Text by Daniel Garcia and James Bow

Early History

Along with the Stouffville line, the Bradford line is one of two runs GO Transit inherited from previous carriers. The CN Barrie-Toronto commuter service commenced on April 1, 1974, as required by the Canadian Transport Commission after a group of prospective passengers petitioned the CTC, citing CN's common-carrier obligation to accept all traffic offered to it. CN operated this commuter run until 1978, when VIA Rail took over all of CN and CP's passenger services, this commuter line was included. CN and CP were not very interested in their passenger service in the 1970s because they were unprofitable, and VIA Rail was dependent upon significant government subsidies in order to keep the trains running. When a recession hit in 1981, the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau attempted to cut VIA Rail's subsidy. As much as 20% of VIA's service was chopped.

In Ontario, this meant the complete abandonment of the Barrie, Stouffville and Peterborough runs. Due to public pressure, the Government of Ontario stepped in. They opted not to take over the Peterborough run, but incorporated the Barrie and Stouffville services into the GO Transit network. On September 7th, 1982, GO Transit took over this line, and cut back train service from Barrie to Bradford. A connecting bus has taken passengers the rest of the way into Barrie ever since.

At first, GO Transit ran one round trip on weekdays (morning inbound, afternoon outbound, stopping at Maple, King City, Aurora, Newmarket and Bradford. The closest station to Union Station is Rutherford, opened on the 7th of January in 2001, located at Rutherford Road. It is almost the same distance from Union as Richmond Hill Station, the terminus of the Richmond Hill line.

On September 17, 1990, as announced by the outgoing Liberal provincial government on the eve of calling its ill-fated election, service was extended to Barrie, and there was discussion of taking it even further north, to Orillia. The extension did not last, however. On July 5, 1993, the trains were cut back to Bradford as part of the same cost-saving measures that cut back the Guelph train to Georgetown and all but rush-hour service to Burlington and Oshawa. That marked the last change for this line until September 8th, 1998, when a second train was added to the line. Within a couple of months of the introduction, ridership had increased by 45%.

Tour of the Line

From Union Station to Queen and Dufferin (the site of the old Parkdale station), the line runs on CN's Weston Sub, which also carries the Georgetown line. It also parallels CP's former Galt Sub, which carries the Milton line. At Parkdale, the Bradford line branches off onto the Newmarket Sub, which runs parallel to the Weston sub as far as Lansdowne, before rounding the former Knob Hill Farms store at Lansdowne and Dundas. Although the area here is mainly industrial and commercial, there are still pockets of houses here and there, particularly north of Bloor and south of CP's North Toronto Sub. At the south-east corner of the junction of the Newmarket and North Toronto Subs, a rather old (and in my opinion, graceful) factory building sits. It was built with one large curved side facing both lines, and a curve of track around it. This track used to be used for the industries south of Dupont, but has had its switch to the North Toronto Sub removed, and will probably lose its Newmarket Sub switch before long.

North of the junction, the line makes a graceful s-curve before heading due north. This line, the first laid in Toronto (early 1850's) was remarkably well designed: from St. Clair Avenue to Highway 7, the line is almost razor straight, although there are quite a few vertical curves. At St. Clair, in the middle of an industrial area best known for its wine-making supplies, lies a station (just a platform) last used by the VIA transcontinental trains in 1985.

From St. Clair to Wilson, the scenery is predominantly industrial. North of Wilson however, the line runs straight through the former CFB Downsview. Now, if anywhere near the amount of construction that is anticipated here actually ends up being built, this will be a prime location for a station. For the time being, though, it remains nothing more than endless fields and runways.

North of Sheppard, the view returns to one of industries: there is even an oil refinery just north of Finch! Although the potential for ridership here is low, GO Transit would still like to build a station at Finch, to connect to the subway on its way to York University. This is assuming, of course, that the subway is ever built.

From Finch, it is a short trip to Snider, where the Newmarket Sub meets and crosses the York Sub. If you look to the west, you can actually see the eastern yard throat to the MacMillian yard as it branches off to the north, underneath Keele Street. North of Snider, the Bradford line is not protected by signals, which complicates operation. The second southbound train departing Bradford in the morning cannot move until the first train radios CN Control that it has reached Maple station (north of Snider) or south of it. This situation is reversed for the afternoon northbound trains.

Just like at Doncaster and Hagerman, the GO trains slow down at the Snider diamonds, yet they cross at full speed at the junction with the North Toronto Sub. If anyone has an explanation for this, e-mail us. Just past Snider, a new housing development is being built to the east of the line in the Glen Shields area, and looks like it could anchor a future station. However, this will be the last bit of residential development until Rutherford Station.

Rutherford Station is (for the time being) the newest station in the GO system. It opened on January 7th, 2001, although it wasn't wheelchair accessible when it opened...the station building didn't open until April. From here to Maple, there is a large residential subdivision on the west side of the line. This neighbourhood helped in the creation of Rutherford Station. Since it's only 2kms from Rutherford to Maple, the scenery passes quickly.

We don't know the character of the line beyond Maple Station. If you would like to share your experience (and would like to see your name here) e-mail us.

The Future

The Bradford line is one of the least used lines on the GO Train network. Curiously, it has one of the greatest potentials for growth, as well as the greatest potential for abandonment. The Bradford line offers high-speed service between downtown Toronto and the burgeoning communities of northern York Region, Simcoe County and the city of Barrie itself. Federal Transport Minister David Collenette has ordered VIA to investigate the possibility of more long-distance commuter trains, possibly resurrecting VIA service between Toronto and Barrie. It is possible that this could be done in conjunction with an expansion of the GO Transit line: possibly even the return of the Bradford extension to Barrie.

GO Transit and the city of Newmarket have also done considerable work on the Newmarket train station and there is talk of relocating the Newmarket GO bus terminal to the station. A large number of passengers take the Yonge "B" GO bus from Newmarket south, and their journeys could be significantly improved if they were able to take the train either to Union or to a new "Finch/Chesswood" station on the Spadina subway line. The City of Barrie is also growing rapidly, significantly increasing the potential ridership on a train line from where it was ten years ago, or even twenty years ago when such a service was offered by VIA.

Recently, GO Transit approved the purchase of part of the line, from Snider to Bradford. That means that almost the whole remaining line, from Snider to Barrie (Bradford to Barrie is owned by the city of Barrie and the communities along the line), is now unlikely to be removed anytime soon. The problem is that the line is deteriorating rapidly. According to one report, there is a danger that one of the bridges on the line is in danger of collapse!

As well, GO Transit would also have to buy the crossings at Snider, and maintain them as well. In a report released by GO recently, they plan on building an overpass to reduce maintenance, and increase speeds, to decrease travel time by as much as 10min from Bradford.

The Run to Bradford

	One of the two Bradford GO Trains departs Union Station and heads for the Newmarket Sub. The Skydome and the CN Tower are in the background.
	A Bradford GO Train heads towards Snider Crossing. Photo by Daniel Garcia.
	A Bradford GO Train at Snider Crossing.
	Another shot of Snider Crossing.