GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[LNahid2000]

More info on the Straford Service from Matthew Rae:

Since the great news last week about the GO Train returning to Stratford, residents have been asking about the tentative schedule.

The tentative schedule is below:

Weekday – intended for commuters going to work in Kitchener, Brampton or Toronto.

Eastbound departure at 6:16 a.m., arriving at Union Station at 8:47 a.m.

Westbound departure at 4:52 p.m., arriving at Stratford Station at 7:28 p.m.

Weekend – intended for customers in Kitchener, Brampton or Toronto to explore Stratford.

Westbound departure at 8:49 a.m., arriving at Stratford Station at 11:16 a.m

Eastbound departure at 6:16 p.m., arriving at Union Station at 8:45 p.m.

My office will keep everyone posted as we approach July 6, 2026.

 

[Allandale25]

^ seems like a pretty good schedule. Does that window in the afternoon provide enough time to see a performance in Stratford?

 

[Northern Light]

^ seems like a pretty good schedule. Does that window in the afternoon provide enough time to see a performance in Stratford?

Very tight, if walking from the station, but theoretically do-able, Arrival 7:28pm, most evening shows are curtain at 8pm.

Walking time is 15-20M to Festival Theatre and 18 minutes to Tom Patterson. (from station). But if the train is late, you're done for....

 

[tsm1072]

From Facebook. New connection between CPKC and Metrolinx Kitchener Line tracks near Weston Road?

View attachment 730721

Isn't this where there was an already existing tie in from CPKC to the Kitchener line tracks. I wonder if this is just re-alingning that junction to account for the 4th mainline track.

 

[Northern Light]

More info on the Straford Service from Matthew Rae:

Since the great news last week about the GO Train returning to Stratford, residents have been asking about the tentative schedule.

The tentative schedule is below:

Weekday – intended for commuters going to work in Kitchener, Brampton or Toronto.

Eastbound departure at 6:16 a.m., arriving at Union Station at 8:47 a.m.

Travel time: 2h 31m

Westbound departure at 4:52 p.m., arriving at Stratford Station at 7:28 p.m.

Travel Time: 2hr 36m

Weekend – intended for customers in Kitchener, Brampton or Toronto to explore Stratford.

Westbound departure at 8:49 a.m., arriving at Stratford Station at 11:16 a.m

Travel time: 2hr 27m

Eastbound departure at 6:16 p.m., arriving at Union Station at 8:45 p.m.

Travel time: 2hr 29m

****

Current Travel time to Stratford by car, using 401, according to Google, 2hrs 20'

Projected Travel time by Google (Saturday morning is given as a range of 90m to 2hr 10, if we split the difference, 1hr 50. )

So overall, quite competitive.

 

[nfitz]

^ seems like a pretty good schedule. Does that window in the afternoon provide enough time to see a performance in Stratford?

It should. Arrive at 11:15 am. Depart at 6:15 pm.

Curtain is normally at 2 pm. Time for a decent lunch - and perhaps a quick dinner!

 

[urbancog]

Isn't this where there was an already existing tie in from CPKC to the Kitchener line tracks. I wonder if this is just re-alingning that junction to account for the 4th mainline track.

Yes, it looks like the photo was taken from Rogers Road, looking toward Mount Dennis station. From StreetView in 2018:

 

[smallspy]

Isn't this where there was an already existing tie in from CPKC to the Kitchener line tracks. I wonder if this is just re-alingning that junction to account for the 4th mainline track.

Yes, but.....the installation of the switch and signal on CPKC is a bit curious. There is only a single mainline track there today - the switch makes me wonder if they are going to be building a second track north from the current switch at Old Weston Rd. It certainly can't go any further north/west because of the bridge in the distance.

While right now the interchange track from CPKC interfaces with the 3-track Weston Sub at Nickle, there will a small interlocking on track 1 immediately south/east of the bridge over Black Creek.

Dan

 

[cryogen]

Related to the discussion above:

 

[crs1026]

Yes, but.....the installation of the switch and signal on CPKC is a bit curious. There is only a single mainline track there today - the switch makes me wonder if they are going to be building a second track north from the current switch at Old Weston Rd. It certainly can't go any further north/west because of the bridge in the distance.

While right now the interchange track from CPKC interfaces with the 3-track Weston Sub at Nickle, there will a small interlocking on track 1 immediately south/east of the bridge over Black Creek.

Dan

Track diagrams dating back to GTS showed CPKC doubling their mainline from Black Creek to Osler.

I guess it is finally happening.

One would expect a switch tieing the connecting track into the new Track 0 on the Weston Sub. To date, the connecting track continues west as Track 0, but going forward there will be a controlled junction at Black Creek as T0 will continue east to West Toronto. The signals are already on the masts for that.

- Paul

 

[anb]

It should. Arrive at 11:15 am. Depart at 6:15 pm.

Curtain is normally at 2 pm. Time for a decent lunch - and perhaps a quick dinner!

7 hours to do stuff in Stratford is definitely enough time for a typical day out, it is a small area and not really anything large in exploration or attraction like for example the Niagara Region (Falls, St Catherines, Fort Erie, Welland, etc). From the station its only about a 15 min walk to the downtown, a 20-25 min walk to the theatres and art gallery, and any other attraction a bit further than that can be conveniently done by uber or bike. Speaking of as it is going to be in the middle of the summer, that might be a really huge selling point to bring your bike on GO and then use it around Stratford.

 

[Sauga89]

More info on the Straford Service from Matthew Rae:

Since the great news last week about the GO Train returning to Stratford, residents have been asking about the tentative schedule.

The tentative schedule is below:

Weekday – intended for commuters going to work in Kitchener, Brampton or Toronto.

Eastbound departure at 6:16 a.m., arriving at Union Station at 8:47 a.m.

Westbound departure at 4:52 p.m., arriving at Stratford Station at 7:28 p.m.

Weekend – intended for customers in Kitchener, Brampton or Toronto to explore Stratford.

Westbound departure at 8:49 a.m., arriving at Stratford Station at 11:16 a.m

Eastbound departure at 6:16 p.m., arriving at Union Station at 8:45 p.m.

My office will keep everyone posted as we approach July 6, 2026.

Since I haven't seen it mentioned here, I feel I should note that there is an existing Perth County transit bus (branded as PC Connect), which runs from Stratford to Kitchener GO with three round trips daily on weekdays. The Stratford Festival also seems to run buses directly to its theatres from Toronto, and I think there is a daily Flix Bus as well. So there are options aside from the train.

 

[JJTheJetPln]

Since I haven't seen it mentioned here, I feel I should note that there is an existing Perth County transit bus (branded as PC Connect), which runs from Stratford to Kitchener GO with three round trips daily on weekdays. The Stratford Festival also seems to run buses directly to its theatres from Toronto, and I think there is a daily Flix Bus as well. So there are options aside from the train.

This is good to know in the event that the bus is missed or the train is too packed to board.

The question I have is, where exactly in Stratford is this train going to disembark?

 

[Sauga89]

The question I have is, where exactly in Stratford is this train going to disembark?

At the VIA Rail station, I think.