Toronto's UP Express is getting a brand-new station

A planned station on the Kitchener GO Rail Line has been axed from the route, but it will still be built to serve an entirely different line.

The upcoming St. Clair-Old Weston (SCOW) Station is among the trio of stations approved in December 2024 under what remains of former Mayor John Tory's watered-down SmartTrack Program — but it will never serve the aborted SmartTrack line or the Kitchener GO corridor it will be built along.

Instead, Metrolinx is moving forward with plans to build the already-designed station at St. Clair Ave. W. and Old Weston Rd. as the latest addition to the UP Express, linking Union Station and Pearson Airport.

The 2015-opened UP Express currently serves over 23 kilometres of track, including a shared GO rail corridor and an elevated guideway for its terminal leg approaching the airport. Along the route, trains serve stations at Bloor St. W. as well as Weston Rd., with an entire trip taking under 25 minutes on average.

While the air-rail link was envisioned primarily to connect Pearson Airport with downtown Toronto, its limited stops and train speeds up to 145 km/h have helped the route evolve into something of an informal express commuter line, attracting many riders just trying to get in and out of the city in a pinch.

However, it looks like the line will be getting a bit busier thanks to a new stop in the coming years, after Metrolinx and the Province identified new operational requirements that would preserve plans for SCOW Station and, for the most part, simply swap out the livery on the trains serving it.

Some design changes are required for this switch from GO to UP Express, though, specifically related to the UP Express using three-car single-level trains rather than the up to 12-car bi-levels used by GO Transit. 

Station platforms will remain unchanged from the GO Transit design, but a section of each platform will be built at an increased height to accommodate the different boarding levels of UP Express rolling stock.

But aside from these minor reconfigurations, Metrolinx and the City of Toronto have deemed impacts to the design "are likely to be minimal."

Despite these key changes to the plan, the SCOW Station remains funded through the City's SmartTrack Program budget, though Metrolinx and the provincial government have promised to absorb all capital costs associated with these new revisions to the plan via Ontario's budget for the ongoing GO Expansion program.

The planned SCOW Station is still expected to enter operation in 2031, a full decade after the 2021 completion date promised by John Tory for his long-dead 22-station SmartTrack plan back in 2014.

City Council will vote on a plan to approve the changes during its upcoming meeting on Nov. 12, 13 and 14, 2025.