GO train riders in Mississauga, Milton to get all-day, two-way service
Published February 8, 2024 at 2:09 pm
Tens of thousands of Mississauga residents and workers and thousands more in Milton are expected to benefit from long-awaited service improvements to a key GO train line that serves both municipalities.
Two-way, all-day service along the Milton GO route, which includes stops at a number of Mississauga stations en route to Toronto and back again, is closer to reality with word from Ontario Premier Doug Ford that the province is now behind the plan.
In pledging his government’s support for the enhanced GO train service in Mississauga and Milton during a visit earlier today to the Mississauga Board of Trade, Ford called on the federal government “to be a full funding partner” in the initiative.
Ottawa came to the table nearly three years ago with a commitment to fund 50 per cent of the estimated $1-billion Milton GO improvement plan and was waiting for the province to do the same, Mississauga Centre MP and former federal transportation minister Omar Alghabra told insauga.com earlier on several occasions.
Ford said on Thursday that cost-sharing the Milton GO plan is part of the provincial government’s commitment to invest more than $70 billion over the next decade “to lead the largest expansion of public transit in North America, including across Peel and Milton regions.”
Mississauga Centre MP and former federal transportation minister Omar Alghabra has been a longtime vocal supporter of all-day, two-way service on the Milton GO train line.
In a news release today, Ontario government officials said the improvements to GO train service “will deliver all-day, two-way GO rail service along the Milton GO rail corridor by building a fully separated passenger rail line. The Milton GO rail corridor is the fourth-busiest line on the GO network and serves as a vital transit connection between Milton, Mississauga and the rest of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.”
Also part of the plan, the province said, is to reinstate train trips, improve stations with new customer amenities (such as expanding the south parking lot and a pedestrian bridge at Milton GO station) and advance the planning and design work to support future two-way, all-day service.
“Everyone in Ontario deserves access to reliable transit options that connect them to good-paying jobs and housing,” said Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, adding Milton GO rail corridor improvements are “essential next steps in our mission to get commuters where they need to go, when they need to be there.”
Alghabra has long pushed for all-day, two-way service on the Milton GO train line, saying many times it must become reality if Mississauga residents are to be best served in the years to come.
He has also reaffirmed Ottawa’s commitment to that transit plan in recent years, saying the feds were waiting for the Ontario government to get on board with the estimated $1-billion project.
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