Allandale Waterfront
General information
Location	24 Essa Road Barrie,Ontario L4N 9C8
Coordinates	44°22′27″N79°41′16″W / 44.37417°N 79.68778°W /44.37417; -79.68778
Owned by	Metrolinx/City of Barrie
Line	GO Transit
Platforms	1side platform 6bus bays
Tracks	1 + 1 bypass
Construction
Parking	150
Accessible	yes
Other information
Station code	GO Transit: AD
Fare zone	69
History
Opened	19 June 1905; 120 years ago (19 June 1905)
Closed	1980; 46 years ago (1980) (building; reopened 1990-1993) 1996; 30 years ago (1996) (platform)
Rebuilt	2011; 15 years ago (2011)
Services
Preceding station GO Transit Following station Terminus Barrie Barrie South towardsUnion Station
Former services Preceding station Canadian National Railway Following station Oro towardNorth Bay North Bay –Toronto Craigvale towardToronto Vine (Ontario) towardHamilton Hamilton –Allandale Terminus Colwell towardPenetang Penetang –Allandale Colwell towardMeaford Meaford –Allandale Preceding station Via Rail Following station Washago towardVancouver TheCanadian (originally operated byCN as theSuper Continental) Newmarket towardToronto Preceding station GO Transit Following station Terminus Barrie (1990–1993) Bradford towardsUnion Station Preceding station Ontario Northland Railway Following station Washago towardCochrane Northlander Toronto Terminus
Location

Allandale Waterfront GO Station^[1][2] is a train and bus station serving as the northern terminus ofGO Transit'sBarrie line. The station was built just south of Allandale Station, a historictrain station that occupies a large property on the southern shore ofKempenfelt Bay (Lake Simcoe) in the waterfront area ofBarrie,Ontario, Canada. The current and former station were built on a burial site of theHuron indigenous peoples.

Construction of the new facility began in 2009. GO Transit announced on 15 June 2011 that the station would open in the autumn of 2011,^[3][4] but construction delayed its opening until January 2012. Bus service to the station began on 28 January 2012, with the train service following two days later.^[5] A ceremonial train trip from Allandale Waterfront GO Station toBradford GO Station officially opened the station on 29 January 2012.^[6]

TheOntario, Simcoe and Huron Union Railway (OS&HUR) first built a station here in 1853. Four historic stations, the last of which still stands on the site near the present station, was built in 1904 and opened by then-operatorGrand Trunk Railway on 19 June 1905.^[7][8][9] The station was used by Grand Trunk and laterCanadian National Railway (both of which had trains branching northwards from here to serve eitherNorth Bay orMeaford),Ontario Northland, andVia Rail until closing in 1980.^[9] However, Ontario Northlands'sNorthlander and Via'sCanadian continued to stop at the closed station's platform until 1992 and 1996 respectively. In 1990, GO Transit itself reopened it during its first attempt to extend service into Barrie (running one rush hour train per direction), but terminated the service in 1993 due to low ridership. In 1992, during this reopening period, the Northlander was rerouted to theBala Subdivision east of Lake Simcoe, but theCanadian served the platform until September 22, 1996, when it was also rerouted. Shortly thereafter, CN lifted the rails between the junction just to the north of the station to Longford, but the branch to the northwest, the former Meaford Subdivision, was retained as a connector to theshortlineBarrie-Collingwood Railway.^[10]

The Allandale Community Development Corporation or 'ACDC' (with City interests) purchased the buildings and adjacent 7 acres (28,000 m²) from CNR after train service was discontinued in the 1980s.^[11] ACDC then sold the station to CHUM Ltd in 2000.

CHUM Ltd. purchased the 6.9 acres (28,000 m²) of land, including the station buildings, forCA$1,050,000 in 2000. CHUM planned to restore the Allandale Station building as part of their plan to develop of a new broadcast centre on the site for their television station,CKVR, but changed their plan in 2004. In 2007, CHUM agreed to sell the property to the city for the same amount CHUM originally paid. CHUM received a Charitable Donation tax receipt reflecting the increased value of the property since 2000 largely due to the restoration and site works completed by CHUM.^[12]

Construction of the new Allandale Waterfront GO Station (located adjacent to the historic Allandale Station) broke ground in spring 2010 and the station officially opened on January 28, 2012. Redevelopment of the station cost approximately $5 million.^[13]

On May 31, 2024, construction started on a new bus terminal to replace the station's existing terminal which contained only shelters with a new facility containing a building; as well as the downtown Barrie Bus Terminal.^[14] The new terminal, named theBarrie Allandale Transit Terminal, opened on September 21, 2025.^[15]

The Allandale station site is located on a site used by indigenous peoples. Prior to the original railway construction, a large pit of several hundred indigenous peoples' remains was found. Otherossuaries were found in 1884 and 1889.^[16]

It was the subject of an archeological excavation, during which objects were recovered from the Uren substage of the Middle OntarioIroquoian period.^[17] It has been dated to the late 12th to early 13th century and was used as a fishing station by theWendat people.^[17] It is the only documented fishing station from the Uren period, and one of few sites of that period to have been discovered.^[17]

The site is regarded by archeologists as a temporary location "for exploitation of local fish resources".^[18] Numerous fish remains were found in the site'smidden, but nolonghouses were found there.^[18]

Analysis of the fish remains indicates that various species were caught for consumption at this site. These include species in the familyCatostomidae (110white sucker, 23longnose sucker, and 103 specimens from other genusCatostomus species), familyPercidae (34yellow perch and 1walleye), as well as 12Ictaluridae, 14largemouth bass and 4smallmouth bass, 5Centrarchidae, and specimens from several other species.^[18]

In 2011, human bone fragment remains were discovered underneath thecrawl space of the original station's office building at the site during an excavation for an archeological site assessment as part ofgrading work for the new train station.^[19] These were later determined to have been in thefill used as backfill for the foundation, but were of indeterminate origin.^[19] An incisor found amongst those remains was interpreted to be part of the Uren archeological material, but data are insufficient to ascertain its ultimate origin.^[19]

The Wendat people consider the site to be a disturbed site of indigenous remains which could be anossuary. The original train station and yard's construction disturbed the remains and the new stationdisturbed them further without proper archaeological study.^[16] Further, the construction of the GO station did not follow Government of Ontario heritage regulations, which prohibited the disturbance of human remains at a known site.^[16]

The station buildings comprise a federally designated heritage railway station protected by theHeritage Railway Stations Protection Act.^[20] TheItalianate structures are near the southwest shore of Kempenfeldt Bay, separated from it by a public park.^[21][17] The station complex was originally adjacent to the bay until the land behind the station wasinfilled and levelled to build arail yard.^[21]

The station complex consists of a station building, an office building, and a restaurant adjacent to each other along the rail line. They have a uniform roof pitch, and form an atypical layout for a railway station.^[21] The low-pitched roof and deep overhanging eaves are indicative ofPrairie School design influence.^[17] Two of the buildings were designed by theDetroit firmSpier & Rohns and built in 1904 by Richard Scruton. The station opened in 1905.^[17]

The interior and exterior features of the buildings are provincially protected under anOntario Heritage Trust conservation easement.^[17] The station building was considered the "flagship of the Grand Trunk" upon its opening.^[21]

Allandale Waterfront station has a weekday train service consisting of 7 trains southbound toUnion Station in the morning, and 7 trains returning northbound from Union Station in the afternoon. At other times, GO bus route 68 operates hourly toAurora GO Station where passengers can transfer to the all-day train service to Toronto.^[22]

Weekend train service consists of 5 trains in each direction throughout the day. GO bus route 68 also operates hourly toAurora GO station orEast Gwillimbury GO station where passengers can connect to the hourly weekend train service to Toronto.^[22]

Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal
General information
Location	20 Essa Rd., Barrie, ON Canada
Platforms	14
Bus operators	Barrie Transit GO Transit Ontario Northland LINX Transit
Construction
Bicycle facilities	Bicycle rack
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	2025
Location

Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal is Barrie's main bus station, hostingGO,Barrie Transit,LINX Transit, andOntario Northland intercity buses. It opened on Sunday, September 21st, 2025, replacing the old open-air station terminal and the downtown Barrie Bus Terminal.^[15]

Routes serving the terminal:^[23]

• Media related toAllandale Waterfront GO Station at Wikimedia Commons
• GO Transit station page for Allandale Waterfront GO Station

• Allandale Station Lands at City ofBarrie
• Jackson, Kenneth (9 March 2016)."Buried Souls: How Ontario bulldozed through a rare Huron-Wendat burial site in Barrie".Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Retrieved3 December 2016.
• Jackson, Kenneth (11 March 2016)."Archaeologist says 'guts churning' knowing land he cleared for GO Transit to bulldoze is Huron-Wendat burial site".Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Retrieved3 December 2016.
• MacDonald, Robert (27 January 2015)."Summary of Archaeological and Human Burial Assessments, Allandale Station Lands, City of Barrie"(PDF). Archaeological Services Inc. Retrieved3 December 2016.

• Buildings and structures in Barrie
• Rail transport in Barrie
• GO Transit railway stations
• Railway stations in Canada opened in 2012
• Canadian National Railway stations in Ontario
• Designated heritage railway stations in Ontario
• Railway stations in Simcoe County
• 2012 establishments in Ontario
• Railway stations in Canada closed in 1980

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