Raise the Hammer

Love or hate the government, cost overruns or not, let me point out that Metrolinx's track record has been excellent as of late.

Unlike TTC and HSR which has faltered and dithered quite a lot, the Metrolinx project record is fairly good for "eventual completion". Look at UPX airport train, Union revitalization, Eglinton Crosstown, GO expansions, GO Kitchener, JamesNorth GO, 30-min Lakeshore, etc. Only external factors (Ford Transit City) derail Metrolinx projects.

Yes, GO/Metrolinx projects are sometimes many years late. Lakeshore 30-min allday was supposed to be almost a decade ago, but was finally activated 2014. And the all-day GO service to Hamilton is simply hampered by the CN/CP ownership and Canada's busiest railroad junction (Hamilton Junction). Hamilton need at least a $250M+ rail-to-rail grade separation (go over/under CN/CP track) and independent parallel Metrolinx trackage, so we can more easily have all-day service to Hamilton with zero interference by CN or CP. Going to take time because of the pesky junction. Freight-ownership of track has been a royal pain for Hamilton GO service and is preventing its potential from being unlocked, but at least eventually we will get all-day GO service (even if the government behind it broke promise of a deadline). So assuming City Council does not derail the LRT, Metrolinx will follow through.

Love or hate Metrolinx, they've had a spetacular track record of eventually delivering (even if many years late, beyond the original broken government promise).

So there are good chances for the Hamilton LRT assuming Hamilton City Council doesn't torpedo it like Scarborough did. Hamilton's council, despite the love-hate, is far more unified than Scarborough. The contract dates have set it into motion to happen before changes of goverments.

Comment edited by mdrejhon on 2015-05-29 12:59:45