Kitchener GO Transit layover facility planned for Shirley Ave.

Metrolinx says a future GO Transit layover facility with storage and maintenance capacity for four commuter trains and up to 30 buses will be built on former industrial land on Shirley Avenue, close to where the Conestoga Expressway meets Wellington Street North.

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The site was purchased last fall, along with a 53-kilometre section of railroad trackalong the Kitchener-Georgetown line, fromCN Rail for $73 millionas part of a long-term plan by the provincial transportation development agencyto bring two-way, all-day commuter rail between Waterloo Region and Toronto.

Malon Edwards, a Metrolinx spokesperson, said the future layover facility on Shirley Avenue will improve commuter rail service in the area.

"GO Train service is more efficient and reliable when we have a layover facility located closer to where service begins and ends,"he wrote in an email. "Building a layover in Kitchener means more reliable service for the community."

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The project is currently in the design phase, according to Edwards. Once the blueprints are finished, the province can put the project out for tender.

Edwards said the cost ofthe future storage and maintenance facility would not be available until Metrolinx has found a builder.

Premier Kathleen Wynnehas said the province is committed to bringing true two-way, all-day GO train service between Waterloo Region and Toronto.

A consortium that includesthe cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, the Region of Waterloo and Communitech has presented the province with a business plan that claimstwo-way, all-dayGO servicewould bringan additional net 37,600 jobs by connecting Toronto and Waterloo's tech hubsand generate $838 million in annual personal income tax.