The communities of Mississauga, Toronto, Cambridge, and Milton have joined together to develop a business case to build a so called “Western By-Pass” to divert freight traffic from the Canadian Pacific “Milton” rail line north, to free up the line for commuter rail traffic.
Today at Mississauga City Council, Councillors voted to commence a study by IBI group that will examine the feasibility of constructing a new rail line that would connect the CP line, just west of Trafalgar Road, with the already existing CN Line that runs through Brampton. You can see the full report, here.
The four municipalities have agreed to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and will bring this to their municipal councils in the next few weeks for approval. With Mississauga taking the lead, it is our hope the business case will be finalized in mid-August.
The purpose of this new line would be to relocate heavy freight rail away from the Milton and Kitchener GO lines in order to allow for 2-way, all-day GO Train service on both of these lines. Another benefit would be that heavy freight would be relocated away from the most densely populated areas of the GTA, including central Mississauga.
This truly is the “Missing Link” that will create a regionally-integrated rapid transit network in the Western GTA.
Improving rail transit in the western GTA would provide long-lasting benefits for our city. It would stimulate economic growth by attracting new talent, businesses, employers and students to the city while increasing innovation, growth opportunities and prosperity.
We share the same vision as our municipal partners to bring about convenient and effective transit solutions to move people across the GTA and beyond. Similar to Mississauga’s LRT, there’s a strong foundation that supports the need for a regional rapid transit system.
Once the business case is completed, we will continue conversations with the government and the other federal parties about the proposal. It is our hope that the federal government will be a partner in this project to help make it a reality.