Aldershot GO Station

For the railway station in England, see Aldershot railway station.

Aldershot GO Station is a railway station and bus station used by Via Rail and GO Transit, located at Highway 403 and Waterdown Road in the Aldershot community of Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

Aldershot
General information
Location	1199 Waterdown Road Burlington, Ontario
Coordinates	43°18′48″N 79°51′20″W / 43.31333°N 79.85556°W / 43.31333; -79.85556
Owned by	Metrolinx
Platforms	2 side platforms, 1 island platform
Tracks	4
Bus operators	GO Transit
Connections	Burlington Transit Hamilton Street Railway
Construction
Structure type	Unstaffed station; Station building with a waiting room and public washroom
Parking	1,619 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: AST GO Transit: AL Via Rail: ALDR
Fare zone	17
Services
Preceding station Via Rail Following station Brantford toward Windsor Windsor–Toronto Oakville toward Toronto Grimsby toward New York Maple Leaf Preceding station GO Transit Following station West Harbour Terminus Lakeshore West Burlington towards Union Station Hamilton Terminus Lakeshore West (peak express) West Harbour towards Niagara Falls St Catharines towards Niagara Falls Lakeshore West (off-peak express)
Former services Preceding station Canadian National Railway Following station Hamilton toward Suspension Bridge Niagara Falls – Toronto Local stops Burlington toward Toronto Hamilton Terminus Hamilton – Allandale Burlington toward Allandale
Location

Services

Aldershot serves Burlington on Via Rail's Quebec City–Windsor Corridor routes between Toronto and Windsor, and is also served by trains coming westbound from Montreal. It doubles as the Via Rail station for Hamilton, which does not have an intercity rail station of its own.

The station is also served by the joint Via–Amtrak Maple Leaf train, connecting Toronto and New York City through Niagara Falls.

Aldershot is the western terminus of 30-minute service on the Lakeshore West line in off-peak hours, with every second train continuing on to West Harbour GO Station and with bus connections available to Hamilton GO Centre and Brantford Bus Terminal. Four trains continue on to Hamilton GO during peak periods.^[1] Three trains go to Niagara Falls and return from Niagara Falls every day.

Burlington Transit bus routes 4 Central and 87 North Service – Aldershot terminate at this station.^[2] Hamilton Street Railway bus route 18 Waterdown provides peak hour, weekday service to Waterdown.^[3]

History

 

GTR station in 1910 with the sign showing "Waterdown"

The Great Western Railway built the first railway station built here, a wooden structure consisting of ticket office, waiting room and freight room. It was originally named Waterdown Station, due to its location on Waterdown Road. The Great Western was purchased in 1882 by the Grand Trunk Railway, which replaced the station in the early 1900s. In 1912, the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed a rail line from Guelph Junction to Hamilton and built a station in the neighbouring town of Waterdown with the GTR station subsequently renamed after the community of Aldershot, where it is situated. In 1920, the GTR merged into the Canadian National Railway. By the 1950s, passenger travel declined. The station closed in 1978, and was demolished in the 1980s. GO Transit built the current station in 1992.^[4][5]

Until 2022, the southernmost track at the station was a stub siding only connected to the mainline east of the station. Starting in November 2021, Metrolinx had CN extend this siding 200 m (660 ft) westwards to connect with the mainline and enable increased service west of Aldershot. Work was completed in June 2022.^[6][7]

References

1. "Table 1-18 Lakeshore West GO Train and Bus Schedule" (PDF). GO Transit. August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
2. "Schedules". Burlington Transit. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
3. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
4. . Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. At the beginning of the project, Waterdown was not even going to be given access to the railway – there was no station planned within the Village. Eventually there were two - Waterdown North near Parkside Drive, and Waterdown South near Dundas Street
5. "Aldershot Station". Toronto Railway Historical Association. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
6. "How a new track at Aldershot GO helps unlock train service into Hamilton". Metrolinx. November 5, 2021. from the original on November 6, 2021.
7. "Pocket track at Aldershot Station holds a key that will unlock more GO Train service to Hamilton". Metrolinx. June 28, 2022. from the original on June 28, 2022.

External links

•   Media related to Aldershot GO Station at Wikimedia Commons
• GO Transit station page for Aldershot GO Station

• Via Rail station page for Aldershot GO Station
• Aldershot Via Rail & GO Transit Station (Canada RailGuide—TrainWeb)