More train trips on Kitchener GO line starting Tuesday

More GO trains will be moving people between Kitchener and Toronto starting Tuesday, including afternoon and late-night weekday trains.

But the CEO of Metrolinx says they're not announcing a date for when two-way, all-day GO service will arrive in Waterloo region.

As part of an announcement about the new services earlier this month, the provincial government noted some trains on the Kitchener line will have reduced coaches.

But Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster also says riders will not notice a difference in their trains like they did this past spring when Metrolinx added more trains but each train had fewer cars.

"We adjust vehicle train lengths all the time based on demand that we see from different stations and on different parts of the day," he said.

"We adjust the vehicle lengths but most of the trains that we are talking about here would still be the long 10-car, 12-car trains that would be running up and down the corridor."

65 trips

Some of the changes coming to the Kitchener GO train lines include adding 65 new and extended train trips. Extended trips mean some of the trains that used to stop at Bramalea will now continue to Kitchener, including the 12:53 p.m. and 2:47 p.m. westbound train from Union Station and a new 9:53 p.m. train.

Changes include increased departures from Kitchener, including:

• The 9 a.m. eastbound train from Mount Pleasant GO to Union Station will now begin in Kitchener starting at 7:57 a.m.
• The 3:52 p.m. eastbound train from Mount Pleasant GO to Union Station will now leave from Kitchener at 2:57 p.m.
• A new 8:57 p.m. train will leave from Kitchener GO and make all stops to Union Station.

A new express trainfrom Union Station to Bramalea, making all station stops after that to Kitchener GO will leave Toronto at 6 p.m. each day, cutting the commuteby 20 minutesfor people travelling to Kitchener.

'Good policy' not to release timeline

Verster says every time he comes to Waterloo region, people ask him when two-way, all-day GO will happen. Local companies, including the tech community, have said an early train from Toronto in the morningis needed to bring workers into the region.

The province has said two-way, all-day GO trains will come to the region before 2024.

Verster says Metrolinx has a timeline for making that happen, but they won't provide a fixed date because there are too many variables like contractors who work for other companies, including CN Rail to make sure they hit a deadline.

"It's just good policy to not declare big date somewhere in the future and my experience all of our customers, nearly all of them, are interested in what service they get next week, next month, but beyond that it is less of an interest for customers," Verster said.

He said Metrolinx is working closely with CN to increase capacity on the rail corridor between Waterloo region and Toronto.

They are now also focusing on building infrastructure to improve service, he said.