Brampton GO Station

History

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

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

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

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.

Passengers arriving at the Brampton Innovation District GO station may wish to pay particular attention to whether they are disembarking in the direction of the historic station on Church Street, or the Pick up/Drop off Zone on Station Street/George Street North. A photo of the Pick up/Drop off Zone on Station Street/George Street North appears adjacent to the article references below.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

References

References

1. (30 January 2019). "Detailed ridership map released for GO and UP Express stations". Metrolinx.
2. City of Brampton. "Brampton History".
3. Historic Places. "Canadian former National Railways (VIA Rail/GO Transit) station".
4. The Canadian Encyclopedia. "Canadian National Railways".
5. Via Rail. "Building the Canadian railway".
6. Daniel Garcia and Sean Marshall. "GO Transit's Kitchener Line".
7. . (17 July 2014). ["Metrolinx acquires CN station in Brampton"](http://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/4636801-metrolinx-acquires-cn-station-in-brampton/). *Brampton Guardian*.
8. (July 8, 2023). "Why Brampton is renaming its downtown GO station (and why it shouldn't)". [[Toronto Star]].
9. (2015-02-05). "GO Transit – Mount Pleasant Station « Dineen Construction Corporation".
10. "Metrolinx - Changes coming to GO Train service in April".
11. "New GO service on Kitchener line has local riders bus to Mount Pleasant, Bramalea".
12. Matt Melzer. (23 April 2004). "Final Run of the Amtrak / VIA International". TrainWeb.org.