Bradford GO Station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

and

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

in the

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

network located in Bradford,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is 67 km north of

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

in downtown

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, and was the terminus of the Bradford line before it was extended to

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...

and renamed the

Barrie line Barrie is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto in a generally northward direction to Barrie, and includes ten stations along its route. From ...

on December 17, 2007.

History

Bradford has had railway service since 1853, when the

Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a ...

was extended there from Machell's Corners (now known as

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

). This would evolve into the

Northern Railway of Canada The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a p ...

, which was later acquired by the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

. It eventually became a part of the Canadian National Railway system in 1923. In 1972, a Barrie commuter service to Toronto was established by CN Rail at the request of the Canadian Transportation Commission, which passed through Bradford. When CN Rail's passenger operations were transferred to the newly-formed

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

in 1978, the Barrie commuter line became a Via operation. This would be short-lived, however, as federal government budget cuts in 1981 eliminated 20% of Via Rail's network, including a number of commuter lines around Toronto, such as the Barrie line. After a significant public pressure campaign from transit activists and local municipalities along the line, the service was preserved and transferred from Via Rail to

. GO train service began on 7 September 1982, with Bradford as the terminal station, with GO bus service connecting riders from Barrie to Bradford. Initial service was a single weekday round trip. From 1990 to 1993, Barrie succeeded Bradford as the terminal station on the line, before Ontario provincial government cuts caused the service to Barrie to end, with Bradford becoming the terminal station once again. Throughout the following years, train frequency along the line was gradually increased, with two trains a day starting in 1998. In 2007, service was finally extended north of Bradford once again, with Metrolinx's purchase of the CN Newmarket Subdivision. By the summer of 2012, five trains were running every weekday, and weekend and holiday train service was introduced for the summer. In December 2018, the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury voted to sell a vacant parcel of land north of the station to Metrolinx so that additional station parking could be constructed. In January 2022, Metrolinx started to make improvements at the station to prepare for two-way, all-day service on the Barrie Line. Work includes an expanded bus loop with 3 new bays, a new heated waiting shelter, expanded parking, a new pick-up, drop-off area, a new CCTV system for security, improved electrical installations and a new underground storage tank for stormwater. The expected completion is expected in 2023.

Services

Bradford station has weekday train service consisting of 10 trains southbound to

in the morning, 9 trains returning northbound in the afternoon and evening, and one train returning northbound at midnight. At other times, the station is served by GO bus route 68 which operates hourly between

Barrie Bus Terminal The Barrie Bus Terminal, also called the Barrie Transit Terminal or Barrie Bus Depot, is an intercity and municipal bus station in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. It serves as one of five hubs for the local Barrie Transit system as well as the city's sto ...

and

Aurora GO Station Aurora GO Station is a railway station and bus station in the GO Transit network located on Wellington Street East between Yonge Street and Bayview Avenue in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. It is a stop on the Barrie line train service, and connects with ...

, where passengers can transfer to the all-day train service to Toronto. Weekend train service consists of 5 daily round trips between Barrie and Toronto. At other times, GO bus route 68 connects the station to

Aurora GO station Aurora GO Station is a railway station and bus station in the GO Transit network located on Wellington Street East between Yonge Street and Bayview Avenue in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. It is a stop on the Barrie line train service, and connects with ...

where passengers can transfer to the hourly weekend train service toward Toronto.

References

External links

CNR Bradford

{{GO Transit GO Transit railway stations Railway stations in Simcoe County Canadian National Railway stations in Ontario Railway stations in Canada opened in 1900 1982 establishments in Ontario