Brampton GO Station

Brampton
General information
Location27/31 Church Street West
Brampton, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°41′13″N 79°45′53″W / 43.68694°N 79.76472°W / 43.68694; -79.76472
Owned byMetrolinx (station)
Canadian National Railway (tracks)
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections Downtown Brampton Terminal
Construction
Structure typeUnstaffed station
Parking962 spaces
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeGO Transit: BR
Fare zone33
History
Opened1856
Rebuilt1907 (GTR)
2011 (GOT)
Passengers
20182,500 (daily avg.)[1] Increase 4.9% (GO Transit)
Services
Preceding station Via Rail Following station
Georgetown
toward Sarnia
 Sarnia–Toronto Malton
toward Toronto
Preceding station GO Transit Following station
Mount Pleasant
towards Kitchener
 Kitchener Bramalea
towards Union Station
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Georgetown
toward Chicago
 International Malton
toward Toronto
Preceding station Canadian National Railway Following station
Norval
toward Sarnia
 Sarnia – Toronto
via Lucan Crossing 		Malton
toward Toronto
Designated1992
Reference no.4567

Brampton Innovation District GO Station (Brampton Station) is a railway station served by GO Transit and Via Rail, located at 27 Church Street West in downtown Brampton, Ontario, Canada. It is directly connected to the Downtown Brampton Terminal which serves GO Transit and Brampton Transit buses.

History

Brampton station circa 1910

Brampton station opened in 1856 as a part of the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) line between Toronto and London.[2] The current station building was built in 1907.[3]

The GTR was acquired by the Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1923,[4] then in 1977 CN's passenger rail division was transferred to Via Rail.[5]

GO Transit began serving the station in 1974 with the creation of the Georgetown line (now Kitchener Line).[6]

A new second platform on the south side of the tracks was built 2009-2011 featuring a covered section, improved lighting and security systems as well as an automatic snow melting system. Previously only the north track had been accessible to passenger trains with a tunnel underneath the track for passengers entering from Station Street/George Street North.

In July 2014 Metrolinx (GO Transit) purchased the station from CN for $2.5 million.[7]

In late June 2023, the City of Brampton announced it had entered an agreement with Metrolinx to rename the station as "Brampton Innovation District GO" for 10 years. New signage was expected to be installed in fall 2023.[8]

Overview

The station is wheelchair accessible and the building houses a waiting room and ticket sales. The train station is connected by a passenger tunnel to the Downtown Brampton Bus Terminal on the south side.

With growing commuter ridership, the station's parking lot is operating over its designed capacity, and cannot be extended because of its downtown location. Mount Pleasant GO Station opened in early 2005 to take some of the pressure off this station.[9]

The trackage between Bramalea and Georgetown is still owned by Canadian National and it is part of the railway's primary freight line across Ontario. This limits the number of passenger trains that can operate through Brampton.

Services

The GO Transit Kitchener line trains operate between Toronto Union Station and Kitchener, with many trips terminating in Mount Pleasant or Georgetown. As of April 8, 2023, train service operates on weekdays and weekends with up to 3 trains per hour in the peak direction on weekdays, and one train per hour on weekday off-peak periods and weekends. Weekend service to the station first began on April 8, 2023.[10][11]

Via Rail Corridor intercity trains operate west to Stratford, London, and Sarnia, and east to Toronto Union Station.

Between 1982 and 2004, Brampton was an intermediate stop on the International Limited, a joint Via Rail and Amtrak service between Chicago and Toronto.[12]

The Downtown Brampton Terminal serves GO buses to Yorkdale, York Mills and Union stations in Toronto, Orangeville and Guelph, as well as Brampton Transit local buses.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Detailed ridership map released for GO and UP Express stations". Metrolinx. 30 January 2019.
  2. ^ City of Brampton. "Brampton History". Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  3. ^ Historic Places. "Canadian former National Railways (VIA Rail/GO Transit) station". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  4. ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia. "Canadian National Railways". Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  5. ^ Via Rail. "Building the Canadian railway". Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  6. ^ Daniel Garcia and Sean Marshall. "GO Transit's Kitchener Line". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Metrolinx acquires CN station in Brampton". Brampton Guardian. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Why Brampton is renaming its downtown GO station (and why it shouldn't)". Toronto Star. July 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "GO Transit – Mount Pleasant Station « Dineen Construction Corporation". 2015-02-05. Archived from the original on 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  10. ^ "Metrolinx - Changes coming to GO Train service in April". www.metrolinx.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  11. ^ "New GO service on Kitchener line has local riders bus to Mount Pleasant, Bramalea". CBC News.
  12. ^ Matt Melzer (23 April 2004). "Final Run of the Amtrak / VIA International". TrainWeb.org. Retrieved 1 August 2015. From 1982, Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada had jointly operated the International train between Chicago and Toronto