Metrolinx, Stratford mayor expecting increased ridership on expanded Kitchener GO line

It's too early to draw a conclusion about the success of the GO train expansion past Kitchener, but Metrolinx and Statford's mayor expect ridership to go up.

The pilot project includes stops in St Marys, Stratford, and London, and was launched in the middle of October 2021. 

Metrolinx stresses it's monitoring ridership of the GO service expansion very closely.

So far, the ridership is looking as expected — the bulk of trips are to and from the larger urban areas.

Most trips are to and from London and Toronto, followed by Stratford.

But, there are “lots coming from Kitchener.”

The holiday season saw the highest ridership.

Ticket sales in November and December were 1,591 and 1,862, respectively.

However, there was a steep drop in January, with sales at 770 tickets, roughly under half of the two previous months.

“The pandemic really has impacted ridership. Ridership is growing across the lines, but like any transit agency around the world, we did see some impact, but we are seeing customers coming back across the board, not just for our London service,” said Suniya Kukaswadia, Metrolinx media relations senior advisor.

Ticket sales on the London to Toronto route were 1,300 in February.

Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson said, “We will see higher ridership numbers, I believe, as time goes on and the system is accepted by individuals. And also, because VIA continues to disappoint with their offering of service to the region.”

He added the tourism season and the return to workplaces will likely contribute to ridership, as well as high gas prices, if they are sustained. 

Kukaswadia echoed a need for more time.

“It does take some time to build interest and awareness. Historically, from our experience, we know it takes time to build ridership as well. Travel habits are one of those things that are quite ingrained,” she said.

But, Mathieson sees an issue with train scheduling, which he believes, will require more investment from the province.

“People on the streets of Stratford like the opportunity to have the train. They do have a little bit of a challenge with being able to go in and come back in the same day,” he said.

People need to leave early morning to catch the train, but return in the late evening.

Stratford's mayor is also pushing for weekend service and has met with Metrolinx and other groups to pitch the tourism season may bring riders.

“The only way they're going to do it is spend some money and get people on the train. It's not one of those things you can say 'if they ride, we'll increase.' Well, you need to spend some money too. They've been good so far on this pilot, but they need to spend some more,” he said.

Kukaswadia said feedback on the pilot so far has been “quite positive.”

Mathieson said, “This whole Metrolinx experiment that they're doing out in our area has been a great first step … Metrolinx has an opportunity to play a role in the continued growth of the area, and I believe that that's going to form a very big part of the next provincial government's agenda as they try to deal with transportation issues across our region.”