GO Transit infrastructure

Corridors

Many expansion projects on GO Transit's rail network were created in the mid-2000s under the funding umbrella of the GO Transit Rail Improvement Plan, or GO TRIP. The majority of projects have been completed, with only a few remaining:

A new round of post-GO TRIP expansions to the rail system has been progressing through the various environmental assessment processes. These include:

This line would follow a CP rail line from Union Station through western Toronto and Woodbridge to the suburban community of Bolton, Ontario, replacing a bus service that currently encompasses two inbound and two outbound trips.

This line would use CP's Belleville subdivision to run from Toronto through northern Scarborough and east to Brock Road in Pickering. The line would likely be introduced after further development of the Seaton new town in Pickering. GO Trains originating at Union might reach the Belleville subdivision by potentially using disused CP Trackage in the lower Don Valley or by following the existing Stouffville line then shifting onto Belleville subdivision trackage via a new connection structure near Kennedy and Sheppard. Alternatively, trains might originate along the Midtown Corridor (see below).

This line, like the Seaton line, would use CP's Belleville subdivision, then branch at the Agincourt yard onto CP's Havelock Subdivision and continue northeast to Brock Road in the small community of Claremont, within the city of Pickering. This line would serve the growing community of Cornell in Markham, as well as the established Morningside Heights subdivision in Toronto. If the proposed Pickering International Airport is built, it will likely also connect to this line.

Although it was not been included in MoveOntario 2020, commuter rail service to Peterborough has also been proposed, which would involve trains travelling on the same line but continuing beyond Claremont. The federal government announced funding for a commuter train route to Peterborough in its 2008 budget, but it is uncertain who will operate it, as neither GO Transit nor federally-owned Via Rail have expressed any interest. Extensive track upgrades would be necessary to allow trains to reach desirable speeds. GO Transit provided a compromise by starting a train-meet bus service on September 5, 2009, between Peterborough and Oshawa GO station (on the Lakeshore East line), making stops at RR10 & Highway 115, downtown Peterborough and Trent University.

MoveOntario 2020 also proposed adding passenger service on the CP freight mainline that cuts through Toronto to the north of the downtown area. The midtown corridor runs from the Junction (intersection of many CN and CP lines, as well as the GO Georgetown and Milton routes) to the Don Valley. Service could involve an extension of the Seaton and North Pickering routes westward, or a combination of trains from the Georgetown and Milton lines. Passenger service would need to be restored to the former North Toronto Station on Yonge Street, or a new station would possibly be built adjacent to the Dupont TTC Station at Spadina Road.

While this proposal would take pressure off of Union Station, and would arguably become one of the more popular and lucrative of the new lines, it faces tremendous roadblocks and is the least likely of the new routes to be implemented. Canadian Pacific is strongly resistant to allow operation of GO trains on its tracks, and this line would use its most congested route, the mainline. The TTC is highly opposed also to a competing corridor to its Bloor-Danforth line. Furthermore, the proposed transfer points to the Yonge-University-Spadina subway would require new construction and would swamp existing stations. GO passengers transferring to the TTC at Union Station are moving "counterflow" (northbound into downtown) and take advantage of some rare rush-hour spare capacity on the line, whereas the new station would only add to the growing peak-direction congestion on the Yonge and University segments. On the surface, the midtown corridor appears to require the least increase in infrastructure and should be the simplest to implement, but is in fact the most difficult from a bureaucratic perspective.

Rolling stock

50 BiLevel coaches were ordered on March 14, 2011, from Bombardier Transportation for delivery starting November 2011. This will bring GO Transit's double-deck fleet to 565 vehicles.

On June 1, 2012, Metrolinx contracted Bombardier to manufacture an additional 60 bilevel cars of an updated design. They are to be delivered between 2013 and 2015.

All MP40PH-3C locomotives operated by GO Transit have been manufactured by Wabtec MotivePower Industries in Boise, Idaho. These replaced most of the older EMD F59PH over a 4-year transition program in early 2011. The new MP 40 locomotives are significantly more powerful with 4000 bhp vs the F59's 3000 bhp, allowing them to pull 12 coaches instead of 10.

Bus

GM buses were manufactured at the Diesel Division in London, Ontario and Orion/Ontario Bus buses in Mississauga, Ontario:

Other

In 1973 six Rek-Vee Industries Club Car were leased for the Dial-A-Bus demo in North York. They were later transferred to the TTC in 1975 and returned in 1976 after the program was terminated.

From 1970 to 1973 a small fleet of Ford E-series based vans were used in Pickering for a similar program.

Terminals

GO Bus service uses 15 bus terminals, with numerous intermediate stops and ticket agencies, in addition to providing off-peak and express services to GO Train stations. The terminals have a wide range of owner/operator/user relationships; GO owned facility with exclusive use or shared with local service; municipal transit operation shared by GO; intercity terminal shared with Greyhound, Coach Canada, etc. During the school year there are also thousands of rides a day to the York University Bus Loop, one of the biggest transit hubs in the GTA.

Maintenance facilities

Most maintenance of vehicles are done in-house by GO Transit. Major projects like overhauls are sent back to the manufacturer. GO Transit has contracted overhaul of select bi-level cars to Ontario Northland North Bay Yard shops.

GO buses are also stored and serviced in: