Aurora GO Station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

in the

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...

network located on Wellington Street East between

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

and

Bayview Avenue Bayview Avenue is a major north–south route in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. North of Toronto, in Regional Municipality of York, York Region, Bayview is designated as List of numbered roads in York Region, York Regional Road 34. It is 46 ...

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is a stop on the

Barrie line Barrie is one of the seven commuter lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto in a generally northward direction to Barrie, and includes ten stations along its route ...

train service, and connects with

York Region Transit York Region Transit (YRT) is the public transit operator in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Richmond Hill, at 50 High Tech Road. YRT operates 65 full-time rush hour and limited routes, 35 school services, and six Viva ...

local bus routes, and the GO Express Bus between

Newmarket Bus Terminal Newmarket Terminal is a bus terminal in Newmarket, Ontario, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada operated by York Region Transit (YRT). It is located at 320 Eagle Street West at the intersection of Eagle Street West and Davis Drive. The facility has 447 park ...

and

Union Station Bus Terminal The Union Station Bus Terminal is the central intercity bus terminal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Downtown Toronto on the second floor of the south tower of CIBC Square, on the northeast corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Bo ...

History

Aurora station opened on 16 May 1853, when steam train service began between Toronto and Machell's Corners, as Aurora was then known, on the

Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a p ...

. The first train was led by the ''Toronto'', the first locomotive built in Canada, completed at the James Good foundry ''Toronto Locomotive Works'' on 16 April 1853. The train consist included two

boxcar A boxcar is the North American (Association of American Railroads, AAR) and South Australian Railways term for a Railroad car#Freight cars, railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simpl ...

s carrying freight, one passenger coach car, and one mixed passenger and baggage car. This first voyage is commemorated by a plaque installed in 1953 at

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, as well as a steam locomotive bell placed first at Centennial Park in May 1963, which has since been relocated to Aurora station. There is also a plaque placed in a small parkette at the station by the Board of Trade and another placed by the Province of Ontario to remember the event. The train's arrival at the Wellington Street train station was greeted with cheers from nearly all residents of the community, who had assembled at the station, and the event was celebrated with a fireworks display. Connection to the railway led to prosperity for Aurora, with the development of two hotels, a wagon maker, a brewery, and other businesses. In 1855 the line was completed to Collingwood. In 1900,

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

constructed the present building to a standard plan design with a

porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; ; ; ) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which originally a ...

and low profile. The building was designated a provincial heritage building in 1971 and a federal heritage railway station in 1990. The station building was renovated after GO Transit became the exclusive passenger carrier in 1992. On August 21, 2012,

opened a new bus loop to accommodate all GO and York Region Transit bus service at the station.

Services

As of January 2018, weekday train service operates approximately every 15–30 minutes in the morning peak period (southbound), every 30 minutes in the afternoon peak period (northbound) and every hour at other times. Outside of peak periods, most trains terminate at Aurora with connecting buses for stations further north. On weekends and holidays, service operates approximately every hour to and from Union Station, with most trains terminating at Aurora station. Three daily trains in each direction cover the full route from Barrie to Toronto, while the remainder have bus connections at Aurora station for stations further north.

Connecting York Region Transit buses

*32 Aurora South *33 Wellington–Leslie *54 Bayview *Mobility On-Request

Future

In August 2023, construction began on station improvements to support future all-day, two-way 15-minute service between

and Aurora. The work includes: adding a second through-track with a new platform accessible via pedestrian tunnels, building a new passenger pick-up/drop-off area, adding a new exit at Berczy Street. The work is part of the province's

GO Expansion GO Expansion, previously known as GO Regional Express Rail (RER), 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 inc ...

project.

References

External links