Ranking Every GO Station, Part 1

Last week, I took a small trip to Glen Williams, in Halton Hills. To get there, I got off at Georgetown GO, on the Kitchener Line, a station I had only used once prior. I found the station layout confusing, and found that the station was functionally lacking. As such, I was inspired to rank every GO station.

In total, I will be ranking the 69 GO stations, 67 of which I have used, from worst to best, across a few parts. I will not be ranking London, St Marys, and Stratford, since they operate only as part of a pilot service which is ending soon anyways. My ranking will be subjective, and there isn't a specific scoring system, but I will consider connections, walkability, and functionality principally. While GO train service will be considered, limited train services does not immediately mean a station is bad, especially if there are good GO bus connections. Additionally, I will shoutout a café that I like within walking distance, as applies.

This post will focus on the worst nine stations, since I have a lot more to say about these than some of the higher-ranked stations. 

#69: Bloomington

The two GO stations that I have not used are ranked the lowest, and that's not because I have little to say about them! Bloomington GO opened in 2021, as the new terminus of the Richmond Hill Line, with a major goal in mind of relieving the parking lot at Aurora GO. Despite being pretty and new (at a price tag beyond $80 million), the station is easily the worst.

 In summary, the station is located on the Greenbelt, limiting any chance of developing housing nearby. There are no bus connections, besides the limited 61 GO bus that goes back to Union (with no weekend service). Service to the station is limited to three inbound trips in the morning, and four outbound in the evening. There is nothing in walking distance. Sean Marshall echoed the same in his piece about the station, which I recommend reading.

I get that there has long been a desire to extend the Richmond Hill line northwards, but the rail corridor simply does not have the population centers to support service: the largest is Beaverton, which is both very far north, and has a population of less than 3,000 people. I would be less offended by the park-and-ride nature of the station if there was some bus connection, providing two functions for the station. The three recommendations that I have are as follows: an extension of YRT's route 33 Wellington to the station, a rerouting of the 67 GO bus that passes by the station on Highway 404, and a new GO bus route to Keswick, Sutton, and Beaverton. The probability of any of these, however seems low.

A giant station for such little service.

#68: Gormley

To get to our second worst station, and the other I have yet to use, we have to go just one stop down the line. Gormley GO was the terminus of the Richmond Hill Line for a few years until the opening of Bloomington. Similarly to Bloomington, it lacks any transit connections, and is little more than a park-and-ride. Unlike Bloomington, there are some nearby housing developments that could easily be connected by transit, as could the Oak Ridges are of Richmond Hill. This could be a recreation of the old YRT route that was mentioned in Sean Marshall's visit to the station, but has since been discontinued.

YRT has proposed extending their route 24 Woodbine here, in order to provide a connection to the industrial area on the east side of Highway 404. It was supposed to be implemented as part of the changes for early September, but it has seemingly been delayed. When or if it happens, I will finally be able to use Gormley GO (yay!).

There's definitely potential...

#67: Old Elm

Old Elm is ranked quite low for reasons similar to Gormley and Bloomington, but has more justification to exist. This station is located just a bit further north of Stouffville GO, and provides parking and bus terminal facilities that cannot occur on Stouffville's small property. Old Elm GO was built relatively cheaply, and provides a marshalling yard for the entire Stouffville Line. Service is relatively limited: peak-only directional, as well as trips at the start and end of the day on the weekend, since the trains have to return to the yard there anyways. The station isn't bad, but it is mostly a park-and-ride. I find this less offensive than the previous two stations because there are population centers beyond it: Goodwood and Uxbridge. These towns also have a GO bus link that meets trains; the 70/71. However, where the transfer from bus to train is depends on where the train originates, meaning that most transfers are made at Mount Joy, with Old Elm just being a stop on the way. There is no YRT bus route here, which is unfortunate due to proximity with northeast Stouffville and Ballantrae.

The Old Elm station is moving to a new site to the southwest soon. However, I do not think that this will have any impact on my rating.

The station's namesake: this old elm tree.

#66: East Gwillimbury

You may notice a trend of York Region park-and-ride-focussed stations ranking poorly, and East Gwillimbury is no exception. It serves Sharon, Holland Landing, and Keswick principally, which are relatively low density and thus difficult to serve by transit. More intensively than the transfer at Old Elm between the Stouffville Line and the 70/71, this station is regularly the transfer point between the GO services that run south, being the Barrie Line, bus 65, and bus 66, and the GO service that provides a local service north, the 68. However, because the 65 and 68 are often interlined, not many people alight here, and if they do, it is for a short transfer exclusively. YRT's 54 Bayview route ends here, but it only travels south, and it reaches Newmarket GO and Aurora GO as well, meaning that few people actually ride the route here.

At least you can find a parking spot.

#65: St. Catharines

St. Catharines is our lowest-ranked station not in York Region! While most people ride the Lakeshore West Line through here to Niagara Falls, there is a decent market at this station. While this station is actually walkable to some houses nearby, it's in a weird position where it's close to downtown, but also too far from downtown to be useful. Sometimes, there's a Niagara Region Transit route that connects with the train, but when it takes just three minutes to reach downtown, it just becomes annoying. The 303 and 315/415 bus routes regularly serve the station, but there are no timed connections with the handful of trains that run though here. GO bus 18K operates by here too, between Aldershot GO and Brock U, but the bus service is not integrated with the rail service (which I think is reasonable as they serve different purposes).

The station building here is very nice. Too bad it is never open.

#64: Dixie

Back to park-and-ride, but this time, in Mississauga! Dixie is surrounded by things, but mostly big box stores and industry. While the station is physically close to frequent bus routes, being MiWay's 1 and 101 on Dundas, and 5 on Dixie, there are no direct connections. Both of these routes connect with other GO stations more directly, and so most people transfer there. As well, unlike the rest of the Milton Line stations in Mississauga, there is no GO bus service here. Improvements to the Milton Line are limited in the future, meaning that Dixie's ranking is unlikely to change for a while.

I know some people would find a Walmart convenient at their station, but to actually get there requires quite a roundabout walk.

#63: Oshawa

Oshawa may come as a shock, because it has all-day service, every half an hour, on the Lakeshore East Line. This is true, and it even connects to GO bus 88 that runs eastward to Bowmanville and Peterborough, and VIA Rail service that heads off to Ottawa and Montreal. So why is it so low? Extremely poor land use. The station has limited industry nearby, but is otherwise closed in by the rail tracks and Highway 401 on either side. This is a horrible location for the train station for the largest city in the region. This is especially true because of how Durham Region Transit lays out service in Oshawa. In Pickering, Ajax, and Whitby, all routes run to and from the GO station. However, Oshawa has higher ridership and so transit is anchored at Oshawa Centre Terminal, a short distance north. While this is convenient for trips within Oshawa, anyone who wishes to reach the GO station must transfer to route 902 first, which can be annoying at best, and uncoordinated with train times at worst. Customers in Oshawa destined for Peterborough are far better off taking the 902 to Bowmanville and transferring there instead of attempting to transfer at the GO station. The 403 and new 421 also service the station.

The current plan for the Lakeshore East Line will extend service to Bowmanville, with two stations planned in the more urbanized areas of Oshawa. While it won't improve Oshawa's score, the two new stations will immediately be better. Actually, Oshawa's score may worsen with the obvious truncation of the 88 at the new Bowmanville Station...

This Durham Region Transit map shows the difference in service between Oshawa GO and Oshawa Centre Terminal.

#62: Georgetown

Ah, the station that inspired this whole series! Georgetown GO, on the Kitchener Line, sucks in many aspects. First, because it is located in the Georgetown marshalling yard, the station has a confusing layout. There is a tunnel to the south side, but to the north side, one must walk the full length of the platform and come around, which is unfortunate since that's where the GO bus stop is located. Service here is much less frequent than Mount Pleasant to the east, and there is no weekend rail service. 

Most importantly, Georgetown, as part of Halton Hills, has no local transit. Despite being located decently central in the growing town, it gives off a park-and-ride vibe that should not be acceptable. Halton Hills has no plans to introduce transit, so this will continue for a while. GO Transit provides local service along Highway 7, on routes 31/33, but the better connection point from train to bus is at Mount Pleasant, where it is timed, and consistent. As such, some transit users who live in Georgetown may never actually use Georgetown GO. 

If the station has one consolation, the historic downtown of Georgetown is less than a fifteen-minute walk away. 

Café shoutout: Silvercreek Socialhaus!

No transit in a town this large is a bit ridiculous.

#61: Acton

The other Halton Hills station is Acton. Located just west of Georgetown, it has many of the same challenges: less than preferable rail service, lack of local transit, and a GO bus connect that is better timed at Mount Pleasant. The area around the station is decently walkable, and the commercial strip is less than ten minutes away. As well, since Acton is smaller than Georgetown (with about one-quarter of Georgetown's population), most people are reasonably close to the station.

Café shoutout: Zapa Projects!

This arrangement is definitely the better of the two in Halton Hills.

Thanks for reading! I promise that the following posts in this series will be more positive!