Doug Ford Announces Contract in $730 Million GO Train Service Expansion

A GO Transit train sits parked at the Niagara Falls Train Station in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Aug. 26, 2022. The Canadian Press/Tara Walton

Ontario has awarded a contract in the planned expansion of GO Transit service into the Durham Region, which Premier Doug Ford says “is one of the fastest growing regions not only in the province, but the entire country.”

The expansion will connect thousands of daily commuters with downtown Toronto and other areas of the GTA, Ford said at a press conference in Whitby on June 15. “As the region’s economy grows, our infrastructure needs to keep up,” Ford said.

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said at the conference that the $730 million expansion is part of a $70 billion 10-year plan to build an integrated rapid public transit system across the Golden Horseshoe, the urban region centered around Toronto.

The Lakeshore GO Train line will extend 20 km further east, terminating in the town of Bowmanville, and four new stations are planned along the line in the Durham Region.

The contract awarded to Bowmanville Construction Partners for advanced infrastructure planning represents “an important milestone on this critical project,” Ford said. The plan to expand the line was first announced in 2022.

He spoke of the other infrastructure plans for the region, including new hospitals, 68,000 new long-term care beds, and $28 billion in road and highway investments.

“We’re seeing an unprecedented number of families establish roots right here in Durham,” Ford said, adding that new businesses and investments are also entering the region. Ford gave the example of General Motor’s $2 billion investment to retool its assembly plants in Ingersoll and Oshawa, creating 2,600 jobs. Oshawa is in the Durham Region.