Burlington GO Station

It is a stop on the Lakeshore West line GO train service, and was, for a time, the western terminus of the rail services. Most peak-hour and off-peak trains now terminate service at Aldershot or West Harbour, and a few trains link Hamilton GO further to the west.

There are extensive parking facilities on both the north and south sides of the station. A large multi-level parking structure opened in 2008, significantly expanding the parking capacity of the station. Burlington Transit serves the south side of the station, connected by wheelchair accessible tunnels under the tracks.

The original Great Western Railway station was built in 1855,^[1] just west of Brant Street, about half a mile west of the current GO Station. With the building of the Hamilton & Northwestern Railway in 1877, this location became a connection^[2] known as Burlington Junction.

The Grand Trunk Railway purchased the Great Western Railway in 1882 and the Hamilton & Northwestern Railway/Northern Railway in 1888, and in turn was absorbed into the Canadian National Railway in 1923

That first station building burnt down in 1904 and was rebuilt in 1906.^[3]

GO Transit rush hour service was launched in 1967 and a new station location opened in 1980 at Fairview Street, with the old station renamed Burlington West.^[1] In 1977, Via Rail acquired Burlington West station from Canadian National but it ceased operation in 1988, when Via Rail moved its passenger office to the GO station. Subsequently, the Burlington West Station building was moved from its original site to be preserved as a museum named Freeman Station.^[3].

All-day GO Transit service commenced in 1992.

Construction of a new 20,300 square feet (1,890 m²) station building began in September 2012, and was completed in Fall 2017.

Burlington Transit routes:

• 1 Plains (board at Fairview Street-outside of station)
• 2 Brant
• 6 Headon
• 10 New–Maple
• 12 Upper Middle
• 50 Burlington South (Late Night Service only)
• 51 Burlington Northeast (Late Night Service only)
• 52 Burlington Northwest (Late Night Service only)
• 80 Harvester
• 81 North Service (peak service only)
• 87 North Service–Aldershot (peak service only)
• 101 Plains Express (peak service only)

GO Transit bus routes:

• 12 Niagara Falls
• 17B Waterloo/Hamilton
• 18 Lakeshore West

According to Metrolinx documentation, the station is planned to be the western end of the future electrified portion of the Lakeshore West line.^[4]

Freeman Station is a preserved railway station built in 1906 and a museum. It was the second railway station built in Burlington. The first Burlington station was built in 1854 at what was then Freeman Village, which inspired the name for the museum station. The 1906 station ceased operation as a railway facility in 1988. In 2005, Canadian National Railway wanted the station site for track expansion; thus, it donated the station building to the city of Burlington. After a temporary move, the building was relocated to its current site in 2013, which was 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) from its original site. A volunteer group called Friends of Freeman Station started its restoration in 2013, and opened it for visitors in July 2017. It temporarily closed in May 2023, as the city of Burlington required some upgrades to the station in order to issue an occupancy permit. ^[3][5] In May 2025, the city decided to take over maintenance of the station museum, when Friends of Freeman Station said they could no longer operate it. The city made the station part of Museums of Burlington, which also operates Ireland House and Joseph Brant Museum.^[6]

The station was a combination passenger and baggage depot. Characteristic of Grand Trunk Railway stations, it has a high truncated-hipped roof which flares out over very deep sheltering eaves, timber rafter-tail brackets decorating the outer part of these eaves, a tall centre chimney with decorative brick detail, a dormer window on the tracks side with a five-sided flared roof, five-panel doors with high transoms and the many large one-over-one double-hung windows. The station has a granite base and upper frame walls; the roof is supported by a hammer-beam truss system.^[3]

Besides the building, the museum also features a model train diorama, artifacts, a caboose, and a boxcar.^[6]