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Yesterday, Metrolinx announced it purchased the lower portion of the Newmarket Subdivision in Toronto from CN for $64 million. The transaction provides Metrolinx end-to-end ownership of the 60-mile Barrie-Bradford GO Transit corridor between downtown Toronto and Barrie, Ontario. An operating division of Metrolinx, GO Transit provides commuter-rail and bus services in the greater Toronto area.

The acquisition “fills the rail gap” between the east-west Union Station rail corridor in downtown Toronto, Weston Subdivision in west-central Toronto and northern segment of the line to Barrie, Metrolinx officials said in a prepared statement. The transaction also will enable Metrolinx to improve GO Transit service between Toronto and Barrie.

GO Transit currently operates eight commuter trains each weekday on the Newmarket Subdivision, which also accommodates one CN train daily and VIA Rail Canada Inc. trains three times per week. Under the sales agreement, CN will continue to serve five shippers on the lower portion of the subdivision.

“This transaction marks a milestone for the agency, giving us — for the first time — end-to-end ownership of a GO Transit rail line,” said Metrolinx President and Chief Executive Officer J. Robert Prichard.