Could a new rail line connecting two of the Greater Toronto Area’s busiest destinations be the key to unlocking GO Transit service for Cambridge?
Absolutely, according to the city’s mayor.
“I think Kathleen Wynne, when she sees the facts … will be supportive of our initiative,” Doug Craig tells CTV News.
A new, $456-million rain link between Union Station and Pearson International Airport is set to start running next spring.
Before long, that line will be electrified. That means the 18 cars provincial transportation agency Metrolinx has ordered will have to go somewhere else – and Craig thinks Cambridge is the right place.
The city has submitted a proposal to see those trains used for a Cambridge-to-Milton rail pilot project.
“The idea is to get GO to say yes. Then we could open the door wider in the future,” Craig says.
Sandra Brethauer likes the sound of that.
The Cambridge resident says she feels like she’s taking her life in her hands every time she drives to Toronto – and while Greyhound runs buses between the two cities, that’s not always an option either.
“Many times, I have been out there and a bus has come in from Kitchener with only two or three seats available,” she says.
Craig says the proposal would be cheaper than what the city first asked for in 2009, and would include a total of four stations.
A spokesperson for Metrolinx tells CTV News the agency has received the report and is in the process of examining and evaluating it.
Officials from various levels of government will meet to discuss the proposal later this month.
Craig says he expects trains to be running to his city in three to four years.
