The construction of new, wider rail bridges in Toronto’s east end marks a major milestone for the Ontario Line and GO Expansion projects. 

Crews successfully moved GO train operations to newly built tracks on the southern half of the Eastern Avenue Bridge and the bridge at Queen Street East and De Grassi Street. 

We’re widening the rail corridor to increase the number of tracks from three to six – four for more GO train service and two for the future Ontario Line subway. To do this, crews first demolished and then rebuilt one side of these bridges so we could expand the rail corridor. 

Now, Lakeshore East GO customers are travelling on the new set of tracks between Eastern Avenue and Dundas Street East, all while bridge construction marches on.

This work is an important part of major infrastructure improvements for the future East Harbour Transit Hub – which will link up with Lakeshore East and Stouffville GO train service and the Ontario Line subway – and the Ontario Line’s future Riverside-Leslieville station. 

How it happened 

Shifting rail operations onto new tracks doesn’t just happen with a flip of a switch – a lot of construction needs to take place before the move is made. For the rail corridor around the future East Harbour Transit Hub and the Ontario Line’s Riverside-Leslieville station, this work included demolishing and rebuilding the southern halves of the Eastern Avenue and Queen Street rail bridges, using a combined total of 3,530 cubic metres of concrete. 

Along with this work, crews built over 700 metres of retaining walls and noise walls and roughly 2,513 metres of new tracks within the rail corridor. 

Once this work was done, crews behind both projects worked around the clock over a single weekend in November to bring this new infrastructure into service.    

At the East Harbour Transit Hub construction site, crews completed 58 instances of welding to put together 1,326 metres of rail. Over at the Queen Street bridge, crews installed 33 piles, completed 10 welds and laid roughly 1,187 metres of rail. 

Take a look at how it came together below. 

What’s next? 

The rail bridges at Eastern Avenue, Queen Street, Logan Avenue and Dundas Street are being upgraded to support more transit. These infrastructure improvements are necessary to expand the rail corridor and offer new connections to the Lakeshore and Stouffville GO lines, and the Ontario Line subway.  

The track shift milestone allows both the East Harbour Transit Hub and Ontario Line projects to progress to the next stages of construction. Crews will now start preparing to demolish the northern half of these bridges to enable future Ontario Line and GO Expansion construction. 

Improving transit in Toronto’s east end 

The East Harbour Transit Hub will be an interchange station in Toronto’s east end where riders will be able to connect to GO trains on the Lakeshore East and Stouffville lines, the Ontario Line subway, and future TTC transit. 

Once complete, it will offer enhanced customer amenities including a staffed service centre, modern passenger concourses, and an accessible pick-up and drop-off area. This will also help relieve crowding at Union Station by up to 14 per cent – or 14,000 people – during the busiest travel hour as part of GO Expansion. 

Travelling east from the hub, you’ll find Ontario Line’s future Riverside-Leslieville Station located at Queen Street East and De Grassi Street. This new subway station will make it faster and easier for people to get to and from the vibrant communities of Leslieville, Riverside and Riverdale, and will conveniently link to popular TTC streetcar routes. 

Once complete, the Ontario Line will bring 15 new subway stations to the city, running from Exhibition Place through downtown and all the way up to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at Don Mills.