Metrolinx purchased the lower portion of the Newmarket Subdivision in central-north Toronto for approximately $64 million from Canadian National Railway Co. (CN). The transaction gives Metrolinx end-to-end ownership of the 60-mile-long Barrie-Bradford GO Train corridor between downtown Toronto and Barrie, Ont. — a first for the government transit agency.

Metrolinx is the Ontario government Crown corporation responsible for delivering an integrated, multi-modal transportation network in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), from York and Durham through Toronto, Peel Halton and Hamilton. GO Transit, the operating division of Metrolinx, provides commuter rail and bus services in the GTHA.

The Metrolinx line acquisition fills the rail gap between the agency's east-west Union Station Rail Corridor in downtown Toronto, its Weston Subdivision in west-central Toronto and the northern segment of its commuter rail-line reaching Barrie.

Under its sales agreement with Metrolinx, CN will continue to serve five freight customers on the lower Newmarket Subdivision between Highway 401 and CN's main east-west freight corridor.