GO Transit service adjustments that began on Saturday are now in their first full week, and Metrolinx says they are expected to stay in place until spring 2027.
The changes cover the Lakeshore East, Lakeshore West, Barrie and Stouffville rail lines as well as GO buses. Metrolinx says rush hour service remains unchanged on all lines.
The agency gives three reasons in one sentence: seasonal adjustments to align service with demand, a shift of some rail service to bus as, in its words, an interim measure to address the availability of train crews, and the chance to use periods when trains are not running to advance work on the Barrie and Stouffville lines.
On those two lines, Metrolinx says additional bus service on replacement routes 65, 68 and 71 will carry passengers when trains are not running.
The crew problem is described as the rail partner’s. Metrolinx says the schedule changes support that partner’s advancement of crew training and certification, allowing recovery from what it calls high ridership demands experienced during FIFA, and providing capacity for future service needs.
For Niagara, Metrolinx points passengers to GO bus route 12, which connects to Lakeshore West service at Burlington GO. It says that during off-peak periods the bus offers time savings of up to 25 minutes compared with rail, because of ongoing track speed reductions between Niagara Falls and Hamilton.
The agency says it is also adjusting bus service across the network, including increased seasonal post-secondary service.
Source: https://www.metrolinx.com/en/news/go-rail-and-bus-service-adjustments-begin-sept-5, dated Aug. 31 on the Metrolinx release, which does not print a year.
