Mississauga\u2019s mayor-elect says bringing long-awaited new GO train service to the city is among his top priorities as he prepares to take office next month.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of Mississauga residents and workers and thousands more in Milton have been waiting years for expanded train service on a key GO line serving both municipalities.<\/p>\n
Two-way, all-day train service along the Milton GO route, which includes stops at a number of Mississauga stations en route to Toronto and back again, appeared to be closer to reality with word from Ontario Premier Doug Ford in early 2024 that the province was firmly behind the plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n In pledging his government\u2019s support at the time for the enhanced GO train service in Mississauga and Milton, Ford called on the federal government \u201cto be a full funding partner\u201d in the initiative.<\/p>\n Ottawa did come to the table in 2021 with a commitment to fund 50 per cent of the estimated $1-billion Milton GO improvement plan.<\/p>\n However, the project remains in the discussion stage and a funding agreement has yet to be worked out.<\/p>\n Following his decisive mayoral victory on Monday night<\/a>, Mississauga mayor-elect Alvin Tedjo (he\u2019ll be sworn in Nov. 16) pledged at a press conference Tuesday morning to aggressively pursue the Milton GO line expansion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure that we\u2019re getting funding for two-way, all-day GO here in the city of Mississauga along the Milton line,\u201d Tedjo told reporters and residents at Celebration Square, adding \u201cwe have a lot of municipal priorities that we\u2019re going to advance \u2026 (there are a) lot of things we need to be talking to the provincial government about.\u201d<\/p>\n Tedjo said numerous times during a hotly contested mayoral campaign that Mississauga residents are pounding the table for better transit services in addition to lower taxes, safer neighbourhoods and affordability in their daily lives.<\/p>\n Back in early 2024, Ontario government officials tabled significant GO train expansion plans that \u201cwill deliver all-day, two-way GO rail service along the Milton GO rail corridor by building a fully separated passenger rail line.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Milton GO rail corridor is the fourth-busiest line on the GO network and serves as a vital transit connection between Milton, Mississauga and the rest of the Greater Golden Horseshoe,\u201d the province added at the time.<\/p>\n Also part of the plan, the province said, is to reinstate train trips, improve stations with new customer amenities (such as expanding the south parking lot and a pedestrian bridge at Milton GO station) and advance the planning and design work to support future two-way, all-day service.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone in Ontario deserves access to reliable transit options that connect them to good-paying jobs and housing,\u201d Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said at the time, adding Milton GO rail corridor improvements are \u201cessential next steps in our mission to get commuters where they need to go, when they need to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly one year later, in January 2025, the province asked its transit agency, Metrolinx, to massively expand GO train service in southern Ontario<\/a>.<\/p>\n Premier Ford and Sarkaria released a letter at that time to Metrolinx asking the agency to \u201cexplore the next generation of GO passenger train\u201d service in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area. Calling the proposal \u2014 a long-standing one frequently floated by the City of Mississauga \u2014 GO 2.0, the province asked Metrolinx to work towards converting train lines currently used for freight to passenger rail.<\/p>\n