As discussed in our posting of June 5, 2023, MTO has set up a Technical Advisory Committee, led by Arcadis/IBI, to further develop its draft Southwestern Ontario Transportation Plan.
The Tenchical Advisory Committee held its second meeting on December 6, 2023.
Transport Action Ontario again participated actively in this meeting and subsequently provided detailed comments. These can be viewed below.
InterCity Bus, a new company in Southwestern Ontario’s motorcoach market which launched with London to Toronto services earlier this year, is extending its network to Sarnia starting on December 18, 2023.
The service is launching with three round trips per day, serving Sarnia’s Bayside Transit Terminal and the transit interchange at Murphy Road, making a stop in Strathroy (Tim Hortons, 28630 Centre Road) and arriving in London at the Intercity Bus Terminal, where connections can be made with services to Woodstock, Kitchener, Toronto Pearson Airport (T1), and downtown Toronto (44 York Street, outside Union Station).
London Bus Terminal
Intercity Bus leased and reopened the former Greyhound bus terminal at 101 York Street in London as its base of operations, providing comfortable place to wait for buses and make connections, with a customer service counter and washrooms.
For passengers making connections with train services, the VIA Rail station is about a five minute walk away.
Fares and Schedules
Fares between Sarnia and London start at $24.85 including tax, Sarnia to Toronto is $57.52. Two suitcases will be carried free of charge, additional bags are $5, and bicycles may be transported for $15.
Tickets can be booked online at intercitybus.ca, by phone (519) 719-9237, in person at the London terminal, and through busbud.com. Drivers will also accept cash if seats are available, although exact change is required.
London to Sarnia
Bus Stop
Trip 1
Trip 2
Trip 3
London – Intercity Bus Terminal
4:50 AM
9:00 AM
4:15 PM
Strathroy – Tim Hortons
5:25 AM
9:35 AM
4:55 PM
Sarnia – Real Canadian Superstore
6:05 AM
10:20 AM
5:35 PM
Sarnia – Bayside Terminal
6:15 AM
10:30 AM
5:40 PM
Sarnia to London
Bus Stop
Trip 1
Trip 2
Trip 3
Sarnia – Bayside Terminal
6:25 AM
10:45 AM
5:55 PM
Sarnia – Real Canadian Superstore
6:35 AM
10:55 AM
6:05 PM
Strathroy – Tim Hortons
7:15 AM
11:35 AM
6:45 PM
London – Intercity Bus Terminal
7:55 AM
12:15 PM
7:20 PM
Schedule as of December 18, 2023
Rebuilding Southwestern Ontario’s Network
Combined with the Sarnia-London intercommunity bus, which also makes stops in Mount Brydges and Komoka, there are now six daily bus trips, plus the single VIA Rail round trip between Sarnia and London. At London, in addition to motorcoach and rail connections to Toronto, several other intercommunity bus routes are available (see Southwest Community Transit). However, the future of these vital intercommunity services beyond 2025 has yet to be confirmed by the Ontario government.
IntercityBus also has future plans to add a service between London and St. Thomas, a route that has lacked public transportation since the collapse of the of Abouttown Northlink bus network in 2013.
Transport Action Ontario would like to see London serve as a regional mobility hub, with a combined station for motorcoach services, intercommunity bus, passenger rail, and easy connections to London Transit.
Interest continues to be high among southwestern Ontario municipalities for improved intercity passenger rail service. In November, Brantford completed a report entitled Brantford on Track: Paving the way for GO Rail Extension. It identifies the need and benefits for GO Rail service and urges the Province to proceed on this:
“Without an alternative to personal vehicles, Brantford residents will continue to rely heavily on their cars, increasing congestion on the 403 between Brantford and Hamilton, contributing to emissions, urban sprawl, and inefficiencies in the transportation infrastructure.”
Transport Action Ontario has written to Brantford supporting its need, but urging caution on relying solely on GO. We also cited concerns about rail capacity and the impact of GO train reversals in Brantford on passenger rail service expansion further west. A better approach is to work with other regional municipalities and build upon the soon-to-be-released rail capacity study, commissioned by Transport Canada that envisages up to 12 trains per day to London, and additional services to Windsor and Sarnia.
We will be meeting with Brantford staff later this month to discuss further, our letter can be viewed below.
Transport Action Ontario has issued a briefing note for municipal stakeholders on the opportunity, status and suggested next steps on passenger rail service on the North Main Line (London – Stratford – Kitchener). This file has a lot of moving parts, including the recent shutdown of GO Rail service on the NML, as well as studies underway by the federal and provincial governments.
Metrolinx is making progress addressing the bottleneck on the Kitchener Line between Georgetown and Kitchener. There are currently no opportunities for trains to pass each other west of Georgetown, vastly constraining capacity on the line, so the addition of passing tracks is crucial to providing the promised all-day two-way service to Kitchener.
Earthworks are now largely complete to install 2.6 miles of second track near Breslau (pictured above), ready for track installation, and the first switches for the were installed in mid September. Rather than acting as a siding where one train must stop, trains will be able to pass here at line speed.
The second platform at Guelph is progressing well, with canopy work expected the be complete this year, and the signals controlling the second track have been partially activated, thus providing a bit more flexibility for dispatchers even before the new platform is ready to fully open.
To complete this infrastructure work, the line has to be closed over several weekends, with VIA Rail trains between Toronto and Sarnia being replaced by motorcoaches. Further closures will be required on October 21-22 and November 4-5, 2023.
Metrolinx have also added a storage track for maintenance equipment west of Guelph and have plans for a third siding in the Acton area to round out the capacity enhancement.
Earlier this summer, Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife challenged the apparent absence of a clear timeline for the project, and Metrolinx would not commit to a 2025 start date for increased services, citing ongoing negotiations with CN.
On the Toronto end of the corridor, the new double track tunnel under 401/409 which was completed in 2020 sits unused pending the completion of other work to bring additional tracks to it. The new GO/UPX station at Mount Dennis for interchange with Eglinton Crosstown LRT is nearing completion, even though the Crosstown opening date remains uncertain.
Metrolinx also announced in August that it would be constructing a pedestrian tunnel to connect its Bloor GO/UPX station with Dundas West and the TTC’s Bloor-Danforth subways line, providing a shorter and weatherproofed transfer that should attract more passengers to use the connection.
At Brampton, the existing two-track station will be expanded with a third track, south of the existing south platform, thus closing a gap between triple-track sections of the corridor east and west of the station. Metrolinx awarded a contract for design work on the necessary modifications to the station and retaining wall in August.
West of Kitchener, however, the news is not good. The slow track speed between Kitchener and London, which Premier Doug Ford promised to address during the last provincial election, together with increased GO service to London, now appears set to be neglected because Metrolinx has reversed course and will end service to London on October 13, 2023.
Similarly, we await news regarding capacity enhancements on the Bramalea-Georgetown section, which also serves as the CN main line. The 2021 Preliminary Design Business Case cited the need for passing tracks and either a rail-rail flyover at Silver Junction or a double crossover to allow east and westbound passenger trains to meet at Georgetown, but neither project has been announced yet.
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