Richmond Hill line

A Richmond Hill commuter train service had been announced in 1969 by the provincial government, but its implementation was cancelled in 1970 in favour of bus commuter service.[1]

Following a promotional opening on Saturday April 29, the Richmond Hill line became the fourth GO Transit rail line on Monday, May 1, 1978. The opening had been delayed because the BiLevel coaches ordered for the Lakeshore line were not delivered on time, so existing Lakeshore line trains were not available to be redeployed on the Richmond Hill line.[2]

The layout of the line remained generally unchanged from 1978 to 2016, when the line was extended north to the new Gormley station. This extension was part of the GO 2020 strategy, which aims to extend the line north to Aurora Road in Whitchurch-Stouffville.[3][4] Phase I of the project, which was completed in late 2016, established the Gormley GO Station where the line intersects Stouffville Road, created a train layover facility at Bethesda Road, and graded the corridor for the extension.[4] Phase II of the project will extend the line further north to the new Bloomington GO Station, which is planned to open by 2020.[5]

The Richmond Hill line operates over the CN Bala Subdivision, which is owned by Metrolinx between Union Station and Doncaster Diamond, where the line crosses the CN York Subdivision. North of Doncaster Diamond, the line is owned by Canadian National and is part of its transcontinental freight route.

The Via Rail Canadian transcontinental service from Vancouver to Toronto operates along the entire route of the Richmond Hill line, but does not stop at any stations other than Union.[6]

As a part of the GO Transit Regional Express Rail (RER) initiative, train service along the Richmond Hill line is planned to be expanded over the next decade. During peak hours, trains would run in peak direction every 15–30 minutes along this line.[8] To implement the planned RER service, the Richmond Hill line would need $1 billion in flood mitigation and a grade separation in the Doncaster area.[6]

• Toronto Transit Commission
• York Region Transit
• Canadian National Railways

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richmond Hill line.

• GO Transit: Richmond Hill GO Train & Bus Service Schedule (PDF)
• AECOM (August 2009). "Richmond Hill Layover Facility Environmental Assessment (EA) and Project Design" (PDF). GO Transit. ITC-2006-EN-002. Retrieved 2017-07-17.