The TTC wants to look at the feasibility of using GO’s Georgetown South and Lake Shore East lines as part of the solution for a downtown relief line (DRL).

CEO Andy Byford has been told by the TTC board to approach provincial agency Metrolinx about including those GO services in the environmental assessment for the relief line, which is needed to take some of the crowding off the Yonge subway.

TTC chair Karen Stintz said Councillor Ana Bailao (Ward 18, Davenport) was going to bring the suggestion to city council last week but couldn’t get it on the agenda.

If the Georgetown corridor and Lake Shore lines were electrified, different trains could be used either to make more frequent stops or offer express service within the city, potentially eliminating the cost of tunneling a new subway, said Stintz.

“If we could get the same service without having to dig, I think it’s something worth exploring,” she said.

“Metrolinx is looking at the electrification of the Georgetown line, so this is the other half,” she said.

The discussion itself is a victory for electric train advocates, said Kevin Putnam of the Clean Train Coalition, a group of residents living along the Georgetown line that has long campaigned to electrify the commuter services there, which will increase exponentially when the Pearson airport service begins.

“Our local preference is to electrify this corridor and to increase local service as soon as possible,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Metrolinx said the DRL discussions are already underway. “We have a working committee with TTC and the city that has been meeting regularly to review all options system-wide,” said Anne Marie Aikins.

Metrolinx is already looking for consultants to do a preliminary study on a DRL.

The rail advocacy group Transport Action Ontario published a report this month considering the feasibility of electrifying GO sooner to create a surface subway.

Electric trains can accelerate faster, making more stops and more frequent service possible.

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But Metrolinx has said it will be at least a decade before the new Union Pearson Express service can be electrified. Whether there will be funds to electrify the Lake Shore and Georgetown lines is an open question.

The Ontario government is still considering whether to implement a regional gas tax, sales tax and other charges to pay for transit expansion.

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