More trains on the Kitchener line and beefed-up bus service to Pearson airport are among the key changes GO Transit is announcing to its fall schedules, effective Sept. 8.

As previously reported in the Star, there will be seven new off-peak, downtown-bound trips from the Mount Pleasant GO station in Brampton and seven corresponding westbound trips from Union Station.

The new trains will all run between the morning and afternoon peaks. There is no new evening service.

It's expected that GO will also announce new trains on the Stouffville line in the coming months. Meantime, Stouffville travellers will experience some schedule adjustments to accommodate the construction of the track expansion on that line.

Lakeshore schedules are also being adjusted with many eastbound, weekday trains leaving one to five minutes later “to more accurately reflect actual travel times and arrivals at Union Station,” according to a GO news release.

GO is eliminating its old Route 47J and expanding the 40 bus route to include stops at Terminal 1 in Pearson airport and the airport corporate centre at 5280 Solar Dr. That route also services the Hamilton GO Centre, Trafalgar Rd. at Highway 407, Square One and Richmond Hill Centre. It will have half-hour service during the rush hours and hourly departures in the off-peak and weekends.

GO Route 34 airport service from north Toronto is also getting a boost. That route services the Finch GO station, the Sheppard subway station and the Yorkdale GO station. The bus will run every hour most of the time and every half hour in the peak direction during the rush. It will also travel on Highway 409 instead of Dixon Rd. to improve its reliability.

The boost to airport buses is to serve airport users who aren’t handy to the new Union Pearson Express (UPX) train that launched in June between the airport and Union Station, said Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

“We’re trying to give more options for people to get to the airport from outside the downtown core,” Aikins said.

The added service to the Mount Pleasant station was enabled by the recent expansion of the Georgetown South tracks that run through the city – the same line used by the UPX trains.

The province also announced that it will begin rebuilding the Oshawa GO station, a joint project with Via Rail, this fall for completion in mid-2017. The existing building will remain in use during construction and then demolished once the new station is working.

About 7,850 riders use the Oshawa station, accounting for about 16 per cent of GO’s ridership.

The $12 million cost of the overhaul is being shared between GO and Via.

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