New GO station coming to Breslau, says Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca
Ontario's transportation minister made announcement during Monday morning tour
Ontario's Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca says a GO station will be built in Breslau – but it is not clear when.
Del Duca made the announcement Monday morning while touring the ION Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility in Waterloo.
"This is yet another example of our unwavering commitment to building Waterloo region up," Del Duca said.
Minister announces new GO station in Breslau during ION tour <a href="https://twitter.com/Kathryn_McGarry">@Kathryn_McGarry</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DaieneVernile">@DaieneVernile</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Sandy_Shantz">@Sandy_Shantz</a> <a href="https://t.co/dYvmWfTllK">pic.twitter.com/dYvmWfTllK</a>
—@KenSeilingWaterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky tweeted the news was "great for east side, north Cambridge, townships."
Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz said the idea of a GO station in Breslau has been long considered, but never confirmed. She called the announcement exciting.
"It's very central for all the cities and it's also a good benefit for the airport," she said, adding it would be great to connect the Region of Waterloo airport to the GO station.
Shantz said currently, she doesn't use the GO train but said she might make more trips into Toronto with more trains.
"I'm excited to have expanded service," she said.
Metrolinx to confirm Tuesday
On Tuesday, the board of Metrolinx will meet and consider a report about potential new stations along regional express rail lines. Breslau is among those that are recommended to be built in the next 10 years.
The report says an initial business case study was completed on 24 different sites, including Breslau as well as two locations in Toronto on the Kitchener line: St. Clair and downtown west.
The recommendations say 10 of those should be built. That includes Breslau, although the according to the report, the exact location needs to be worked out with the Township of Woolwich and Region of Waterloo.
The stations are being chosen based on a variety of factors, including minimizing the impact on trip time for existing customers, so stations located closer to the end of lines were preferred to mid-route stops.
The new stations would go forward if approved by the board Tuesday.
Del Duca said he expects the decision to be ratified by the board and he said he hopes to return to the region in a few months to discuss a timeline for when the station will be built.
With files from the CBC's Melanie Ferrier