Riders on GO Transit’s busiest lines will soon spend less time waiting for their next train.At a news conference at GO’s Willowbrook yard in Etobicoke on Thursday, Transportation Minister John Yakabuski announced a 21-per-cent increase to service on the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East GO corridors. Starting Monday, GO will add 220 new trips per week on the two lines. Yakabuski described the initiative as “the largest GO service expansion increase in five years.”“With these new trips there will be more than 400,000 train seats available each and every week,” he said. “Improving public transit to better serve those who travel within the GTHA is vital to our economic development. Less time spent worrying about catching that train means more time spent on the valuable things that people care about, like family, friends and work.”Speaking to reporters, Etobicoke Lakeshore MPP Christine Hogarth attributed the additional service to Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government, framing the announcement as a case of “promises made, promises kept.” However, Metrolinx has been adjusting its operations for months in order to add service to the Lakeshore corridors, and the initiative predates the Conservatives’ election victory in June. Metrolinx, the provincial agency that operates GO, will add 27 new trips per day on the Lakeshore East line, which will double midday weekday service between Oshawa and Union Station, and enable trip frequencies of 15 minutes outside of peak periods. Seventeen new train trips will be added each weekday on the Lakeshore West line, with six of those during rush hour. The 11 additional trains during midday represent a 50-per-cent increase in off-peak service.“Now from dusk til dawn, anyone on our Lakeshore corridor can arrive at a station with the expectation to have a service within 15 or 20 minute average,” said Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster. He described the a ...
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