There was not much to celebrate after last week’s Metrolinx board meeting. It made proper noises regarding calls for the restoration of the GO train express service on Lakeshore East – but offered not much else.
At the board review of Lakeshore East Express on September 11, all Michael Lindsay, Metrolinx CEO, would say was that the service would be restored “hopefully sooner than later”.
The Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from Ajax Rob Cerjanec, has twice called for the restoration of the service which was discontinued in September 2021 due to Ontario Line and East Harbour transit hub construction.
“They were scheduled to return in August 2024 but no timelines or answers are being provided other than construction is ongoing,” said the MPP (see below).
Written Response in Due Course
Metrolinx CEO Lindsay said a formal written response to the MPP’s call would be made in “due course”.
We know how important the express service is to our customers. We are trying to balance current service impact with construction works, very specifically East Harbor. We had to take the third track out of service and cannot use it to bypass, the Metrolinx CEO explained.
He said upgrades to some bridges will be happening soon.
Lindsay said Metrolinx has implemented a 15 minutes train service on Lakeshore East, and as of April, one new train has been added.
Honestly, it is a trade off between service and massive capital project, the Metrolinx CEO said without giving a timeline for the restoration of the express service.