Bradford 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 in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is 67 km north of

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 ...

in downtown

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 ...

, and was the terminus of the Bradford line before it was extended to

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

and renamed 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 ...

on December 17, 2007.

History

Bradford has had railway service since 1853, when 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 ...

was extended there from Machell's Corners (now known as

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 ...

). This would evolve into the

Northern Railway of Canada The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first Steam locomotive, steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually ac ...

, which was later acquired by the

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 ...

. It eventually became a part of the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

system in 1923. In 1972, a Barrie commuter service to Toronto was established by CN Rail at the request of the Canadian Transportation Commission, which passed through Bradford. When CN Rail's passenger operations were transferred to the newly-formed

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

in 1978, the Barrie commuter line became a Via operation. This would be short-lived, however, as federal government budget cuts in 1981 eliminated 20% of Via Rail's network, including a number of commuter lines around Toronto, such as the Barrie line. After a significant public pressure campaign from transit activists and local municipalities along the line, the service was preserved and transferred from Via Rail to

. GO train service began on 7 September 1982, with Bradford as the terminal station, with GO bus service connecting riders from Barrie to Bradford. Initial service was a single weekday round trip. From 1990 to 1993, Barrie succeeded Bradford as the terminal station on the line, before Ontario provincial government cuts caused the service to Barrie to end, with Bradford becoming the terminal station once again. Throughout the following years, train frequency along the line was gradually increased, with two trains a day starting in 1998. In 2007, service was finally extended north of Bradford once again, with

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a transportation agency in Ontario, Canada. It is a Crown agency that manages and integrates road and public transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). It was created as the Greater Toronto Transportation Au ...

's purchase of the CN Newmarket Subdivision. By the summer of 2012, five trains were running every weekday, and weekend and holiday train service was introduced for the summer. In December 2018, the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury voted to sell a vacant parcel of land north of the station to Metrolinx so that additional station parking could be constructed. In January 2022, Metrolinx started to make improvements at the station to prepare for two-way, all-day service on the Barrie Line. Work includes an expanded bus loop with 3 new bays, a new heated waiting shelter, expanded parking, a new pick-up, drop-off area, a new CCTV system for security, improved electrical installations and a new underground storage tank for stormwater. By 2025, all station upgrades had been completed.

Services

Bradford station has weekday train service consisting of 10 trains southbound to

in the morning, 9 trains returning northbound in the afternoon and evening, and one train returning northbound at midnight. At other times, the station is served by GO bus route 68 which operates hourly between Barrie Bus Terminal and Aurora GO Station, where passengers can transfer to the all-day train service to Toronto. Weekend train service consists of 5 daily round trips between Barrie and Toronto. At other times, GO bus route 68 connects the station to Aurora GO station where passengers can transfer to the hourly weekend train service toward Toronto.

References

External links

CNR Bradford

{{GO Transit GO Transit railway stations Railway stations in Simcoe County Canadian National Railway stations in Ontario Railway stations in Canada opened in 1900 1982 establishments in Ontario 1900 establishments in Ontario