Stouffville line

Stouffville
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	GO Train
Locale	Greater Toronto Area
Daily ridership	15,000 (2014)[1]
Website	Table 71
Operation
Opened	September 7, 1982
Owner	Metrolinx
Operator(s)	GO Transit
Technical
Line length	49.6 kilometres (30.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	90 miles per hour (145 km/h) (max)
Route map Legend km 00.0 Downsview 0 Union Station Finch 16.4 Union to Kennedy 2.0 Cherry St Junction 2.5 Don River 2.6 Don Valley Parkway 3.0 Eastern Avenue 3.3 Queen Street East 3.8 Dundas Street East 3.9 Logan Ave 4.1 Carlaw Avenue 4.2 Gerrard Street East 4.4 Pape Avenue Pedestrian Bridge 4.8 Jones Avenue 5.5 TTC Greenwood Yard 5.5 Greenwood Avenue 5.8 Pedestrian underpass Monarch Park - Woodfield Road 6.2 Coxwell Avenue 7.1 Woodbine Avenue 8.1 Main Street 8.4 Danforth 9.4 Victoria Park Avenue 10.6 Warden Avenue 10.9 Danforth Avenue 11.7 Birchmount Road 4.4 pedestrian bridge former Woodrow Avenue 12.9 Kennedy Road 13.8 Scarborough 13.8 St. Clair Avenue 14.0 Scarborough Junction 14.5 Danforth Road 14.9 pedestrian crossing with Corvette Ave 15.2 pedestrian crossing with Benjamin Blvd - Saugeen Cres Warden 16.2 Freight spur (serving Golden Mile) 16.4 Kennedy 06.5 Kennedy to Agincourt 16.5 Eglinton Avenue 18.5 Lawrence East 18.5 Lawrence Avenue 18.8 Southwest Highland Creek 18.9 Freight Siding 19.0 Freight Siding 20.4 Ellesmere Road 20.4 Ellesmere 20.6 McCowan 20.6 Atlantic Packaging freight siding 20.8 Progress Avenue 20.9 West Highland Creek 21.1 West Highland Creek 21.4 Highway 401 22.1 CP Havelock line 22.2 West Highland Creek 22.6 Sheppard Avenue 22.9 Agincourt 04.5 Agincourt to Milliken 23.0 pedestrian crossing with Marilyn Ave - Agincourt Dr 23.6 Havendale Road 24.1 Huntingwood Drive 24.8 Finch Avenue 25.4 Freight siding 25.6 former siding to Toronto Hydro Electrical substation 26.1 M^cNicoll Avenue 26.8 Passmore Avenue 27.4 Milliken Toronto York Region 03.2 Milliken to Unionville 27.5 Steeles Avenue 28.2 Kennedy Road 28.8 Denison Street 29.6 14^th Avenue 30.0 CN Toronto Bypass former Hagerman Diamond 30.4 Highway 407 30.6 Unionville 04.4 Unionville to Centennial 30.8 Enterprise Boulevard 31.4 Rouge River 31.6 Highway 7 31.9 Eureka Street 32.1 former Unionville Station 32.2 Main Street, Unionville 32.3 Mill Stream 32.5 Bruce Creek 32.7 Kennedy Road 33.5 Eckard Creek 35.0 Centennial 01.7 Centennial to Markham 35.1 M^cCowan Road 35.4 36.4 Robinson Creek 36.6 Snider Drive 36.7 Markham 02.0 Markham to Mount Joy 36.8 Main St Markham 37.8 16^th Avenue 38.7 Mount Joy 08.1 Mount Joy to Stouffville 38.8 Bur Oak Avenue 39.2 Castlemore Avenue 40.0 Major Mackenzie Drive 40.5 Little Rouge Creek 42.5 Elgin Mills Road 44.3 Ninth Line 44.7 19^th Avenue 45.2 Reeves Way Boulevard 45.9 Hoover Park Drive 46.5 46.7 Main Street, Stouffville 46.8 Stouffville 47.1 02.8 Stouffville to Lincolnville 47.3 Stouffville Junction Toronto and Nipissing Railway, Sutton Branch 47.0 Stouffville Creek 47.1 Millard Street 48.4 Private farm crossing 49.2 Bethesda Road 49.3 10^th Line 49.6 Lincolnville York Region Durham Region Uxbridge Proposed, as part of MoveOntario 2020 plan

Stouffville is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. Its southern terminus is Union Station in Toronto, and its northern terminus is in Lincolnville in Whitchurch-Stouffville. There are bus connections from almost every station via Go Transit Buses, Toronto Transit Commission, and York Region Transit.

Trains run only during the rush hour periods with 7 trains running southbound in the morning and 8 running northbound in the afternoon and evening. One southbound and 2 northbound trains only travel as far north as Unionville with bus connections travelling the rest of the route. When trains are not running, stations are served by GO Bus route 71 which runs the corridor. However, with the exception of Union Station, it bypasses all stations within the city of Toronto.

Between Union Station and Scarborough Station, the Stouffville line shares tracks with the Lakeshore East line, but it currently does not stop at Scarborough. Effective February 2, 2015, select trains stop at Danforth GO Station as part of a year-long pilot project.^[2]

History

The track was originally laid by the Toronto and Nipissing Railway, and came into operation in 1871. The T&N merged with the Midland Railway of Canada in 1882. Only two years later, the Grand Trunk Railway leased most of the lines in the area as part of a major expansion plan, and purchased them outright in 1893. The Grand Trunk would later merge with the Canadian National Railway in 1923. CN would provide passenger rail service on the line until the formation of Via Rail in 1977.

On September 7, 1982, Via service was discontinued and replacement service—then just a single weekday run—was started by GO Transit.^[3]

On 29 June 1998, GO Transit restored full service to the Lakeshore lines, and terminated service to Danforth and Scarborough on the Stouffville line—these stations were fully integrated into the Lakeshore East line route schedule.

On December 13, 2007, the government of Ontario announced funding to Metrolinx for network expansion, which included $20 million to build a second track to enable all-day two-way service between Union Station and Markham.^[4] On September 2, 2008, the line's northern terminus was extended northwards from Stouffville to Lincolnville.

In April 2011 GO representatives stated that ultimately GO would like to run an all-day service on the Stouffville line, however they described this as "in the distant future".^[5] As of April 2013 the Stouffville service includes six southbound morning trains and six northbound afternoon trains. Service to and from Unionville includes one additional southbound morning train and two additional northbound afternoon trains.^[6] In June 2013 GO held a first "Public Information Centre" of an environmental assessment study for expanding rail service in the Stouffville Corridor. This represented the completion of the second of five stages of work to implement expanded service, and recommended adding double track segments and other improvements between Union Station and Unionville to support increased train service levels.^[7]

Stations

A list of stations on this line (in order inbound to Union):

	Community	Municipality	Distance (km)	Connections
Lincolnville	Lincolnville	Whitchurch-Stouffville	49.6
Stouffville	Stouffville		46.8	YRT Bus
Mount Joy	Markham	Markham	38.7	TTC YRT Bus
Markham			36.7	TTC YRT Bus
Centennial	Unionville		35.0	TTC YRT Bus
Unionville			30.6	Pink
Milliken	Scarborough	Toronto	27.4	TTC YRT Bus
Finch East				TTC
Agincourt			22.9	TTC
Lawrence East				TTC
Kennedy			16.4	TTC
Danforth	Old Toronto		8.4	TTC
Union			0.0	TTC

Route

The line begins at Union Station and follows the Lakeshore East line to Scarborough Junction, just east of Scarborough GO Station, with some trains stopping at Danforth Station along the way.^[2] It then branches north onto the Metrolinx-owned Uxbridge Subdivision, originally the Toronto and Nipissing Railway. North of Unionville station, the route heads roughly north-east in the direction of the Lincolnville terminus.

Future expansion

Double tracking of the line from Unionville GO station to Scarborough GO is scheduled to begin in 2015. This section is proposed to become part of the SmartTrack line proposed by Toronto mayor John Tory.^[8]

There are long term plans to extend service from Lincolnville to Uxbridge as GO Transit owns the line formally from CN Rail.^[9] Currently Uxbridge is served by GO buses with a stop at Uxbridge Station.

On April 16, 2015, the Ontario government is working with Metrolinx to have more train service along the Stouffville line, known as GO Regional Express Rail over the next decade. During peak hours, trains would run in peak direction every 20 minutes from Lincolnville to Union Station. During off peak hours, trains would run two-way hourly service or better, from Mount Joy to Union Station and electrification will be in place from Unionville to Union Station, with trains running every 15 minutes along the electrified line.^[10]

In June 2015, new stations were approved in Toronto at Finch Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue East, to be built alongside the RER electrification. ^[11]

References

1. "Regional Express Rail" (PDF). Metrolinx. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
2. http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/updates/schedulechanges.aspx
3. Daniel Garcia; James Bow. "GO Transit's Stouffville Line". Transit Toronto. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
4. Gray, Jeff (2007-12-13). "Ontario to deliver on $100-million it had promised for public transit". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
5. GO Transit outlines Stouffville’s future|date=2011-04-27|accessdate=2013-04-28
6. Stouffville GO Train and Bus Schedule|date=2013-04-6|accessdate=2013-04-28
7. Stouffvile Corridor Rail Service Expansion Class Environmental Assessment Study PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE #1|date=2013-06-18|accessdate=2014-02-16
8. Richard Gilbert (25 February 2015). "Construction of second Stouffville track rolls forward". Daily Commercial News. Retrieved April 2015. A tender was issued earlier this month to expand and improve 17 kilometres of corridor on a section of the Stouffville line between Scarborough Junction to Unionville GO Station. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
9. http://transit.toronto.on.ca/regional/2110.shtml
10. Ontario improving GO Transit service along all corridors
11. "GO Regional Express Rail 10-Year Program: New Stations Analysis" (PDF). metrolinx.com. Metrolinx. Retrieved 21 June 2016.

External links

• GO Transit: Stouffville GO Train & Bus Service Schedule
• Daniel Garcia and James Bow, GO Transit's Stouffville Line
• "Stouffville Corridor Rail Service Expansion - Environmental Study Report" (PDF). R.J. Burnside & Associates Limited. Metrolinx. July 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.