Urban rail transit in Canada
The Réseau express métropolitain light metro system is set to take over the Mount Royal Tunnel and the Deux-Montagnes line.
The 69.2-kilometre (43.0 mi) system has 68 stations on four lines, which serve the north, east, and central portions of the Island of Montreal, as well as the suburbs of Laval and Longueuil.
The O-Train began in 2001 as a light rail pilot project to supplement Ottawa's Transitway bus rapid transit system.
[15][16] As of February 2024,[update] Stage 2 of Ottawa's O-Train expansion is under construction, which will expand the Confederation Line east and west.
GO Transit operates commuter rail services in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, including the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Niagara, Oshawa, Barrie, and Guelph.
As of March 2024,[update] the GO Expansion project is underway and will bring electrification, new trackage, bridges, and tunnels to the system, allowing for two-way all-day service with 15-minute frequencies to sections of five of its lines.
It opened in advance of the 2015 Pan American Games, sharing most of its routing with GO's Kitchener line before travelling along a 3.3-kilometre (2.1 mi) rail spur to the airport.
Unlike light rail, the majority of the ten routes operate in mixed traffic and all make frequent stops.
[43] Hamilton's B-Line route, part of the region's BLAST rapid transit network, was a proposed light rail line to run east–west along King and Main streets, with McMaster University and Eastgate Square as its termini.
[44] However, in announcing the financing for the line, the Government of Ontario changed the eastern terminus to Queenston Circle instead of Eastgate Square but added a branch to the new West Harbour GO Station.
[45] After uncertainty among Hamilton's city council and poor ridership projections in provincially funded studies, the provincial government announced that they would abandon the spur line down James North and a previously announced BRT system along James in favour of reinstating Eastgate Square as the terminal station of the B-Line.
[47] In February 2021, the province reversed their decision and announced their re-commitment to the Hamilton light rail project, and in May 2021, federal funding was confirmed.
[50] The Hurontario LRT is a 17.6-kilometre (10.9 mi) light rail line under construction which is largely financed by Ontario provincial government.
[32] On March 21, 2019, Metrolinx announced that most of the downtown loop would be deferred to a later date due to financial restrictions, although a short spur to a stop at Square One Shopping Centre would remain.
The city was unable to source a consortium to build the line as the sole remaining candidate would not provide project financing.
[53] In early November 2023, the province of Quebec suspended the project in order to have the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec do a six-month study to determine whether the tramway or some other public transit option would be the best solution.
On September 3, 2024, City Council received a letter from Alberta Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen where he announced that the province would no longer provide its $1.5 billion portion of funding for the project, citing cost concerns,[55] as well as offering to procure a new alignment, which the province claims will cost less, while serving a greater area.
[56] A 27-kilometre (17 mi) light rail network to consist of three lines radiating from SkyTrain stations had been proposed for construction in Surrey, British Columbia.
[61][62] However, in 2018, more than 80 percent of the city's residents objected to the line and potential problems, prompting several parties to adopt its cancellation as part of their platform during that year's civic election.
[68] It was cancelled in April 2019 by the Ontario provincial government under Premier Doug Ford in favour of a Line 4 Sheppard subway extension.
