Table 4.34: Metro and Suburban Rail
U.S, Canada, Western Europe and Australasia
Toronto     (4.34.1, 2008.2)
City and Country
Population Served
System Length, km / mi
Annual Passengers (million)
Average Travel Distance, km / mi
Annual Traffic Density (million)
           
Toronto - GTTA - 1970
CA
  
68 / 42
5.1
25 / 15
1.8
1995
  
@ 4,500,000
361 / 224
23.6
30 / 19
2.0
2004
  
5,000,000
“
38.2
“
3.2
GTTA (GO Transit) lines arranged anti- (counter) clockwise (east, north, west).
Lakeshore East-1994
    
53.7 / 33.3
7.6
30 / 19
4
2004
    
“
10.8
“
6
             
* Seaton Line
    
20 / 12
      
* Havelock Line
    
25 / 16
      
             
Stouffville-1994
    
46.7 / 29.0
0.5
25 / 15
0.3
2004
    
“
2.0
“
1
Richmond Hill-1994
    
34.2 / 21.2
1.2
20 / 12
0.7
2004
    
“
1.9
“
1
Bradford-1994
    
66.8 / 41.4
0.4
32 / 20
0.2
2004
    
“
1.7
“
0.8
             
* Bolton
    
42.1 / 26.1
      
             
Georgetown-1994
    
47.3 / 29.3
2.2
25 / 15
2
2004
    
“
3.4
“
2
             
Blue22 (airport railway)
            
             
Milton-1994
    
51.8 / 32.1
3.4
30 / 19
2
2004
    
“
5.5
“
3
Lakeshore West-1994
    
63.4 / 39.3
9.4
30 / 19
5
2004
    
“
12.9
“
6
             
* Crosstown
    
22 / 14
      
             
Subway (met)-1960
    
7.4 / 4.6
48
3 / 2
20
1962
  
1,824,000
u 672,000
10.4 / 6.4
66
“
19
1968
  
2,580,000
u 697,000
33.4 / 20.7
147
5 / 3
21
1985
  
3,427,000
u 612,000
53.2 / 33.0
243
“
23
1995
  
4,264,000
u 688,000
“
240
“
22
2006
  
5,113,000
u 2,503,000
* 681,000
62.1 / 38.5
368
5.4 / 3.3
32
Yonge-University-Spadina Subway-1994
    
27.4 / 17.0
147
5.4 / 3.3
29
2006
    
30.3 / 18.8
195
“
35
Yonge-University segment-2006
    
18.5 / 11.5
169
5.4 / 3.3
49
Bloor-Danforth Subway-1994
    
26.3 / 16.3
112
5.4 / 3.3
23
2006
    
“
147
“
30
Sheppard Subway-2006
    
5.5 / 3.4
12.8
4 / 2.5
9
Scarborough-RT-1995
    
6.4 / 4.0
6.7
4 / 2.5
4
2006
    
“
13.2
“
8
Key to Symbols:
* = in planning; ** = under construction.
*** = operated for less than 12 months as noted; traffic density scaled up to annual rate.
@ = population corresponds with historic data year.
u = population within municipal boundary.
 
Notes for Table 4.34
Toronto-GTTA-1970: Initial service, Pickering – Toronto – Oakville – Hamilton, opened 1967 May 23.
Lakeshore East-2004: Toronto – Scarborough – Pickering – Whitby – Oshawa. Also served by Via Rail Canada intercity trains.
Service extended to Whitby, 1988 December 4. Service extended to Oshawa, 1990 October 1.
MoveOntario 2020 transport plan, announced by provincial authority at 2007 June, includes extension Oshawa – Bowmanville, 18 km / 11 mi, and electrification (SuperGO).
Seaton Line: MoveOntario 2020 plan includes new service, Agincourt – Pickering (Brock Road).
Havelock Line: MoveOntario 2020 plan includes new service, Agincourt – Pickering (Claremont).
Long-term plans outline service between Toronto and Peterborough, 123.4 km / 76.5 mi.
Stouffville-2004: Toronto – Kennedy station (metro) – Unionville – Stouffville. Weekday peak service only.
Previous service withdrawn 1963, restored 1971. To GTTA from 1982 September 7. MoveOntario 2020 plan includes extension Stouffville – Uxbridge, 20 km / 12 mi. Extension Stouffville – Stouffville North planned for 2008.
Richmond Hill-2004: Toronto – Richmond Hill. Service opened 1978 May 1. Weekday peak service only. MoveOntario 2020 plan includes extension Richmond Hill – Aurora Road, 18 km / 11 mi.
Bradford-2004: Toronto – Rutherford – Newmarket – Bradford. Service opened 1974 April 1, to GTTA from 1982 September 7. Weekday peak service only.
Extended to Barrie, 1990 September 17, withdrawn from 1993 July 2. Restoration of service to Barrie planned for 2007 December 17.
Bolton: MoveOntario 2020 plan includes new service, Toronto – Bolton.
Georgetown-2004: Toronto – Bloor station (metro) – Weston – Malton – Bramalea – Brampton – Georgetown. Also served by Via Rail Canada intercity trains.
Bramalea – Brampton – Georgetown, weekday peak service only
Service opened 1974 April 29. Extended to Guelph, 1990 October 29, withdrawn from 1993 July 2.
Long-term plans outline eventual restoration of service to Guelph, 31.5 km / 19.5 mi, and Kitchener, 22.4 km / 13.9 mi.
"Blue22:" Dedicated rail service Union Station – Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport, 30 km / 19 mi. Project includes upgrading of existing rail line (used by GO Transit and Via Rail Canada) and construction of branch to airport terminal, 3 km / 2 mi distant.
SNC-Lavalin subsidiary Union Pearson AirLink Group selected at 2003 to finance, design, build, operate and maintain the line, known as Blue22.
MoveOntario 2020 plan includes "Pearson air-rail link."
(At 2007, Toronto airport was used by more than 31.5 million passengers, of which more than 8.8 million international, nearly 8.9 million "transborder" (i.e. to or from the US) and nearly 13.9 million domestic passengers.)
Milton-2004: Toronto – Kipling station (metro) – Streetsville – Milton. Service opened 1981 October 26. Weekday peak service only.
Long-term plans outline eventual extension of service to Cambridge, 40.5 km / 25.1 mi.
Lakeshore West-2004: Toronto – Long Branch – Oakville – Burlington – Hamilton. Also served by Via Rail Canada intercity trains.
Burlington – Hamilton, weekday peak service only.
MoveOntario 2020 plan includes electrification (SuperGO).
Long-term plans outline eventual extension to Niagara Falls, 69.5 km / 43.1 mi.
Crosstown: MoveOntario 2020 plan includes new service, Weston Road – North Toronto – Don Valley – Agincourt.
Subway: Most data reported by the operator pertain to "revenue passengers." Data presented in the table pertain to "revenue" and "transfer" passengers for conformity with data from other cities.
Population statistic for 2006 marked "*" pertains to the former City of Toronto. This was consolidated with adjoining municipalities to form the current City of Toronto from 1998.
Spadina North extension, Downsview – York University – Vaughan Corporate Centre, 8.7 km / 5.4 mi, in planning.
Start of construction planned by 2008. Opening planned by 2015. Included in MoveOntario 2020 plan.
Yonge Subway extension, Finch – Highway 7, Richmond Hill, 6.3 km / 3.9 mi, in planning. Included in MoveOntario 2020 plan (completion not likely until after 2015).
Sheppard Subway, opened 2002 November 4, Sheppard-Yonge – Don Mills.
Extension, Don Mills – Scarborough Centre, previously in planning, now superseded by planned LRT line (see Table 3.18).
Eglinton West Subway: Planned to extend Eglinton West-Allen – York City Centre, 4.7 km / 2.9 mi, with eventual onward extension to Renforth.
Construction started 1994, project cancelled 1995 by newly-elected provincial government. Now superseded by planned LRT line (see Table 3.18).
Scarborough RT: Intermediate-capacity line using "ART" linear-motor technology, opened 1985 March 22. Proposals to rebuild the line for conventional tramcars or new-generation linear-motor stock, or replace it with a metro (Bloor-Danforth) extension, were studied during 2005-2006. The original stock was nearing the point of life expiry, and use of new-generation ("Mark II") stock would require significant investment to permit operation of longer vehicles. A report released at 2006 August concluded that rebuilding for new-generation "ART" vehicles was the best alternative.