Categories
Maps Ontario Transit

Taking stock of Ontario’s transport links in 2023

There were some big intercity transport improvements in 2023, though a few communities lost service. I updated my Ontario map to show these changes.

Categories
Infrastructure Ontario Transit Walking

A visit to GO Transit’s New Old Elm Station

GO Transit’s new Stouffville Line terminal overlooked one important detail.

Categories
Ontario Travels Urban Planning

The decline of Downtown Chatham Centre

Anchored by Sears, Chatham’s downtown mall declined later than other failed urban shopping centres in Ontario, but is now a dead mall. What will be its future?

Categories
Maps Ontario Transit

The slow way to Peterborough

Peterborough has useful GO bus service, but it’s a slow ride from Toronto. New coach bus competitors offer speed, but not much else. There’s an opportunity to do better here.

I also updated my Ontario Intercity Transit map for September 2023.

Categories
Brampton Intercity Rail Ontario

Lost in the weeds: OBRY, 18 months later

A return to the abandoned Orangeville-Brampton Railway, 18 months after the last train left Orangeville

Categories
Ontario Toronto Transit

Reviewing GO Transit’s big April changes

On Saturday, April 8, GO Transit will introduce big changes to its rail and bus services. Brampton and Waterloo Region will see the biggest benefits, while a major gap in Ontario’s intercity bus network will finally get filled. However, major construction work on the Barrie and Stouffville Lines will require the bustitution of most trains […]

Categories
Ontario Transit Travels

A transit tour of Southwestern Ontario

In January 2023, while visiting the site of the now-demolished Sarnia Eaton Centre, I took advantage of two new rural transit services serving Southwestern Ontario: Strathroy-Caradoc Transit and Huron Shores Area Transit. While both services connect London and Sarnia, they operate as separate services with different fares; they also have different terminals. Strathroy-Caradoc Transit offers […]

Categories
Development History Ontario Travels Urban Planning

The end of Sarnia’s Eaton Centre

Late last year, I wrote about the closure of the Hamilton City Centre mall, the last of Ontario’s downtown Eaton Centres to open. But Hamilton’s failed shopping centre wasn’t the only old downtown mall to close in recent years: Sarnia’s Bayside Centre, opened in 1982 as the Sarnia Eaton Centre, was recently demolished, with a […]

Categories
Infrastructure Intercity Rail Ontario

The train is returning to Timmins (sort of)

Northeastern Ontario got an early Christmas gift from the provincial government on December 15, 2022. On that day, the province announced the purchase of three new trainsets for the restoration of passenger rail service to North Bay, Timmins, and points in between. Prior to 1990, there were two daily trains between Toronto and Northeastern Ontario: […]

Categories
Intercity Rail Maps Ontario Transit Travels

Ontario intercity transportation at the end of 2022: More choices, fewer routes

On December 7, I took a trip out to Kingston to ride the newest coach operator to arrive in Ontario: Red Arrow. A division of Pacific Western, Red Arrow is the latest carrier to stake a claim to the busy Toronto-Kingston-Ottawa route, which is now served by five private companies. Between Toronto and Ottawa, five […]