Whitchurch–Stouffville

Whitchurch–Stouffville /ˈwɪtʃərtʃˈstoʊvᵻl/ (2011 population 37,628; 2015 est.: 46,385) is a municipality in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately 50 kilometres north of downtown Toronto, and 55 kilometres north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is 206.41 square kilometres in size, and located in the mid-eastern area of the Regional Municipality of York on the ecologically sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine. Its motto since 1993 is "country close to the city".

The Town of Whitchurch–Stouffville consists of several distinct communities and the intermediary countryside. The largest urban area is the community of Stouffville proper (2011 pop. 24,866), while other communities in the larger town include Ballantrae, Bethesda, Bloomington, Cedar Valley, Gormley, Lemonville, Lincolnville, Musselman's Lake, Pine Orchard, Pleasantville, Preston Lake, Ringwood, Vandorf, Vivian, and Wesley Corners. The town is bounded by Davis Drive (York Regional Road 31) in the north, York-Durham Line (York Regional Road 30) in the east, and Highway 404 in the west. The southern boundary conforms with a position approximately 200 metres north of 19th Avenue (York Regional Road 29), and is irregular due to the annexation of lands formerly part of Markham Township in 1971.

Stouffville line

Stouffville is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. Its southern terminus is Union Station in Toronto, and its northern terminus is in Lincolnville in Whitchurch-Stouffville. There are bus connections from almost every station via Go Transit Buses, Toronto Transit Commission, and York Region Transit.

Trains run only during the rush hour periods with 7 trains running southbound in the morning and 8 running northbound in the afternoon and evening. One southbound and 2 northbound trains only travel as far north as Unionville with bus connections travelling the rest of the route. When trains are not running, stations are served by GO Bus route 71 which runs the corridor. However, with the exception of Union Station, it bypasses all stations within the city of Toronto.

Between Union Station and Scarborough Station, the Stouffville line shares tracks with the Lakeshore East line, but it currently does not stop at Scarborough. Effective February 2, 2015, select trains stop at Danforth GO Station as part of a year-long pilot project.

Stouffville GO Station

Stouffville GO Station is a railway station in the GO Transit network located in Stouffville, Ontario in Canada. It was the terminus on the Stouffville line train service until the line was extended to Lincolnville on September 2, 2008. Buses serve the station from stops on the street due to space limitations.

The station site was expanded to include more parking in the west lot. Construction was completed in July 2005. The wheelchair-accessible mini-platform is available once again. An additional 60 surface parking spaces will be added to the station in June 2016.

York-Durham Heritage Railway runs historical trains between the station and Uxbridge on summer weekends.

History

The Toronto and Nipissing Railway was completed in 1871, connecting Stouffville and Uxbridge with Toronto. The line's north-eastern terminus at Coboconk, Ontario on Balsam Lake in the Kawarthas, was completed in 1872. In 1877, a second track was built from Stouffville north to Jackson's Point on Lake Simcoe. These connections were created in large part to provide a reliable and efficient means of transporting timber harvested and milled in these regions. Soon Stouffville Junction serviced thirty trains per day. The railway became the Grand Trunk Railway in 1884, and Canadian National Railways took over the line in 1914.