(The following report by Kevin McGran appeared on the Toronto Star website on June 8.)
TORONTO — Police suspect arson after a fire damaged a bridge on the weekend, forcing 1,400 Markham-area GO Train commuters to take a bus or drive to work for the next week or two.
Due to fire damage to the 30-metre bridge south of the Centennial GO station, GO Train service will not be available from the Stouffville, Mount Joy, Markham or Centennial stations until it’s repaired, GO chairman Gordon Chong said.
“They strongly suspect arson,” Chong said. “It might be up to two weeks before we can get up and functioning again.
“We have a company coming in from Quebec,” Chong added. “They have special pressure treated timber that will do the job. We’ll get it back functioning as quickly as we can. We’re projecting one to two weeks.”
While the bridge is made mostly of steel, some of the support beams are wooden.
“It started as a grass fire and made its way to the bridge,” said York Region Constable Kim Killby.
“It’s being investigated by York Regional police, trying to ascertain whether it was set on purpose or accidental.”
GO Transit, which owns the Stouffville corridor, and York Region Transit will put on extra buses to shuttle passengers from the four stations to Unionville Station.
There won’t be shuttle service from Stouffville. Some 1,400 commuters use the four most northerly stations daily: 200 at Stouffville, 250 at Mount Joy, 600 at Markham and 400 at Centennial.