New GO station extends Richmond Hill line to Bloomington and Highway 404

Commuters in Oak Ridges, Aurora, Whitchurch-Stouffville to have easier access to public transit

Yorkregion.com
March 24, 2017
By Kim Zarzour

Construction has officially begun on a new GO train station that will extend the Richmond Hill line north to Bloomington Road.

The station, to be located at the southwest corner of Highway 404 and Bloomington, is scheduled to open in 2019.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, Oak Ridges MPP Helena Jaczek, and Newmarket-Aurora MPP Chris Ballard were at the site on Friday morning to make the announcement.

The station - to cost an estimated $82.4 million - is located at a key corner linking the municipalities of Richmond Hill, Aurora and Stouffville, and brings much-needed expansion of services to commuters in York Region, Jaczek said.

Greg Percy, Metrolinx chief operating officer, promised an “amazing station” that will be a “pride point for the region,” with a 765-space parking structure, charging for electric vehicles, heated shelters, a platform snowmelt system, kiss-and-ride area, and a covered bus loop.

It extends the Richmond Hill GO rail line north from the current terminus at Gormley, located at Stouffville Road and Highway 404. The Gormley station opened in 2016 and is served by five morning and five afternoon GO train trips on weekdays.

The project will make lives easier for York Region residents and will bring more economic investment northward, said Ballard.

The station will include a 12-car side rail platform with a canopy, designated waiting areas and scooter parking. Construction will focus on reducing impact to the surrounding ecosystem with rooftop solar panels and environmentally-responsible building design.

The project will bring 200 jobs to the area, Del Duca said.

“Demands here in York Region are significant,” he said. “We are playing that simultaneous game of catch-up for the underinvesting that took place prior to 2003 ... at the same time working hard to keep up, because we know the demands of population growth.”

The station represents the final stop on the line for Richmond Hill - and while it won’t provide all-day, two-way electrified service “for a considerable time” because the rail is owned and operated by CN, it will still help get people out of their cars, Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow said.

“Anything that creates more capacity ... helps us to grow reasonable, easy, seamless public transit.”