GO Transit has launched a new train service linking Stratford, Ontario, to Toronto's Union Station, giving people in the southwestern Ontario city a direct rail connection to the region's biggest transit hub.
The service began on Monday, July 6th, and will be a permanent addition to the Kitchener line. For now it runs with limited service, but officials have raised the hope of adding more train times in the future.
On weekdays, the Morning Express train departs Stratford at 6:16 a.m. bound for Union Station, with return service in the evening. On weekends, a morning trip leaves Union at 8:49 a.m. and arrives in Stratford at 11:16, while an evening trip departs Stratford at 6:16 p.m. and reaches Union at 8:45.
The train ride is around two and a half hours long, compared with a typical hour and 45 minute drive to and from the city, depending on traffic. For riders, the appeal is having a new option: until now, one traveller said, the only choice was about 55 dollars one way for a two and a half hour trip.
For some in Toronto who have family in Stratford, the change is significant. One rider took the very first train out of the station, describing the moment the welcome-aboard announcement played as something that authenticated the whole thing after a long wait for the service.
This is not the first time GO Transit has tried an expansion like this. A two-year pilot project for a London GO Train line was cancelled back in 2023 due to long ride times and low ridership, with that route taking about four hours to Toronto and stopping in Stratford. Riders now say they hope the new line fares better, and are urging that it not be cut.