Markham GO Train will blast 11 p.m. horn after pleas denied

yorkregion.com
June 26, 2017
By Tim Kelly

Get ready for the GO Train to horn in on your evening around 11 p.m. June 26, Markham - and possibly for many more nights to come.

The sounds of a train whistle blast won't be silenced, despite the efforts of Mayor Frank Scarpitti and others desperate to stop the late train.

"I was advised on Friday that there will be no change (to) the schedule for Monday, so all trains would be running as announced," he said. "They could not make any changes for Monday to due to the complexities involved."

Shanta Sundarason, who led the charge to get the whistles stopped at all train stops in Markham by next spring, at a cost of about $6 million for safety measures, is "extremely disappointed."

"Why would you and the rest of our councillors not stand up and refuse to accept additional trains at night until the horns are stopped?" Sundarason said in an email response to Scarpitti that was shared with media. "It is tireless work fighting for something that we had hoped our team of elected officials would take care of on our behalf."

Scarpitti said he did "convey to Metrolinx our strong opposition to the 11 p.m. train."

The train will pass through Markham, sounding its horn at a number of stops along the way.

Sundarason has said she worries the horn blast means "there are kids that are going to be woken up. There will be people who get barely 5-1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It will affect hundreds and hundreds of people."

Sundarason, who has gathered upwards of 600 names on a change.org petition demanding the train not run through Markham at 11 p.m. until the horns don't sound, is planning to come to Markham council at 7 p.m. June 27 at Markham Civic Centre to speak out against the late train and hopes those who oppose the train will show up as well.

"We...will not stop fighting until this 11 p.m. train is either removed or silenced," she said.