Cambridge mayor pitches new rail bypass line to boost GO service

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig is seeking support from city council to join Mississauga, Milton and Toronto in commissioning a study that he says would help make the case for creating a new rail bypass in order to speed up GO service and bring a GO train to Cambridge. 

"The new study that's being proposed is a study to look at a piece of track, which is now being labeled 'The Missing Link', that will bypass the bottlenecks in the GTA area, and allow us to have a better line, to have all-day service to Mississauga, all-day service to Milton, and GO train extension to Cambridge," said Craig.

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The proposed bypass would join the Milton GO line west of Trafalgar Road with the CN Bramalea bypass line in Brampton. It would shuttle heavy freight traffic off a section of track that would allow two-way, all-day GO service to both Milton and Kitchener, according to a release from the city of Mississauga.  

Craig says he will be asking councillors at a July 7 meeting to endorse a plan to work with Milton, Mississauga and Toronto on the study. The initial cost to implement the study for Cambridge is $21,000, out of the total $84,000 cost for the study.

"It is a minimal amount in terms of the absolute benefits it gives to citizens and it gives to the to economic improvement in the community," said Craig. "I don't see any problem whatsoever in terms of moving ahead. It's going be something that we all want, something we feel is very constructive and will improve GO service and expansion to the city."

Train to Cambridge would 'open the door'

Craig will be making the case for the rail link and expanded GO service to Cambridge at a July 27 meeting with Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, the mayors of Milton and Mississauga and a representative from the city of Toronto.  

"I think what we have is a plan that is much cheaper than a lot of the alternatives that the province is looking at and I think we also have a plan that we can put in their hands that is constructive and doable and that we can see in the immediate future," said Craig. 

But Craig cautioned that all-day, two-way GO service to Cambridge is a future issue, and he's focusing on just getting a train to his city first. 

"I want to get a commitment from the province to come to Cambridge. Even if it's once in the morning and once in the evening, we'll take that, because once you open the door, you can open it much larger later on," said Craig.

"The GO train to Cambridge is simply an expansion of the connectivity that we need in terms of transportation. The 401 as we know is a bottleneck at many times, we have many residents from Kitchener and Cambridge, driving to Milton, parking in Milton, and taking the Milton line in to Union Station," said Craig. "In this manner, by having a Cambridge expansion, we will be able to service these people and get them off the 401."

Strengthens LRT case for Cambridge

Mississauga is taking the lead on the study, and wants the consultant IBI group to have a feasibility case and a business case for the rail project by mid-August. Mississauga has already drafted a memorandum of understanding that outlines the costs and timelines. 

When asked if a GO train link to Cambridge would help strengthen the city's case for provincial funding on Phase 2 of the light rail transit that would link Kitchener and Cambridge, Craig did say it would help. 

"LRT for Cambridge is in the future, the only way we're going to get the ridership in Cambridge is to have a connection to GO train and to have a bypass around our city which will open a number of the developers that want to start to developing in the southeast corner of the community," he said.