Metrolinx launches new Kitchener GO train express line
Posted Apr 10, 2023 01:15:04 PM.
Last Updated Apr 10, 2023 01:22:54 PM.
As of Monday a new GO train express trip is running from Kitchener to Toronto during the weekdays.
Metrolinx said the new route will depart the Kitchener GO station at 8:08 a.m. and arrive at Union Station in Toronto at 9:43 a.m.
CityNews 570 spoke with Kitchener GO transit riders on the additional route and the feeling, was mixed.
“At eight o’clock it doesn’t make any sense because most people start work at eight o’clock so by the time you get to your destination it’s 9:30 a.m. so it really doesn’t make any sense,” said one transit rider.
Other riders expressed similar concerns on the usefulness of the new route, noting an express line running earlier in the morning would be more effective for the majority of commuters.
Some however, we’re happy with the change including this woman who was catching the new express service Monday morning.
“I had just heard in the car on the way to the station it was going to be an express [route], it’s going to get us to Union by 9:43 a.m. so I’m very surprised and happy about it because it usually takes nearly 2 hours.”
Another rider taking the new trip back to Toronto after visiting family admitted they rarely use the service during the week but would like to see better weekend train service to and from Kitchener.
“My biggest complaint is that there is no direct route from Kitchener to Toronto on the weekends because that’s when I use it primarily. It’s mostly a commuter train and I don’t fit into that profile.”
This comes after Metrolinx made a number of changes to it’s GO service over the long weekend.
As of April the 8th, the company isn’t offering a new weekend train service in Kitchener but it is providing new GO bus service on the weekends for Waterloo, Kitchener and Guelph.
Full details on the route changes can be found on the GO transit website.
