Guelph passengers might see themselves riding the GO train to Toronto thanks to a proposal from Waterloo Regional councilors.
Councillors in Waterloo Region are proposing that a new GO train in Cambridge take passengers to Guelph Central Station en route to Union Station in Toronto.
Colleen James, councillor for Waterloo Region and the chair of sustainability, infrastructure and development committee, said the project is long overdue.
“This is something that should be happening especially when we look at the ways people are living in one community but working in another primarily, and then you look at the different things that are happening and how do we get people moving more efficiently,” James said.
The region completed the initial business case at a meeting in August.
The concept would see a new rail line on Pinebush Road and travel using the CN Rail-owned Fergus Subdivision Line, which is mainly used for freight service.
She said travelling within the region will have economic benefits for travellers.
As well, according to Steve Anderson, manager of transportation engineering at the city of Guelph, the project will be environmentally friendly.
Anderson said the project checks a lot of boxes identified in the city’s strategic plan.
“If we can get that many cars off the road, one train is certainly a lot more environmentally friendly than those hundreds of thousands of unreachable car trips,” Anderson said.
He said the region would be looking to take advantage of that existing rail corridor and if passengers wanted to continue on east of Guelph, they would transfer at Guelph Central Station to get to the Greater Toronto Area.
Right now, talks are ongoing with CN Rail to develop a strategy to use the Fergus Subdivision Line, which Anderson said connects into the main line track used by GO trains on Alma Street in Guelph.
The province is being asked to cover the tab, which is estimated to range between $400 and $500 million.
“This is something that benefits not just one area, but Cambridge, Region of Waterloo, Guelph, Toronto, and all of that in between. So, there is a benefit to have the province invest in this and support this from their budget,” she said.
James said the next steps will involve requesting Metrolinx develop a preliminary design business case in order to advance talks before including the project in their regional transit plan.
In the interim, the region is requesting Metrolinx provide a bus service for passengers between Cambridge and Guelph. James said this would at least get more people moving and using transit and getting out of their cars before this process goes through all of the phases.
According to the region’s timeline, the train would be operational in six years although she said they’d like to have it running before then.
Ultimately, it’s up to the province.
“Having it sooner rather than later is what everybody’s hoping, but again, even we’re looking at potentially six years. We’d like that before, I think there’s a desperate need for it to happen before,” she said.