Some commuters north of the city are getting an early Christmas present in the form of permanent all-day service along a stretch of GO Transit’s Barrie line.

Weekday service along the Barrie GO line had previously been restricted to the morning and afternoon rush hours but on Tuesday Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca announced that trains will soon run at a frequency of at least hourly between Union Station and Aurora GO Station, seven days a week all year long.

Del Duca also said that extra train trips will also be added between Union Station and Bradford GO Station for the morning and afternoon rush hours, as well as the late evening.

The announcement comes about one year after GO Transit introduced weekend and holiday service along the line, though that service previously ran at a frequency of once every 75 minutes.

“Taken together we are nearly doubling the number of weekly GO train trips between Union Station and Aurora GO Station. That is 230 train trips per week on the Barrie line, up from the current 118 train trips,” Del Duca told reporters at a news conference at Aurora GO Station.

The hourly service will begin on Dec. 30.

Though trains will not serve the five stations north of Aurora GO Stations at off-peak hours, Metrolinx is adding GO buses that will provide commuters near those stations with a way to get to Aurora GO Station.

“Our commuters on the Barrier corridor have consistently been asking us for more trains and more connection to the broader transit network that spans our city and I want people to know that we have been listening closely to those requests,” Del Duca told reporters.