GO Expansion
GO Expansion, previously known as GO Regional Express Rail, is a project to improve GO Transit train service by adding all-day, two-way service to the inner portions of the Barrie line, Kitchener line and the Stouffville line, and by increasing frequency of train service on various lines to every 15 minutes or better on five of the corridors. This would be achieved with the electrification of at least part of the Lakeshore East line, Lakeshore West line, Barrie line, Kitchener line and Stouffville line.<ref name="Metrolinx-2022/04/13"></ref> GO Expansion is one of the Big Move rapid transit  projects. With GO Expansion, GO Transit will increase the number of train trips per week from 1,500 (as of 2015) to about 2,200 by 2020 and expanding to 6,000 weekly trips upon completion. Most of the extra trips will be in the off-peak hours and on weekends. The expanded services, new infrastructure and electrification is projected to roll out in phases between 2025 and 2030. The 10-year regional express rail plan will cost $13.5 billion, and will require of new track including new bridges and tunnels. History. Background. GO Transit has historically offered two-way, all-day  service along its Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West lines, while only providing peak rush hour service on its other lines. "The Big Move" outlines the building of express and regional rail service improvements across the existing GO Transit network. Other improvements included extensions to Hamilton and Bowmanville, as well as new GO Transit corridors to Bolton, Seaton and Locust Hill. As part of the 2011 Ontario general election, Premier Dalton McGuinty also made a campaign pledge to provide two-way, all-day train service on all corridors. The vision of two-way, full-day train service on all corridors eventually  included electrification of the system, and was renamed Regional Express Rail. As part of the Phase 2 announcement, Metrolinx stated that the Kitchener and Lakeshore lines would be electrified, as well as the Union Pearson Express. With GO Expansion, Metrolinx expects to nearly triple ridership to 175 million riders per year by about 2031 from 65.7 million in 2015. GO Expansion. On March 31, 2017, the federal government announced it would contribute $1.9 billion of the estimated $13.5 billion cost of GO GO Expansion. The Kitchener line will receive at least $750 million of the federal funding  for infrastructure upgrades including of new track. The Barrie line, Lakeshore East line, and Lakeshore West line will share the balance of the federal funding for upgrades and of new track. On February 23, 2022, Metrolinx announced that the preferred bidder for the contract was ONxpress Transportation Partners, a consortium that includes Aecon, FCC Construcción, Alstom, and Deutsche Bahn, among others. Under its $1.6 billion contract, ONxpress will complete Phase 1 of the GO Expansion project which includes designing key infrastructure such as signaling systems and upgrades to Hydro One power infrastructure. Phase 1 also includes determining the full  scope of the project. The consortium will also start construction for grade separations at rail-road crossings.<ref name="CityNews-2022/04/19"></ref> The contract was finalized on April 19, 2022; Alstom announced it will be implementing the European Rail Traffic Management System for the signaling on the upgraded network, the first use of that standard in North America. Electrification. GO Expansion goals would be achieved with the electrification of core sections of the GO Transit train system while also expanding the use of diesel service in others, as follows: With electrification, service on the Lakeshore West line could possibly be as frequent as  every three-and-a-half minutes during peak periods. GO Expansion will operate 4-car, bi-level electric multiple unit (EMU) sets which would be coupled to form 8- and 12-car trains. To reduce operating costs, smaller 4-car trains will run during periods of lighter demand, such as on weekends. GO Transit's existing fleet of unpowered bi-level cars will be used to operate many peak services but will be pulled by electric locomotives, in a similar manner to SEPTA Regional Rail. EMUs cost less to operate than 12-car diesel trains and have faster acceleration. Journey  times can be reduced significantly with electric traction depending on the route, stopping pattern, and equipment. Because electric trains can accelerate and decelerate faster at stations, trip times could be reduced on average by 10 minutes with a maximum reduction of up to 20 to 30 minutes.<ref name="Metrolinx-2022/04/21"></ref> The electrified network will ultimately extend to 262 route-km (163 route-miles) with six traction substations and 11 traction distribution facilities (switching or paralleling stations). , construction for the electrification of lines is to begin in 2023, with partial implementation in 2025 and 2026 and full completion in 2032. The project  entails the electrification of over of track including of new track. Proposed frequencies. In 2022, Metrolinx estimated that with GO Expansion GO Transit would have the ability to run up to three times more trains than the 3,500 trains per week it ran in 2019. The busiest routes could operate between 8 and 18 trains per hour. Trains at GO stations such as Exhibition, Bloor and East Harbour could have a frequency of every 3 minutes and a 5-minute frequency at stations such as like Burlington and Pickering. Evening and weekend service could be as frequent as every 6  to 15 minutes. The following more modest frequencies were projected in 2015. Two-way all-day service. GO Expansion will see many sections of GO train lines receiving two-way all-day service. Sections proposed to get two-way all-day 15-minute or better are: Sections proposed to get two-way all-day 60-minute service are: Peak periods service. Go Expansion will also see more frequent service on all lines during peak periods in the peak direction on weekdays. The proposed frequencies are: Express service. Stations between Oakville and Hamilton on the Lakeshore West line, between Bramalea and  Kitchener on the Kitchener line, and between Pickering and Oshawa on the Lakeshore East line are proposed to receive express service to/from Union Station. New stations. Metrolinx plans to build several new stations as part of GO Expansion including , , , , and . SmartTrack. SmartTrack started out as a proposed Regional Express Rail surface service to run mostly within the City of Toronto. It was proposed by John Tory during his successful mayoral campaign in 2014. The SmartTrack proposal depends on electrification of the Stouffville and Kitchener corridors where SmartTrack service would run. As a part of the agreement reached between Metrolinx  and the City of Toronto, five stations will be built within the City of Toronto and are expected to open by 2026, these are , , (Liberty Village), East Harbour, and .