7 replies to this topic

[Sloan]

 

 

GO expansion: commuter trains set to connect Hamilton to Niagara within five years

The province says it will extend GO train service from Hamilton's yet-to-be-built east end station all the way to Niagara Falls.

That's good news for the 14,000-or-so residents who travel daily between Niagara and Hamilton — but don't expect to see an influx of peninsula residents hopping off the distinctive green-and-white trains in Stoney Creek until 2021.

http://www.thespec.c...hin-five-years/

[KevinKorell]

It happened sooner, as of January 7, 2019.

 

From Province of Ontario press release:

 

 

Ontario Delivers Historic Weekday GO Train Service to Niagara Falls

 

 

Ontario's Government for the People continues to deliver on its promise to get people moving faster by adding regular weekday GO train service to Niagara Falls and St. Catharines for the first time.

 

 

Story

[KevinKorell]

Narcity, sometime in December, 2018:

 

This New GO Train Route Will Make Commuting From Niagara Falls To Toronto So Much Easier And Faster

 

 

Beginning January 7, 2019, you will now be able to take the Lakeshore West train between Niagara Falls and Toronto from Monday to Friday.

 

 

More

[KevinKorell]

GO Transit website:

 

 

 

                                        Year-round weekday train service to Niagara starts January 7

 

 

We’re very excited to bring new year-round weekday GO train service to Niagara Falls and St. Catharines starting January 7, 2019, several years ahead of schedule.
 

• The existing weekday 6:39 a.m. eastbound trip from West Harbour GO will now begin at Niagara Falls at 5:19 a.m., stop at St. Catharines at 5:41 a.m. and continue on to West Harbour, making all stops to Clarkson then running express to Union Station as usual and at the current times.
• The existing weekday 5:15 p.m. westbound trip from Union to West Harbour will be extended to make a stop at St. Catharines at 7:22 p.m., and arrive at Niagara Falls at 7:47 p.m.

Check the new schedule here.

[KevinKorell]

Now, the "other" Niagara Falls on the US side of the border wants an extension.  From Lockport, NY Union-Sun & Journal, 1/27/19:

 

 

Falls officials want to bring Canadian commuter train across the border

 

 

Falls Mayor Paul Dyster was working the crowd hard at a Thursday night reception for the National Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C.

 

The host of the reception was the Canadian Embassy and the mayor wanted to talk trains with his hosts. Dyster was especially interested in making a pitch that the popular GO Train service, which began daily operation Jan. 7 between Toronto and Niagara Falls, Ont., should be extended across the border.

 

Read

[KevinKorell]

Editorial in Niagara Falls, NY Gazette, 12/28/18:

 

 

EDITORIAL: Time for our side of the border to 'GO'

 

 

Residents in Ontario got some good news heading into the new year as officials across the border announced plans to extend commuter train service between Niagara Falls and Toronto. 

 

 

Editorial

[KevinKorell]

To be clear, only one round trip per day on weekdays only comes to Niagara Falls, ON.   It's simply an extension of what is regular service that continues to start & end in Hamilton.  The rest of the day, and on weekends, one can take a connecting bus on an hourly basis to hook up with the train in Hamilton.   I am sure they could probably do 2 or 3 trips in each direction during the rush hour, and that service would be popular on weekends and at other times on weekdays.

 

Regarding an extension into New York, that opens a whole new can of worms with the required customs inspections in both directions.  For what is now simply a commuter train, would it be prudent to have this delay twice every day for a potential commuter who lives in Niagara Falls, NY and works in Toronto?  There have also been rumblings of going all the way to Buffalo, which might mesh nicely with the new downtown station replacing the dilapidated Exchange Street facility.

[KevinKorell]

Guest editorial in Niagara Falls, NY Gazette, 9/4/19:

 

 

  ACCARDO: Capitalizing locally on Toronto's population growth 

 

 

We can call it a tale of two cities. Here in Niagara Falls the population has steadily dropped to 49,000 over the last several decades, from nearly 100,000 in our heyday. However, an hour and a half away, in a city visible from our escarpment, the population is exploding. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, in a one-year period between July 2018 and July 2019, an estimated 77,000 people moved to Toronto and the surrounding suburbs, bringing that city’s population to over 3 million.

 

 

Editorial