The history of Mississauga's Glamorgan Trail

This article is more about the route than the name. There is a relatively short recreational trail in northwest Mississauga, east of the modern intersection of Derry Road West and Samuelson Circle, called Glamorgan Trail. The trail, in part, follows the route of the former Toronto Suburban Railway.

In 1912 construction began on the Guelph suburban radial railway line, which was the most extensive line of the Toronto Suburban Railway. This electric interurban railway ran for 49 miles, and operated almost entirely on its own right-of-way. The rail line carried both passengers and freight to towns and cities between Toronto and Guelph. This line began in Lambton, on the Toronto border of the Etobicoke Creek, and ran through historic Mississauga (then known as Toronto Township), with station stops at Summerville, Dixie, Cooksville and Meadowvale, on its way to Guelph.

The Radial Railway from Toronto to Guelph was officially opened on April 14, 1917. In 1926, the Toronto Suburban Railway, which was then owned by the Canadian National Electric Railways, was running cars between Toronto and Guelph every 2 hours. Each trip took 2½ hours. The Radial line was discontinued in August of 1931, due in part to numerous accidents, rising costs, poor profits, and competition from the automobile. The Radial Railway tracks were removed beginning in 1936. Little evidence of the Radial Railway right-of-way remains in Mississauga today. Only in a few places in Mississauga can this right-of-way be readily identified. For example, in historic Meadowvale Village, one can see the former bridge abutments that once carried the line over the Credit River. The section of Glamorgan Trail, running north from Derry Road West, follows a portion of the route of the radial railway.