A broken Doug Ford election promise helped tank ridership on London GO service, critic suggests

A report from Metrolinx suggests it was seeking strategic direction from the provincial government more than half-way through a two-year London to Toronto GO service pilot because of low ridership, something a transit critic says can be partly blamed on a broken 2022 election promise by Premier Doug Ford. 

CBC News obtained the heavily redacted 12-page Metrolinx report entitled "Strategic Direction for London GO Service" through Ontario's Freedom of Information Act.

More than half of the report was blacked out by provincial bureaucrats, who said the information must be kept secret because it pertains to "advice to governments" and the "economic or other interests of Ontario." 

The unredacted sections of the report said the London GO service averaged about 300 weekly trips between Oct. 4 2021 and Oct. 17 2022. The majority of those riders were boarding in either London or Stratford, and averaged 60 trips a day at a time when Ontario was still in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. 

The report includes a survey of commuters conducted by Metrolinx. Riders said they would have used the service more often if it had a "shorter trip time" and "more frequent service."

The survey also suggests some commuters avoided the London GO train altogether because of its 5 a.m. departure time, lack of weekend service and the lengthy four-hour trip to Toronto's Union Station. 

Premier's office would not answer questions

Terry Johnson, the president of the citizen-led transit advocacy group Transport Action Canada, reviewed the documents obtained by CBC News.

He said the report shows Metrolinx was seeking direction from the province about the future of the London GO service 14 months into the two-year pilot because infrequent and slow service had stymied ridership growth. 

"The implication of that is that they didn't receive a directive to extend the GO pilot or fund the track repairs needed to run it faster than 30 miles an hour [50 km/h]," Johnson said in an interview with CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive. 

"That's even though Premier Doug Ford had promised to do both, investing $160 million in connection with the relocation of the WSIB head office from Toronto to London."

Doug Ford made the promise while campaigning for a second term as premier in May of 2022, saying a "re-elected PC government will invest an additional $160 million to improve the speed and frequency of all-new GO train service between London and Toronto."

A request for comment by CBC News was not returned by Caitlyn Clark, Premier Doug Ford's director of media relations. Instead, Clark referred the matter to Dakota Brasier, the press secretary to Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria.

"During the month of May, total London boardings were 23 people daily," she said in an email, noting boardings on the London, Stratford and St Mary's segment of the line "remained low." Brasier did not address Ford's 2022 election promise to deliver $160 million in track upgrades. 

Pilot saw 'impressive' ridership near end, despite shortcomings

The two-year pilot service for a GO train between London and Toronto was based on an agreement with CN and Via Rail giving Metrolinx access to the CN-owned tracks. That agreement ended in October of 2023. 

With an average speed of 50 km/hr, Johnson said it was obvious why the failed commuter rail service never took off, but the service also debuted during some of the worst months of the COVID-19 pandemic when Ontario was in the midst of strict health-related restrictions that kept many people at home. 

Johnson said near the end of its run, the temporary service began to attract the start of what he said were some "impressive" ridership numbers. 

"We had up to 500 people a week just before they cancelled it, despite that inconvenient schedule and slow running on poorly maintained track."

Johnson noted that despite having to catch the train at 5 a.m. and endure a four-hour commute, hundreds of people still turned out once COVID-19 health restrictions started to ease. 

"Just imagine how many people would show up for a frequent train on good track."