas between Kitchener-Waterloo and London need to blessed by better transit options. Right now, I can't visit family past the West of Kitchener because service is odd or sucks. If Ontario was the Netherlands, I could.
This! I grew up in a rural area outside K-W & it took me nearly 3 hours daily to get home from my high school in Kitchener. there was one bus that went barely to the area I lived & rarely operated. Visiting family & friends there, now that I live in a city is a mission, I rly hope they connect out the Kitchener line more. (Mind u I was in high school before the LRT in K-W)
Wish more frequent train service could come to the Milton line. Now during off-peak hours with the new schedule, we need to take the GO bus to a Lakeshore station, then transfer to a GO train... this essentially doubles the ride time.
Thank you.
I wish there was more transit north of Steeles along Bathurst, both in the area and towards downtown.
I'm very surprised you made no mention of the new Old Elm (previously Lincolnville) station. Although from your video it seems that there's much less frequent service out to there, it seems live quite a large project. I'm not quite understanding the huge parking lot they've made though--where are people coming from to use that? There's not a whole lot of population north of Stouffville (except maybe from Uxbridge), and the towns further east can access the Newmarket line.
Looks nice and clean for now
It’s a good thing 15-minute service will be on the Stouffville Line, but frankly it’s still a bit disappointing that frequent trains stops at Unionville, leaving the rest of Markham with only 60-minute services after electrification. (Though it could be harder to grade separate, especially at Markham GO since it is in the historical area)
Though I still hope GO will eventually extend 15-minute service to Mount Joy. Transit-oriented developments are happening around Centennial and Mount Joy, so that could bring up the demand north of Unionville.
Great video Reece!
If only Stouffville was worth visiting.
dumb
You know train lines go both ways right? Not everything is done to serve torontonians. I know it is hard to believe, but Toronto isn't the center of the world.
LOOL GOTTEEEEM
@@atomixfang if a railway is only beneficial to passengers of one direction rather than both directions, it limits the potential of the system by half.
Of coz, go train should not be designed only for Torontoians, but it's the same to not only prioritize the 905.
@@jjmaia If you like biking I would suggest riding the Barrie line to Aurora or Newmarket and ride the lake to lake route to the end of the Nokidaa trail. You can stop at downtown Newmarket along the way and grab lunch/dinner at one of the many restaurants in the historic district. Very nice route. Only part of the route that isn't part of the old rail trail is between the Aurora GO and St John's Sideroad, so I suggest taking the line to Newmarket if you aren't comfortable on sidewalks.
So much transit being built or about to be built in Canada. (Wish it were faster, though. I want to ride things.)
It's a very exciting time!
Seeing this line and others rebuild/revamp their existing stations and add near-24 hr service on this line is going to be a godsend to those who live in the GTA without a car. The area is getting very expensive to live in but if one gets rid of their car, then it's great that there's another option in their area. Also it's good for those who live in areas such as Stouffville to be able to work along the line or downtown and get there without a car.
This project truly gives me some hope for the future of North American transit!
Great video as usual! I really wish GO would give Hamilton some attention. That bus transfer is painful and Hamilton isn't exactly small.
Good stuff
Excellent video. Could you please do an explained video of the transit system of my home La Paz, Bolivia 🇧🇴? It's a really unique transit system and I think it'd make an excellent video
It's very exciting to see all these changes. I take Mount Joy to Agincourt when I use the GO.
That’s an interesting journey but just goes to show that with great regional rail people can get to all sorts of places, not just in the downtown core.
started using this line a lot more in the past year to travel DT on weekends
I just visited Unionville GO couple days ago, and I genuionly cannot believ how much the station has changed compare with only around 3 months ago.
So excited for these upgrades! I regularly take the barrie line and the new upgrade at rutherford also looks amazing. How come the richmond hill line wasn't included in this video?
The Richmond Hill line isn’t part of the frequent service plans
you should see if somebody at mx could take you into the fort york control point bungalow its a work of art
Milliken is looking like enough of a hub now that I wish there was also a TTC connection at the station
Its frustrating that services haven't all stopped there historically
The through-running to Kitchener is great for getting to the airport from Scarborough or Markham. Stay on the same train all the way through to Weston and transfer to the UPX for one stop.
Yep! Its super useful!
Even better if they actually stop at YYZ without transfer. That’s what should be done.
Surprised that there was no mention of Old Elm GO being relocated, but great video!
I am eagerly awaiting the Bowmanville Go extension; commuting to Pickering from Clarington is a chore and the Oshawa go station is almost half way there already.
This is a sterling example of "investing for the future" by investing in infrastructure and transit. This is one of many things that has made Toronto such a great "world city!" I wish we could do it right here in the States!
It looks inspiring GO trains are so impressive that my aunt in San Jose near SFO said that she wishes to ride in them when she visits Toronto.. however I do wish there were more snack bars and Tim's/subway/Starbucks/juice/convenience stores inside the GO stations with lounge area there should be 5-6 stores in each one giving additional business to Metrolinx this way.. plus if they can connect the platforms with convexed a canopy it would be proper protection from rain/sun/snow then
IMHO you are lucky to live there. I used to like my home country, USA, but it’s gotten so crazy negative I cherish my days in Toronto in the mid 70s even more. That was a lucky adventurous time. Someone messaged me it’s not the same as it was then. It’s unfortunate if it has changed for the worse because I found it such a wonderful place then. A very nice place to live. While America has its nice aspects, I think Canadians are lucky to not be Americans. You live in the best country on the continent. My country is partially losing its mind. I always felt Toronto is the city of the future for North America. It’s a gem of a city imho. I really like what is happening with transit there. I get feel good vibes, always, from watching your videos! 👍
Wow! Had no idea. Several years back I used to get on at Milliken Station in the mornings and getting a seat on a train was always an issue with all the commuters headed downtown. Wonder if that is still an issue with more frequent service.
Also, so many people wanted to get to the station by car and get on the train avoiding TTC altogether. Wonder what the parking situation is now.
The future of the line north of Unionville is also very bright. The sea of parking lots around Markville Mall, adjacent to Centennial GO, are being redeveloped into a mixed use high density neighborhood fitting for its current status as a makeshift transit hub, More high rise developments under construction north of Mount Joy GO, a possible extension out to Uxbridge, we're not done with the Stouffville line just yet.
I love your contents. ❤
Great video
Thanks Doug!
Hey! Could you talk about the Stockholm transit again, but bring up all the other things too not only the metro and tvärbana! Stockholm have 5 trams/light rail lines and also the pendeltåg that travers in tunnel through multiple stops in the city centre and then going out towards far away suburbs or uppsala and Arlanda airport!
What’s the utility building at the north end of Agincourt station for? Electrification?
I was someone who took the only reverse direction peak morning train from union to unionville train. Took it for two years. Never more than a handful of people. Terrible timing because the train took twice as long as it should because the train would have to wait for the southbound train. The train was only cancelled a few times but it also meant you then had to take the subway instead. Eventually the scheduled train had been rescheduled to run direct to mount joy, so you had to ride it to there and then back track to unionville.
Since the making of this video Stouffville line trains currently run on an all day hourly service at lest to Unionville or mount joy. There is a gap in the afternoon in which southbound trains stop between 4pm and 8pm but during this time northbound trains run on an even better half hour service. correct me if I'm wrong.
This is great! It would be awesome if other north Eastern cities took note (looking at you Boston)
Have you done a video on the Pickering Go pedestrian bridge and how and why it sags?
I remember taking the Stouffville line from Union Station to Milliken in the morning to get to the Pacific Mall, but I had to return prior to 3:15 PM (the last train back to Union Station). Now, the train runs in the Stouffville direction only in the afternoon. If there is less service, why the improvements? You did mention a potential change. I hope it happens.
RM Transit about the Hamburg Video is there a way i could get that Thumbnail with your confirmation
Not sure what you're asking!
Im talking about the Thumbnail could get like a picture of it without the Text i just like the Artwork😓😓
Something I wonder is how the state of canadian railways are in general compared to the US, Europe and southeast Asia?
I grew up in a suburb of Seattle next to the Puget sound, we have the technology to build bridges and tunnels 4 land next to cities that people can live on. Vancouver island may be the most underutilized land on the planet 😢
That's an odd statement at best. The closest point of Vancouver Island to Puget Sound is Victoria and there's a few people there and there's a far less populated Olympic Pennisula on the western side of the Sound. Did you mean Vanshon Island perhaps? I can see that being a bit galling.
I grew up at Mussleman's Lake, and we used to take the, way back then, once daily train to Toronto sometimes. If you miss it tho, you're taking the bus!
Then I moved into town to an apartment right next to the tracks and a couple of blocks from the station. If I heard the train in the morning, I knew I'd slept in 😂
It used to go all the way up to Uxbridge. Will it ever extend further north again? I'm sure commuters up there would prefer the comfort of the train over the traffic on the highway. Stouffville and Uxbridge are so huge now, compared to when I was a kid growing up there. (half a million years ago 😉)
Think I saw you one early morning at Milliken GO station a few weeks back, wanted to say hi but wasn’t too sure if it was you 😅
nice video, thank you... too bad I just moved out of Stouffville Line and moved to the Barrie line whichi seems the upgrade progress is bit slower than the Stoffivile line. Unionville station seems a great future suburb town center of Markham and I know there are a lot of development going on with it.. but the current land and road structure seems pretty bad around the station that is actually very car-dependent and non walking friendly... I haven't been able to find a detailed master plan from the city to illustrate how the neirbourhood around Unionville Go will eventually look like but hopefully they don't screw up that area.... would you consider to cover more topices regarding the land use around transit station in addition to the transit system themselves? Thanks,
Land use isn't really in my niche, but I do bring it up lots! The Barrie Line is absolutely moving more slowly!
Upgraded Stouffville line will have a transformative effect on Scarborough. If the province fully implements Fare Integration it will be a game changer for the community.
A consistent experience I have when using the GO system is uncertainty about which platform to be on from everyone who isn't a regular commuter. Very often I get asked by other riders if they are on the right platform. It seems like a lot of people are haunted by an experience of waiting for a train, only to see it pull up on the opposite platform. Do you think GO Transit needs to improve their signage in this regard? How would you do it?
5:21 I thought we will be having a "NEW YORK UNIVERSITY" campus in town. lol
The through service would be exceptional. The only thing is it has to go through Union and there aren't hubs or services that track across east/west. One can dream of service that takes you from Markham to Brampton avoiding the 401 and without needing to go through the downtown core. Also I do wonder if there's eventual plans for rail expansion to Uxbridge.
Just rode it yesterday. Updates: double tracking is almost complete with short segments in between stops in Scarborough still needs to be completed, stations all largely completed (Kennedy still needs a bit of touch up). Announcements saying that passengers wishing to go to YYZ can stay on the train and transfer at Bloor or Weston on the Kitchener Line. I hope this kitchener to stouville through union is permanent as this is amazing for Markhamites and Scarborough residents who want to travel to the airport. Better wayfinding on station screens showing the actual destinations including bramalea, guelph and kitchener would be awesome! I'm feeling the pain of the buses and can't wait for this line to go back to its original schedule (or better).
This was the first time I heard about the Finch/Kennedy station construction and I'm so excited for this! Hopefully as things continue to develop around Unionville station, there will be some effort made to actually connect the station to the built up area. It's current about a 20 minute walk from Birchmount and Enterprise to the GO Station but this could be cut in half with access to the GO platform/station from the west side instead of walking all the way past the station to University Blvd and backtracking. Great video.
I can't be the only one who thought you meant an NYU campus opened in Markham, instead of a "new, York University" campus 😭😭
Any projects coming to the Richmond Go station?
Man, Toronto is really on another level with the modern station design! I feel like if we had similar stations here in the US, as well as the various other upgrades the GO network is getting, more people would actually be drawn towards the trains!
Surprisingly and despite its reputation of old decrepit stations NYC has a lot of renovated, clean, high tech stations. Still a minority of all of the stations but they’re slowly but surely updating more of them. The new LIRR station is huge and grand as is Moynihan train hall.
I prefer China, they have it right, we are like an ugly step child compared to them.
Please make a video about 903 TTC bus
For many years the Stouffville line was one track. Service was morning and late afternoon rush hour. I live in NE Scarboro and was happy when the all-day sevice started, once every hour all day, including weekends.
I discovered a few days ago that GO Service reverted back to the old days. Providing rush hour service only out of the Agincourt GO station. They will be running GO buses out of Unionville during the day, Agincourt GO users are told to travel by TTC.
We in Scarboro will lose the LRT in November and from then on there is no quick way to reach downtown Toronto.
I am not happy with the GO/Metrolinx decision.
All good stuff! But...... What's with all the delays to the lakeshore west expansion? Announcements for increased service down the peninsula, but where are the fancy stations like the GTA? 😞
* the Scarborough RT is supposedly being shut on November 19th 2023 (the ttc shutting it down on my birthday sucks 😂😭)
Wish we could get high floor trains though
They should have double tracked all the way to mount joy. There is significant ridership till mountjoy.
I agree, but they still can. Ideally they don't force crossings to all be removed beforehand