News   Apr 01, 2026
UTPro Crane Report Q1 2026: Year-to-Year Dip, But Quarterly Rise
 41     0 
News   Apr 01, 2026
Transit Progress and Tall Towers Made Headlines in March, 2026
 352     0 
News   Apr 01, 2026
News Roundup for April 1, 2026
 362     0 

GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

reaperexpress said:
In the case of the Stouffville line, we have a clear answer regarding GO's choice. Metrolinx is currently working with Toronto and York Region to grade separate every single crossing on the electrified portion of the line (south of Unionville).

However, this is not actually due to electrification, it's just due to the frequent train service that will operate on the electrified segment.

Project websites:
Stouffville Grade Separations (Denison, Kennedy, Passmore, McNicoll, Huntingwood, Havendale, Progress)
Milliken Station Improvements (Steeles)
Scarborough Junction Grade Separation (Corvette, Danforth)

Heading south from Unionville:

Denison Street
View attachment 265790

Kennedy Road
View attachment 265793

Steeles Avenue (under construction):
rending-of-grade-separation-near-milliken-go.png


Passmore Avenue
View attachment 265795

McNicoll Avenue
View attachment 265794

Huntingwood Drive
View attachment 265792

Havendale Road (pedestrian only)
View attachment 265791

Progress Avenue
View attachment 265796

Corvette Avenue (pedestrian only)
View attachment 265788

Danforth Road
View attachment 265789

This is every existing level crossing, except for one: Finch Avenue. Finch was previously planned to be grade separated as part of the new Finch East station, but that project was put on hold when the Ford government came in and I'm not sure of its status at the moment.
Click to expand...
Let's hope these road under rail crossings will have adequate/proper drainage, seeing how severe rainfall becomes more frequent events.
 
reaperexpress said:
In the case of the Stouffville line, we have a clear answer regarding GO's choice. Metrolinx is currently working with Toronto and York Region to grade separate every single crossing on the electrified portion of the line (south of Unionville).

However, this is not actually due to electrification, it's just due to the frequent train service that will operate on the electrified segment.

Project websites:
Stouffville Grade Separations (Denison, Kennedy, Passmore, McNicoll, Huntingwood, Havendale, Progress)
Milliken Station Improvements (Steeles)
Scarborough Junction Grade Separation (Corvette, Danforth)

Heading south from Unionville:

Denison Street
View attachment 265790

Kennedy Road
View attachment 265793

Steeles Avenue (under construction):
rending-of-grade-separation-near-milliken-go.png


Passmore Avenue
View attachment 265795

McNicoll Avenue
View attachment 265794

Huntingwood Drive
View attachment 265792

Havendale Road (pedestrian only)
View attachment 265791

Progress Avenue
View attachment 265796

Corvette Avenue (pedestrian only)
View attachment 265788

Danforth Road
View attachment 265789

This is every existing level crossing, except for one: Finch Avenue. Finch was previously planned to be grade separated as part of the new Finch East station, but that project was put on hold when the Ford government came in and I'm not sure of its status at the moment.
Click to expand...
Wheres the Finch Avenue east grade separation?
 
stevensontransit said:
Wheres the Finch Avenue east grade separation?
Click to expand...
"This is every existing level crossing, except for one: Finch Avenue. Finch was previously planned to be grade separated as part of the new Finch East station, but that project was put on hold when the Ford government came in and I'm not sure of its status at the moment."
 
crs1026 said:
True, but grade crossings are maintenance intensive and may need work blocks to fix.. When they develop a defect and work can’t be done immediately, they may attract temporary slow orders.... which can become pretty close to permanent if the maintenance budget is getting stressed. So a line with grade crossings may have some restrictions where a totally grade sepp’d line won’t. That’s not a good reason to eliminate grade crossings, but it’s an operational reality.
Click to expand...

Sure, but none of that has any effect on the zone or line speeds of a line.

And by that same token, the same can be said about any single particular meter of track on any system. There are any number of different reasons why slow orders may be enacted. And it could be argued that the railroads would much rather operate trains than perform maintenance. But again - we're talking about zone speeds, and none of this is applicable.

crs1026 said:
I worry more about existing low bridges that may need to be rebuilt before they can be electrified than about new grade separations. Contractors are supposed to know how to work around low hanging wires. Having catenary on a shoofly around a grade separation project is no biggie.

- Paul
Click to expand...

Thankfully, the number of bridges that need to be completely rebuilt is quite low. And quite a few of them already are planned for. For the rest, undercutting of the ballast and dropping the top of the rail several inches will be sufficient.

Dan
 
reaperexpress said:
In the case of the Stouffville line, we have a clear answer regarding GO's choice. Metrolinx is currently working with Toronto and York Region to grade separate every single crossing on the electrified portion of the line (south of Unionville).

However, this is not actually due to electrification, it's just due to the frequent train service that will operate on the electrified segment.

Project websites:
Stouffville Grade Separations (Denison, Kennedy, Passmore, McNicoll, Huntingwood, Havendale, Progress)
Milliken Station Improvements (Steeles)
Scarborough Junction Grade Separation (Corvette, Danforth)

Heading south from Unionville:

Denison Street
View attachment 265790

Kennedy Road
View attachment 265793

Steeles Avenue (under construction):
rending-of-grade-separation-near-milliken-go.png


Passmore Avenue
View attachment 265795

McNicoll Avenue
View attachment 265794

Huntingwood Drive
View attachment 265792

Havendale Road (pedestrian only)
View attachment 265791

Progress Avenue
View attachment 265796

Corvette Avenue (pedestrian only)
View attachment 265788

Danforth Road
View attachment 265789

This is every existing level crossing, except for one: Finch Avenue. Finch was previously planned to be grade separated as part of the new Finch East station, but that project was put on hold when the Ford government came in and I'm not sure of its status at the moment.
Click to expand...
Wait, I thought the whole Stouffville Line will be electrified, not just south of Unionville?!
 
Coolstar said:
"This is every existing level crossing, except for one: Finch Avenue. Finch was previously planned to be grade separated as part of the new Finch East station, but that project was put on hold when the Ford government came in and I'm not sure of its status at the moment."
Click to expand...
It will be dumb to grade separate all the other less busy crossings and leave Finch as it...
 
hw621 said:
Wait, I thought the whole Stouffville Line will be electrified, not just south of Unionville?!
Click to expand...

Oops you're correct. The segment south of Unionville is the extent of frequent service, but the whole line is planned to be electrified.

hw621 said:
It will be dumb to grade separate all the other less busy crossings and leave Finch as it...
Click to expand...

Yes obviously that's not the intent, it's just a question of how best to proceed given the uncertainty around the station that was previously going to be integrated into the grade separation.

smallspy said:
Thankfully, the number of bridges that need to be completely rebuilt is quite low. And quite a few of them already are planned for. For the rest, undercutting of the ballast and dropping the top of the rail several inches will be sufficient.
Click to expand...

Does anyone happen know what clearance they're aiming for on the Stouffville and Barrie lines? I seem to recall that the recommended clearance above top-of-rail was based on electric wires over double-stacked container trains, but given that the Barrie and Stouffville lines would only ever be frequented by local shunter services it would presumably be possible to use a smaller structure gauge to merely accommodate GO's own bilevels and single-stacked containers.
 
Last edited:
hw621 said:
Wait, I thought the whole Stouffville Line will be electrified, not just south of Unionville?!
Click to expand...

Electrification doesnt require grade separation.

The entire line will be electrified but past Unionville the train frequency will drop.

Grade sep is for very frequent service. You can't have crossing gates dropping every 2.5 minutes for 5 minute service in each direction.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top