TORONTO — The latest update on commuter rail ridership between London, Ontario, and Toronto continues to show limited ridership, but provincial transit agency Metrolinx says it’s difficult to gauge the pilot program’s success because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transit.
The CBC reports total ridership for the first six months of the GO Transit service, through February 2022, has been 6,369, with a high of 1,862 in December 2021. Some 55% of the riders are making the full London-Toronto trip, even though the one-way travel time is almost four hours for the 118-mile route.
Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne-Marie Atkins told the CBC it will take some time to judge the program: “We still aren’t back to our normal ridership to give the pilot a really good test under normal circumstances, so that’s going to take some time. … It’s too soon to draw any conclusions.”
The pilot program — which extended existing Kitchener Line service by 50 miles for one round trip daily, is open-ended, with no set end date. It began in October 2021 [see “New GO Transit service …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 6, 2021].
Via and Metrolinx (GO) don’t really talk to each other about their plans. Via also doesn’t have any money or vision it seems.
Charles, most Via service to Toronto goes via Woodstock, Brantford, Burlington, Oakville to Toronto.
London is still a very busy station, trains just use the faster route.
Got it. VIA is also supposed to serve the slow route, like it once dd with some consistency. Kitchener – Waterloo and Stratford should be important markets for VIA.
Don’t really know Charles but I would imagine that Via doesn’t really want to be on the slow route any more. Yes indeed Waterloo region and Stratford would be important routes but like Amtrak they are loosing interest in running trains.
So in steps GO to run it as more of a commuter line which especially in the case of Waterloo region, Guelph and Milton have now became bedroom communities for Toronto.
Isn’t VIA Rail Canada supposed to carry people London to Toronto? I remember when London was a busy, viable hub for VIA Rail, been there plenty of times in years past. VIA Rail Canada is now a corpse that once in a while twitches or moans in its coffin.