GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[Metroscapes]

A small explosive allegation here.

Omar Alghabra was Canada’s minister of transport from 2021 to 2023. The former Mississauga MP did not seek re-election in 2025, but was closely involved in potential expansion of the line during his time as minister.

Alghabra said he secured close to $1 billion in support of bringing all-day, two way GO train service to the line. He said the hold up to the project was entirely with the province.

“All we were waiting for, and still are waiting for, is the final sign-off from the province. Ultimately, the Ontario government is the one who really decides which projects to proceed with when it comes to Metrolinx. It took a while and finally, Premier Ford made a public commitment towards it. But I guess we still have not seen any real advancement to the idea. But I’m really hopeful that we will see it become a reality in our lifetime,” said Alghabra.

You can read the full article, but the short version is:

• The feds would put $1B towards this
• Metrolinx would not commit to doing the project
• When MTO was asked for comment, they pointed to Metrolinx, who said 'we're still talking with CPKC about it'

That either implies a) CPKC has not given the province enough permission and confidence, or b) Metrolinx has not made coming to the table with CPKC a priority.

 

[sixrings]

A small explosive allegation here.



You can read the full article, but the short version is:

• The feds would put $1B towards this
• Metrolinx would not commit to doing the project
• When MTO was asked for comment, they pointed to Metrolinx, who said 'we're still talking with CPKC about it'

That either implies a) CPKC has not given the province enough permission and confidence, or b) Metrolinx has not made coming to the table with CPKC a priority.

And I’ll speak from knowing someone who worked directly with Omar and Trudeau and their phrasing was “ford laughed at the idea.”

 

[sixrings]

A small explosive allegation here.



You can read the full article, but the short version is:

• The feds would put $1B towards this
• Metrolinx would not commit to doing the project
• When MTO was asked for comment, they pointed to Metrolinx, who said 'we're still talking with CPKC about it'

That either implies a) CPKC has not given the province enough permission and confidence, or b) Metrolinx has not made coming to the table with CPKC a priority.

Which is why I am constantly skeptical this is a thing despite being told that there are things behind the scenes that are happening. It makes it sound as if something is imminent. And all my Ottawa friends or family have the complete opposite view.

 

[Sauga89]

I took a photo a couple of days ago of the new Drury Lane pedestrian bridge from the GO Train. The tarp-covered area is the curing poured concrete over rebar that will make up the deck of the bridge. This makes be believe that this is the bridge itself and not just structure that will support a separate bridge deck.

View attachment 651861

Edit: Confirmed that this is the bridge deck. Here's the rendering of the whole project:

View attachment 651862

It's kind of obnoxious that there is no stairwell option to permit those who are able-bodied to avoid having to get their steps in by walking around eight loops of the ramp (up and down). A bit of measuring on Google Earth suggests each circuit is about 60 metres. With a 25-ish metre bridge, crossing the tracks will require about a 500-metre walk.
Source

Metrolinx has announced that the main Drury Lane span will be installed over the tracks on May 24, with a designated viewing area on the north side of the tracks.
From the construction notice:

The erection of the Drury Lane Pedestrian Bridge Main Span is scheduled to commence on May 24, 2025. Although there
is much anticipation around this operation, viewers shall be limited as much as possible. It is prudent to keep in mind
that this site is very constrained and access in and out cannot be blocked for construction workers or the public at any
point. This Safety Bulletin is being distributed to ensure that the planned operation is executed as safely and as
efficiently as possible with no impacts to the public and our neighbours. It is very important that crowds are not formed
at all times.

 

[Dan416]

Which is why I am constantly skeptical this is a thing despite being told that there are things behind the scenes that are happening. It makes it sound as if something is imminent. And all my Ottawa friends or family have the complete opposite view.

I'm just as frustrated by this as you. Also, I've never seen a subway extension to Square One as competing with GO. People who want to head to Union are already taking GO. People who are headed somewhere along Bloor-Danforth are more likely than not already taking the subway. Will whichever one gets done first siphon some riders? Sure. But it won't take away all demand from the other.

 

[Allandale25]

I was away for the long weekend so just catching up on all the DB/ONxpress news here. 28 UT notifications and at least eight pages in two different threads on the topic.

I'm on UP Express right now so staying on topic for this thread it looks like some of the rails have been delivered for the Kitchener Line fourth track at Bloor. The pile of rails are just north of the Bloor Station. I didn't expect to see them so I wasn't able to get a picture. Georgetown South Project memories.

So that's some small positive progress news.

 

[ProjectEnd]

Why don't they just put an elevator for accessibility purposes?

@drum118 and others have hit this before I could, but it's the capital and operating cost of this, as well as the fact that it's not one elevator, it's two. Everything is doubled. Switchback stairs are the best bypass in this scenario, kind of like the Wallace Ave bridge in Toronto.

A small explosive allegation here.



You can read the full article, but the short version is:

• The feds would put $1B towards this
• Metrolinx would not commit to doing the project
• When MTO was asked for comment, they pointed to Metrolinx, who said 'we're still talking with CPKC about it'

That either implies a) CPKC has not given the province enough permission and confidence, or b) Metrolinx has not made coming to the table with CPKC a priority.

It's not happening.

Which is why I am constantly skeptical this is a thing despite being told that there are things behind the scenes that are happening. It makes it sound as if something is imminent. And all my Ottawa friends or family have the complete opposite view.

Your Ottawa friends are right. It's not happening.

 

[Northern Light]

A small explosive allegation here.

You can read the full article, but the short version is:

• The feds would put $1B towards this

Correct.

• Metrolinx would not commit to doing the project
• When MTO was asked for comment, they pointed to Metrolinx, who said 'we're still talking with CPKC about it'

That either implies a) CPKC has not given the province enough permission and confidence, or b) Metrolinx has not made coming to the table with CPKC a priority.

Not exactly.

I can't speak to the province's motivations here, and there are limited details I will put out beyond what's public......... I will, however, remind everyone of two things that are public...........

A $6,000,000B price tag associated with the Milton corridor by the province. * I have discussed some reasons I take issue w/this estimate elsewhere

Also, there is a public photo op of the Premier meeting the CEO of CPKC (who brought a team with him).

 

[Metroscapes]

Not exactly.

I can't speak the province's motivations here, and there are limited details I will put out beyond what's public......... I will, however, remind everyone of two things that are public...........

A $6,000,000B price tag associated with the Milton corridor by the province. * I have discussed some reasons I take issue w/this estimate elsewhere

Also, there is a public photo op of the Premier meeting the CEO of CPKC (who brought a team with him).

Here's my problem though. The feds offered a huge pot of cash that could be put towards some knowns on this. All of the consulting and design work, grade separations at 7+ road crossings, grade separation / station work at Lisgar, second platforms or tunnels at other stations, widening the 427 tunnel, and probably a half-dozen things I don't know about. Can we not move forward on early works that are relatively safe from needing tweaking due to detailed design requirements? Why the hell is accepting this cash contingent on bundling it in one package?

 

[Northern Light]

Here's my problem though. The feds offered a huge pot of cash that could be put towards some knowns on this. All of the consulting and design work, grade separations at 7+ road crossings, grade separation / station work at Lisgar, second platforms or tunnels at other stations, widening the 427 tunnel, and probably a half-dozen things I don't know about. Can we not move forward on early works that are relatively safe from needing tweaking due to detailed design requirements? Why the hell is accepting this cash contingent on bundling it in one package?

That's an entirely good question/problem statement.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Here's my problem though. The feds offered a huge pot of cash that could be put towards some knowns on this. All of the consulting and design work, grade separations at 7+ road crossings, grade separation / station work at Lisgar, second platforms or tunnels at other stations, widening the 427 tunnel, and probably a half-dozen things I don't know about. Can we not move forward on early works that are relatively safe from needing tweaking due to detailed design requirements? Why the hell is accepting this cash contingent on bundling it in one package?

The feds would probably want a firm deliverable, not a bunch of separate projects that would make them look foolish if the whole thing didn't happen.

AoD

 

[crs1026]

Here's my problem though. The feds offered a huge pot of cash that could be put towards some knowns on this. All of the consulting and design work, grade separations at 7+ road crossings, grade separation / station work at Lisgar, second platforms or tunnels at other stations, widening the 427 tunnel, and probably a half-dozen things I don't know about. Can we not move forward on early works that are relatively safe from needing tweaking due to detailed design requirements? Why the hell is accepting this cash contingent on bundling it in one package?

Some of this can happen organically - for instance, the project would clearly demand grade separations at some current level crossings. The obvious move would be to start these, making them substantial enough to accommodate some defined number of tracks (a good planning assumption would be two CPKC tracks, two GO tracks). Perhaps some are already in the works just based on today's data and usage of the route. I'm surprised Mississauga hasn't been advocating for more of these (of course, the City would have to pay for some of this, and Council will be averse to adding that to their budget, and may actually be stalling in hope that the 2WAD project covers the cost..,,,)

However, the logical early works are mostly paper rather than civil works
- A signed agreement in principle between CPKC and ML committing to a project scoping an planning exercise, and EA, and some initial level of design
- A firm agreement between Ottawa and Ontario as to cost sharing
- A project plan to get to a procurable level of design (recognizing that CPKC may not be in favour of a procurement and execution that they don't control)
- Some sort of consultation and EA/TPAP study or refresh of past studies

The big bridge to cross is the decision as to whether to share the route with CP or move CP to a bypass. I suspect this is inevitably the elephant that has to be swallowed before any further planning or negotiation makes sense. The only way to sell that decision (one way or the other) is a business case and cost comparison.

- Paul

 

[kamira51]

There are undoubtedly precedents in the Bowmanville deal that CPKC knows will bite them when Bolton GO, and Milton 2WAD, come along. So I would expect they would be extremely cautious and ensure they were not setting themselves up for a future problem. Bowmanville is not a "one and done" situation.

Bolton GO is definitely gonna be a struggle, the amount of money that needs to be spent to make it feasible(In my opinion, correct me if I'm wrong)is going to be very high.

 

[crs1026]

Bolton GO is definitely gonna be a struggle, the amount of money that needs to be spent to make it feasible(In my opinion, correct me if I'm wrong)is going to be very high.

Yes and no. We don't know for sure if ML is contemplating 2WAD or simply peak service to Bolton.

The majority of the grade separations along the Bolton line do already have room roughed in for additional track. (From Steeles up through Woodbridge and Kleinburg, not so much unfortunately). That makes the civil work more affordable, provided CPKC will allow those empty separations to be shared.

To add a single track to this line, the cost per km would likely be similar to the Bowmanville extension. Bolton is about 28 kms to Weston, whereas Oshawa to Bowmanville is only about 18 kms. So Bolton would be higher by virtue of greater length.

If 2WAD is being sought, however... further track might be needed, and the price might go much higher.

- Paul

 

[sixrings]

@drum118 and others have hit this before I could, but it's the capital and operating cost of this, as well as the fact that it's not one elevator, it's two. Everything is doubled. Switchback stairs are the best bypass in this scenario, kind of like the Wallace Ave bridge in Toronto.

It's not happening.

Your Ottawa friends are right. It's not happening.

I don’t like how some people on here present themselves as insiders with sources they can’t name and job titles they can’t discuss but we’re supposed to take their word as gospel. As if they never get anything wrong. Well guess what. This is a big wrong.