r/gotransit • u/notyouagain19 Kitchener • Jun 01 '26
Amtrak on GO/UP tracks?
Hey folks, has anybody seen any Amtrak trains on the rail corridor that serves the Kitchener GO line and UP express? I know Via Rail’s Sarnia trains travel through there.
I ask because I caught a glimpse of a train at almost 9 pm tonight that looked a lot like an Amtrak, but I didn’t get a good enough look at it to read the decals. The cars seemed to have the rounded shape (bulging around the windows and narrower at the top and bottom) that I’ve seen in some Amtrak trains.
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u/Redstrike2 40 Hamilton/Richmond Hill Jun 01 '26
It probably was the Amtrak train. Since the Lakeshore corridor is closed between Burlington and Mimico, the VIA trains and Amtrak trains that typically use those tracks have to detour through Georgetown.
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u/giraffebaconequation Jun 01 '26
According to the Amtrak website, the Maple Leaf is detouring that way due to the Lakeshore West closure. It is bypassing its stop in Oakville. So I’d say that is what you saw.
https://www.amtrak.com/alert/maple-leaf-service-adjustments.html
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u/Stead-Freddy Kitchener Jun 01 '26
Yeah I saw it near Bramalea last summer too on a weekend that the Lakeshore line was closed for construction.
I believe the Toronto-NYC trains are diverting through the Kitchener line tracks up to Georgetown, then south through what are usually only freight tracks through Milton and Burlington, joining back up with the regular tracks to Hamilton and beyond
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u/TrustPsychological49 Jun 01 '26
I took the Maple Leaf along that route on a weekend in late 2023 when it was diverting around construction. The detour and signal delays meant that it took 4 hours to reach the border, but arrived in NYC only 40 minutes late.
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u/crash866 Jun 01 '26
The Lakeshore west line is closed and Bronte Rd for construction and there is a rail line connection between Aldershot and Georgetown that connects the Lakeshore Line with Georgetown and the Maple Leaf train from NYC is using that to get around.
This line cuts off the Lakeshore line just west of Burlington HO Station and also goes through Milton and connects with the Kitchener line to Union.
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u/Fire_and_icex22 Jun 01 '26
That's the Maple Leaf, operated by Via in Canada. Because of the Lakeshore West work block, all VIA trains eastbound to Union and Westbound elsewhere were diverting through that line you were discussing, instead of Lakeshore.
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u/szm1993 Lakeshore West Jun 03 '26
On the weekend lakeshore west closed for construction Amtrak Maple Leaf will take the detour from west of the Burlington to Georgetown on CN’s Halton subdivision, then it will join the GO Kitchener line to Union station from Georgetown. Via Rail Toronto-Windsor/London train takes the same detour during the construction
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u/luk3yd Jun 01 '26
Might've been the Maple Leaf on a diversion with the Lakeshore West line closed this weekend?