Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility Explained

Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility
Style:GO Transit
Address:125 Judson Street, Toronto, Ontario
Country:Canada
Structure:Rail yard and locomotive and coach maintenance facility
Owned:Metrolinx
Former:Canadian National Railway

The Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility is a GO Transit rolling stock maintenance facility located in the Willowbrook Yard[1] in Toronto, Canada. The facility is west of Mimico station and is across the main tracks from the VIA Rail Toronto Maintenance Facility.

Bombardier Transportation performs train maintenance at the facility on behalf of Metrolinx, the owner of GO Transit. Bombardier currently has a 5-year contract with two options of five years each to maintain GO Transit trains.

History

The Grand Trunk Railway created the Mimico Yard in 1910 west of its Mimico station on the west side of Royal York Road. The yard had a locomotive roundhouse and facilities to maintain and repair freight cars. Freight trains were assembled and dispatched from the yard. In 1923, the Canadian National Railway (CN) took over the yard along with the Grand Trunk Railway. In 1965, CN moved most of the yard's functions to the then-new MacMillan Yard in Maple, Ontario. In the mid-1960s, GO Transit was looking for a site to store and maintain its commuter trains. Thus, GO Transit subsequently acquired the portion of the Mimico Yard on the north side of the mainline passing through it. (Via Rail acquired the portion south of the mainline for its Toronto Maintenance Facility.) Since the GO Transit yard was near Willowbrook Road, the yard was named the Willowbrook Yard. The Mimico station building was taken over as a dispatching office and crew facilities, and a new Mimico GO Station was constructed on the east side of Royal York Road.

In September 1978, work started to construct the $17-million Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility. The depot officially opened on November 7, 1980.

By April 2021, GO Transit had installed of guard rails and warning lines along the roof edges of the seven buildings at the depot. These were to protect workers who maintain heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units and other electrical and mechanical equipment mounted on the roofs. HVAC units run 24/7 and keep the air in buildings clean and safe for workers such as for those working near locomotive engines.

Facilities

The Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility is located on a 18600abbr=onNaNabbr=on site and features:

As of 2021, the depot works around the clock to service, clean and fuel 28 trains each day.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility . Projects . MMM Group . Willowbrook shop and yard is the only maintenance facility for GO Transit rolling stock . May 2, 2015 . dead . March 7, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150307231037/http://mmmgrouplimited.com/projects/willowbrook-rail-maintenance-facility/ .