INFRASTRUCTURE TRANSPORT
March 11, 2026 601
Relocating the Oriole Station: GO or NO GO?
In North York – where Bayview Village meets Concord Park Place, Silver Hills and Henry Farm – the Oriole GO station is west of Leslie Street, where it passes under Highway 401. Served by the Richmond Hill GO line, Oriole GO has provided these neighborhoods with direct rail service to downtown since it opened in 1978. However, in 2002, Sheppard Line 4’s Leslie station opened and plans to move the Oriole GO station by approximately 500 meters (1,600 ft) to the northern section to better connect the subway and GO lines have been in the works since then.
Looking north as a southbound Richmond Hill GO Line train arrives at Oriole GO station, image courtesy of Sikander Iqbal via Wikimedia
Oriole GO is the first stop on the Richmond Hill line north of Union Station. Very few changes have been made to the station’s facilities in the decades since it opened, with only a single platform providing a very limited rush hour service. The parking lot below the Highway 401 overpass over Leslie Street has been closed for several years as the province began work to widen the highway in that area.
Looking north along the Oriole GO platform toward the Highway 401 overpass that spans much of the station, 2011, image courtesy of UNKNOWNFILE via Wikimedia
Despite its modest facilities and only 10 trains serving the station on weekdays (5 southbound in the morning, 5 northbound in the afternoon), Oriole GO has long been an attractive option for nearby downtown commuters who want to bypass traffic on the DVP or avoid numerous transfers on the TTC. At just over 30 minutes from Oriole GO to Union Station, the Richmond Hill line remains the fastest way to get to downtown from this part of North York – assuming there’s a train soon.
The current Richmond Hill GO Line schedule, with rail service only available on weekdays, image courtesy of GO Transit
With the completion of the Sheppard Line 4 subway in 2002, Oriole station was suddenly 500 meters from Leslie station; Not an impossible walk, but a bit of a hike. Due to the distance, the transfer between the two stations remained somewhat unattractive for cyclists, as the weather-related walk lengthens to approximately 750 meters via Esther Shiner Boulevard to Old Leslie Street. Since the Richmond Hill line tracks run directly west of the Leslie station bus terminal, the possibility of better connectivity remains.
The 750m detour that passengers currently have to take if they want to transfer from Oriole GO to Leslie Station on Line 4, images courtesy of Google Earth
Therefore, plans were drawn up to relocate Oriole GO north to create a single subway and commuter rail station. Given the existing public ownership of the land needed for new platforms, parking and a drop-off loop, the project appeared to be fairly straightforward. Nineteen years after Leslie station opened, Metrolinx submitted an application to the City of Toronto outlining the provincial authority’s plans to move Oriole GO north.
A conceptual rendering released by the developers of nearby condominium project The Residences at Central Park showing the proposed Oriole GO station and its proximity to their project, image courtesy of Amexon
This 2021 submission, now removed from the City of Toronto’s Application Information Center (AIC), described a simple station that meets current GO station design standards. To the east of the rail corridor was a single platform, partially covered by a canopy and dotted with enclosed shelters. In addition, a second track was proposed for the corridor to facilitate the passage of trains and support future improvements in service levels.
A rendering looking southwest toward the proposed station location, image courtesy of Metrolinx
The move would reduce the length of the transfer between Leslie Station and Oriole GO to just 15 meters as riders exiting the subway would immediately see the GO platform as they arrive through the bus terminal entrance at street level. For those arriving at the station by car, there is already a 102-space public car park next to the Leslie Station bus terminal. (Its capacity is less than that of the now-closed GO Oriole parking lot under Highway 401; GO Transit is currently directing local drivers to park in the lot at the Old Cummer station, about 2 miles north, where there are 462 spaces.)
A rendering showing the proposed single new platform and the addition of a second passing track, image courtesy of Metrolinx
For those who live in the area, the relocation would place the station within a short walk with much greater density than the low-rise neighborhoods south of the 401. To the west, those living in the growing number of towers at Concord Park Place would have a much shorter walk, while the intention to extend the platform north across Sheppard Avenue East would also result in the station being closed to those living in houses and a new condominium development on Sheppard’s north side, allowing easy access to the station without having to cross the busy artery below.
However, commuters living in the St. Andrews and Silver Hills neighborhoods – directly west of the current station – would face the disadvantage of a longer walk. Currently, a pedestrian bridge over the GO tracks connects riders directly to Woodsworth Road and the adjacent neighborhood. Due to the lack of information about the station plans online, once the station relocation is completed, it is not clear whether this bridge will be retained or whether a path will be built to the relocated station.
A rendering looking southwest toward the proposed new Richmond Hill GO Line station and overpass at Sheppard Avenue East, image courtesy of Metrolinx
In May 2024, Metrolinx issued a Request for Qualification and Quote (RQQ) seeking a company to provide engineering services for the “design of station improvements at the Oriole GO Station.” Shortly thereafter, in June 2024, Oriole GO was mentioned in Metrolinx’s 2023-2024 annual report, but only with the note that the technology in question had been introduced at the existing station site as part of the agency’s digital billboard initiative. An engineering design contract worth nearly half a million dollars was awarded in August 2024, but no new application had been submitted to the city’s AIC at the time of publication.
A rendering looking east along Sheppard Avenue East toward the proposed Oriole GO platform relocation, image courtesy of Metrolinx
The last substantive mention of the long-awaited project occurred in September 2025 in Metrolinx’s “Capital Projects Group Opportunities Pipeline”. In the document used to track the Provincial Transportation Authority’s procurement of construction and design services, all statuses related to the Oriole GO relocation are listed as “TBD” (to be determined).
A snippet from Metrolinx’s Capital Projects Group’s September 2025 Opportunities Pipeline, depicting an unclear future for the Oriole GO move, image courtesy of Metrolinx
In the five years since the 2021 filing, no timeline for completion of the relocated station has been provided, and Metrolinx has removed the Oriole GO project page from its website. With the project apparently stalled as it approaches its thirtieth year of planning, its path forward remains unclear.
Looking east along Sheppard Avenue East as the sun sets over the Bayview Village and Parkway Forest skyline, October 2025, image courtesy of UrbanToronto forum contributor Kris
UrbanToronto will continue to monitor the progress of these developments, but in the meantime you can learn more in our database files linked below. If you’d like, you can join the discussions in the associated Project Forum threads or leave a comment in the designated area on this page.
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