A high school student has created a vision of what GO Transit service could look like in the coming years.

William, a young transit cartographer, tells blogTO that he spends much of his spare time creating "alternative realities of Toronto's public transit systems, such as stuff that was never built, or what a network will look like in the future."

Two of William's maps have been previously featured on blogTO, and the student continues to refine his cartography skills with another creation.

For his latest creation, William decided to visualize the ongoing expansion project that will vastly increase GO Transit service across the Greater Toronto Area.

The scope of GO Expansion has increased significantly since OnXpress took over development and construction of the project from Metrolinx. No longer will we only hage 15 minute service in the core network, but we will have much higher. Here is my unofficial vision of the network: pic.twitter.com/mEwKFktHMt

— WB62 (@WBMetro62) August 31, 2023

"I created this map to use as a reference when I'm telling people what GO Expansion is, as there has been a lot of misinformation surrounding this project due to lack of solid communication," explains William.

Metrolinx's GO expansion plans have several moving parts, and will eventually increase the network from the 3,500 weekly trips recorded in 2019 up to 10,000.

Upgrades include new train technology on the Barrie, Lakeshore, Stouffville and Kitchener lines that will allow faster trains offering all-day, two-way trips at intervals as quickly as every 15 minutes.

This work includes new stations in underserved areas, including five additional stations within Toronto, and has already added a new elevated rail line to the city, alleviating a bottleneck in the network.

However, despite the 15-minute claim Metrolinx still quotes throughout its literature on the project, William explains that the expansion's scope appears to have intensified since a consortium called ONxpress Transportation Partners (which includes European rail companies) was chosen to take over the responsibility of planning, development, and construction of GO Expansion from Metrolinx in 2022.

This increase in scope would see GO trains serving some stations at intervals as quickly as three minutes, transforming parts of the network into a hybrid urban rapid transit/regional rail service.

Despite all of the investment in the project — which includes $11 billion worth of early works and off-corridor projects already in progress — neither Metrolinx nor ONxpress have offered riders a preview of what the completed expansion will look like for riders.

William fills this gap, explaining that the map "represents the GO Transit Network once the project called GO Expansion is complete."

"This map is supposed to be an example of what train service could be like after GO Expansion going off the limited information ONxpress gave when they were chosen, and doesn't officially represent what the services will be; it's just a demonstration."

"This project is well underway and involves infrastructure improvements, service increases, and electrification of the core parts of the GO network."

William's earlier maps include a preview of what the TTC map could look like in 2035, as well as a graphic revealing every single GO Transit line ever proposed in the region.