Richmond Hill is one of the seven train lines of 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 ...

system in the

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, Canada. It operates between

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 ...

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to Bloomington GO Station in the north in Richmond Hill. Trains on the line operate only during weekday peak hours (morning trains southbound, afternoon trains northbound), while off-peak weekday times are served by the GO bus route 61.

History

A Richmond Hill commuter train service had been announced in 1969 by the provincial government, but its implementation was cancelled in 1970 in favour of bus commuter service. Following a promotional opening on Saturday April 29, the Richmond Hill line became the fourth GO Transit rail line on Monday, May 1, 1978. The opening had been delayed because the BiLevel coaches ordered for the Lakeshore line were not delivered on time, so existing Lakeshore line trains were not available to be redeployed on the Richmond Hill line. The layout of the line remained generally unchanged until the 2010s, when the line was extended as part of the GO 2020 strategy, which aimed to extend the line north to Aurora Road in

Whitchurch-Stouffville Whitchurch-Stouffville (2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 49,864) is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately north of downtown Toronto, and north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is in area, ...

. The line was first extended north to Gormley in late 2016, with a new train layover facility at Bethesda Road. It was extended further north to Bloomington Road in June 2021.

Route

The Richmond Hill line operates over the CN Bala Subdivision, which is owned by

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 ...

between Union Station and Doncaster Diamond, where the line crosses the CN York Subdivision. North of Doncaster Diamond, the line is owned by

Canadian National 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 an ...

and is part of its transcontinental freight route. The

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 ...

transcontinental service "

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

" from Vancouver to Toronto operates along the entire route of the Richmond Hill line, but does not stop at any stations other than Union. During regular service, the Richmond Hill line operates trains that are six to ten coaches long. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, GO Transit reduced the number of coaches on all Richmond Hill line trains from six to four cars due to diminished ridership.

Stations

Future

As a part of the GO Transit Regional Express Rail (RER) initiative, train service along the Richmond Hill line is planned to be expanded over the next decade. During peak hours, trains would run in peak direction every 15–30 minutes along this line. To implement the planned RER service, the Richmond Hill line would need $1 billion in flood mitigation and a grade separation at the Doncaster junction with the York Subdivision. A layover facility was planned in the Don Valley adjacent to the

Don Valley Parkway The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway ru ...

underneath the

Prince Edward Viaduct The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, connecting Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The ...

as part of the GO Expansion program. In March 2023,

found a different site for the planned facility in a light industrial zone at York Mills Road east of Leslie Street.

will use the Rosedale Siding adjacent to Bayview Avenue along the route as a temporary layover facility.

References

External links

GO Transit: Richmond Hill GO Train & Bus Service Schedule (PDF)
* {{GO Transit GO Transit Passenger rail transport in Toronto Rail transport in Markham, Ontario Rail transport in Richmond Hill, Ontario Passenger rail transport in the Regional Municipality of York Railway lines opened in 1978 1978 establishments in Ontario