The province still faces a number of obstacles before all-day, two-way GO service between Kitchener and Toronto will become a reality, says Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray.

Murray was in the region on Friday speaking to local businesses about their transit needs. Earlier this month Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the province would be expanding GO service between Waterloo Region and Toronto.

Murray didn't offer a firm estimate on when all-day two-way service would be implemented, but outlined what needs to happen for it to come to fruition.

1. Buying track

"One of the early wins we need to get is we need to complete acquiring tracks so that’s hundreds of millions of dollars which we’re spending right now and we’re in those negotiations and as I said, we’re about 80 per cent of the way right now or we’ll soon be 80 per cent of the way there," said Murray.

2. Upgrading track

"Number two is we've then got to upgrade that track so if you want higher speed trains we've got to put concrete ties, we've got to upgrade the quality of the rail because eventually we don’t want sixty mile [an hour trains]."

"We need trains that are running a couple hundred kilometres an hour, that’s our goal with regional rail, so you’re talking about the kinds of rapid rail systems that you see in that."

3. Acquiring proper equipment

"Number three, [we've] got to get the right equipment and we've got to get equipment that we can run faster, deploy quicker and that, so that’s the next stage of the conversation."

4. Partnering with federal government

"Number four is we also need funding partnerships," said Murray.

"So what I’d actually like to do, I’d like to try to negotiate an agreement with the federal government that either integrates Via [Rail] and GO service or comes to some agreement on capacity building, or... the federal government says, 'Look, rather than investing in Via, we’ll start investing in GO because that’s what people want.'

"But we have that hurdle because we could do this in just a few years if the federal government would match our dollars spent but the federal government, with the exception of the LRT where they actually are a full partner, are just missing in action on Highway 7 and on GO Service."