Four new GO Transit stations will be built in the city’s west end, bringing Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack proposal one step closer to reality.

Tory ‘s initial plan called for 53 kilometres of rail service with 22 new stops, however in March the proposed rapid transit network was pared down to include between four and eight new GO Transit stops, along with eight to 12 other new stations that will be part of the Eglinton West LRT extension.

That plan was then further refined on Tuesday, when Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced that four new GO Train stations will be built along the Barrie and Kitchener lines to support SmartTrack. The new stations along the Kitchener line were part of Tory’s initial SmartTrack proposal and will be operated in conjunction with the network but the stations on the Barrie line were not part of the initial plan and will be operated separately from SmartTrack.

The new stations on the Kitchener line will be located in Liberty Village and at St. Clair Avenue and Keele Street while the new stations on the Barrie line will be located at Bloor Street and Lansdowne Avenue, and Spadina Avenue and Front Street.

An additional four new stations in the city’s east end will also be announced tomorrow, bringing the total number of SmartTrack stations to six. Though those stations have not been formally announced, a staff report released Tuesday afternoon recommends the construction of SmartTrack stations at Gerrard Street, the Port Lands, Finch Avenue and Lawrence Avenue on the on the Stouffville/Lakeshore East GO Corridor.

According to a staff report, the total cost of building the six new SmartTrack stations will be between $700 million and $1.1 billion. The cost of the Eglinton West LRT is estimated at $1.5 to $2.1 billion.

“SmartTrack is about connecting people to opportunity. It is about getting Toronto residents to where they are going on rail corridors that already run through the City of Toronto and were underutilized up until this investment,” Mayor John Tory told reporters at the future site of the Liberty Village station on Tuesday. “There is no digging or tunneling or endless construction; just new and improved service where it is needed the most.”

Service could be as frequent as every seven minutes

Service along the Kitchener corridors will eventually operate at a seven-to-10 minute frequency once the tracks are electrified by 2024. Service along the Barrie corridor, meanwhile, will operate at a 15 minute frequency.

The staff report found that once those levels of service are offered, SmartTrack could save Toronto residents a combined $491 to $517 million hours annually.

Discussing the investment with reporters, Del Duca said the plan is part of a wider vision to better utilize existing transit infrastructure.

“These new stations build upon the vision of SmartTrack as a way to maximize existing rail corridors within the city and to give Torontonians another reason to leave behind their cars and take transit,” he said.

Though the price of travelling along the SmartTrack corridor remains unknown, Tory said that staff are “working hard” to ensure it is similar to the fare paid by TTC riders.

A staff report previously estimated that SmartTrack could attract more than 300,000 daily riders, however it found that the number of riders would likely be slashed by two-thirds if commuters were forced to pay GO Transit fares.

“In 25 years I don’t think anybody will be debating the decision I know we are going to take to move ahead with SmartTrack,” Tory said on Tuesday. “They will say thank goodness these governments got together and did something.”

The Metrolinx board of directors will hold a vote on June 28 to approve the construction of the new stations.

The exact location and alignment of the stations has not yet been confirmed.