Cambridge council receives update on proposed GO train line from Cambridge to Guelph

A presentation made to Cambridge City Council on Tuesday gave an update on the proposed GO train line from Cambridge to Guelph.

The railway would travel on the Fergus Spur Line and could connect the Guelph Central GO Station to the proposed GO Station near Pinebush Road. The region announced concept designs for the proposed Pinebush GO station in March.

Oriana Aguas, the project manager for the Cambridge Go rail project said the average time between Cambridge and Guelph would be about 15 minutes with services being every 30-60 minutes. Adding that commuters could get from Cambridge to Union Station in Toronto in 87 minutes.

“[This is] competitive to car travel in peak hours,” Aguas said. “A car travelling from Cambridge to Union is, on good days, about 60 minutes, and on bad times 110 minutes. So 87 minutes is competitive to peak hours, which is a good finding for this project.

Four options were outlined for the project for either one track or two:

• Option 1A would be a single track with one train per hour travelling at 75km/h, costing $370 million.

• Option 1B would also be a single track, but with 1.5 trains per hour at a speed of 78km/h, costing $400 million.

• Option 2A would have a single track with siding and a frequency of two trains per hour travelling at 69km/h, costing $530 million.

• Option 2B would also have a siding with two trains per hour, travelling at 71km/h, costing $540 million.

Analysis from the initial business case shows the rail would create more money than it would spend. The project could be completed in the next six to seven years.

The region has been working on the project since 2009, with a 2021 study finding a route between Cambridge and Guelph was more preferred over a route between Cambridge and Milton.

A final report is expected to be delivered to regional council in the fall.