Comparing the two, business interests in Simcoe County and towns along the route demanded additional work from both companies. The H&NW finally agreed to run a branch line to Collingwood, splitting off the mainline some distance west of Newmarket, and added optional plans for an extension north from Barrie to Midland. Bonuses from Simcoe County totalling $300,000 were given to the H&NW, along with about $150,000 from towns along the route, some indication of the area's upset with the Northern. The line reached Barrie in 1877 and Collingwood in mid-1879. The H&NW never completed their northern expansion to Midland.