Comment 119608

By mdrejhon (registered) - website | Posted June 28, 2016 at 12:36:55

Here it is!

  • Confederation GO station is delayed to 2021 instead of 2019
  • Confederation-StCatharines gets 2-way train service by 2021
  • Confederation-Niagara Falls gets 2-way train service by 2023
  • West Harbour GO station is not included (yet).

Takeaway is they are politically hedging Hamilton due to the current LRT uncertainity. We can blame quite a few politicians for influencing Metrolinx making Confederation GO the terminus instead of West Harbour GO.

The Niagara Express service concept, as listed on www.niagarago.ca involves 7 train trips a day between Hamilton and Niagara, requiring people to transfer in order to complete their trip to Toronto. This train doesn't go to Toronto, it goes back and fourth between Confederation and St Catharines (and eventually all the way to Niagara Falls, and perhaps presumably sensiably all the way to West Harbour GO)

Today's announcement is consistent with the Niagara Express service concept -- a train that goes between Hamilton and Niagara.

In an ideal future, Niagara Express trains would use West Harbour GO as the terminus, with a fully connected A-Line LRT. Perhaps that's a 2024 terminus extension of the Niagara-Hamilton-only train from Confederation to West Harbour GO, to be announced once the LRT is safely under construction.

ANNOUNCEMENT:


New Weekday GO Rail Service Planned Between Hamilton and the Niagara Region

Province Increasing Travel Options to Help Manage Congestion

June 28, 2016 1:00 P.M.

Ministry of Transportation

Ontario is planning to bring new weekday GO rail service between the future Confederation GO Station in Hamilton and the Niagara Region starting in 2021, with service to Niagara Falls by 2023.

Subject to a final agreement with CN Rail, Metrolinx will start the consultations, planning and design work required to implement the service including:

Track improvements New and upgraded rail stations A new layover facility in Niagara Falls Additional GO rail fleet to provide service along the corridor Adding more than 30 kilometres of new track. Three other stations are proposed along the corridor in addition to the Confederation GO Station - a new station on Casablanca Boulevard in Grimsby as well as upgraded VIA rail stations in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

Expansion of the regional rapid transit network will help support economic development, increase travel options and manage congestion. Work will begin in 2017 to plan, design and retrofit the existing VIA stations, with completion expected in 2023. Service is estimated to reach Grimsby in 2021, and construction would be completed by 2023 to enable service to Niagara Falls.

Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province's history -- about $160 billion over 12 years. This is supporting 110,000 jobs every year across the province, with projects such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals. In 2015, the province announced support for more than 325 projects that will keep people and goods moving, connect communities and improve quality of life.

Investing in priority transit infrastructure is part of the government's economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs. The four-part plan includes helping more people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding access to high-quality college and university education. The plan is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit in Ontario's history and is investing in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth, export-oriented businesses. The plan is also helping working Ontarians achieve a more secure retirement.

Quick Facts The Niagara Falls GO rail extension will operate on approximately 60 km of track between the future Confederation GO Station in Hamilton and Niagara Falls. Construction on the new Confederation GO Station in Hamilton is expected to start in 2019, with completion expected in 2021. Since 2003, Ontario has extended GO’s rail network by nearly 90 kilometres, opened 14 new GO stations, rebuilt four existing stations, and added more than 31,000 new parking spots across the system. Metrolinx is transforming the GO rail network to provide faster and more frequent GO train service across the region, with electrification of core segments of the network. Weekly trips across the entire GO rail network are expected to grow from about 1,500 to nearly 6,000 over 10 years.

Comment edited by mdrejhon on 2016-06-28 12:43:37

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