“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” The Eagles
The group was singing the song Hotel California, but the same can be true of Milton. There are few ways out via public transit. Mostly to Toronto, in the morning, and evening rush hour. In between, there are buses going to Oakville stops and into Mississauga to hook up to daytime routes into the city. Convenient if you want to do the tourist thing around Toronto, but not so much if you have to work, or go to school.
Recently, Ontario Premier Doug Ford added one new way to get in and out of Toronto via two extra trains on the Milton line- one in the morning rush hour, the second in the afternoon. The big display came the day before the federal budget. Ford might take the initiative to announce their part of an investment. And the temptation is to believe it, because it sounds good and it’s something the riding desperately needs. But instead it comes off as a politically motivated announcement, designed to do nothing more than win a by-election.
I’ve been reporting on this issue since I started in 2009, and the need for more public transit has only gotten more desperate. Every election the MPP has announced one or two more trains, every rush hour. Giving the benefit of the doubt, I’m sure they tried. But the extra trains barely make a dent in the demand for it. There have been plans for it- first by 2031, then 2041, and now 2051. There have been infrastructure improvements like more parking in the western end of the Loblaw parking lot, and a brand new station promised for the current GO station. Rumours of a second potential station off Tremaine Rd near the tracks. Suggested plans of one near Trafalgar and Derry area; that one matching with municipal official plans for the Agerton corridor.
What’s stopping a full-day GO service from happening is Canada Pacific (CP). Canada Pacific owns a section the Milton GO Line, and uses it as part of its shipping operations. It’s probably safe to say, they wouldn’t to sell, or lease it because it’s a lucrative corridor for them. The first piece of honesty on this is from the Regional Transit plan:
Providing 15-minute, two-way, all-day service on the Milton Line will be subject to a review of physical constraints, will require extensive infrastructure investments including track expansions and upgrades, and may include the construction of a new freight rail corridor.
At one point, before the 2021 federal election, the federal government was willing to come to the table with an investment from the National Trade Corridors’ fund- at the time, worth $1.9 billion. In the tradition of vague pre-election announcements designed to get votes, it was short on specifics, like how much of that fund would go to all-day Go service. The province to their credit pressured to use federal funding to build that extra line.
During the 2022 campaign, the provincial Liberals ran on a promise to make full-day GO service a reality. Their numbers held that it would cost approximately $1 billion, half of which they proposed would come from the federal government’s National Trade Corridors fund. According to then leader Steven Del Duca, it “ticked” all his boxes. Del Duca we know lost to Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives. Early signs are his successor Ms. Crombie might understand the struggle, and what it might take to solve it. But, she still needs a seat in the Legislature, and to win the election to make a solid difference.
Milton has two post secondary campuses ready to open within the next five years. Students rely on public transit as a cheaper way to get around. How do we do that with such limited GO Service? It is a need that must be addressed in a meaningful way, instead of as an election ploy.
Optimistic for all.