[Platform 27]

I'll definitely do the same when the Stouffville and Barrie lines get all day service. It'll finally be cool to ride around the GTA in real trains, instead of those boxy rubber-wheeled imposters that ride the 404 and 407 in their stead.

Speaking of which, aren't the Stouffville tracks all finished? I spy the passing tracks beautifully gleaming yet unused, and there's no indication on the website as of time of opening. Am I missing something?

EDIT: Haven't run Barrie for a while, but it'll be nice in the summer to have an all day link to cottage country. Will it be ready by then?

As far as I know, there's been no substantive news since I last tried to summarize everything.

Off-peak on the Barrie line will only run as far as East Gwillimbury station, which isn't quite an all-day link to cottage country, but certainly a welcome start. We've kind of got a paucity of information on construction progress on that line because the passing track is up where it intersects Keele on the urbanized edge of Maple, a little off the beaten path.

 

[EnviroTO]

You can see that whenever Google did their last satellite imagery the passing track on the Stouffville line was completely laid and the Maple passing track was fully graded and partially laid. I would imagine that if they had any workers assigned to the project since fall then it would likely be done. The completion of tracks doesn't tell the state of signalization and switch automation though.

 

[CDL.TO]

Environmental Assessments (EA) and studies

Niagara Peninsula rail service expansion

Improvements:

* Anticipated service from Aldershot GO station in west Burlington to Niagara Falls
* Improved service with a new layover facility
* Opportunity for new GO stations

Project description: GO Transit is looking at expanding rail service to the Niagara Peninsula. A Class “B” GO Transit Environmental Assessment was started on November 18, 2009 and will examine the potential locations for new stations and a layover facility site, and improvements along the rail corridor.

Location: The study area is from Aldershot GO Station in west Burlington to Niagara Falls.

Project Stage: The Notice of Public Information Centre (PIC) #1 has been issued.

Schedule: The project will take approximately 12 months to complete.

Current Status:

Your participation is an important part of the process and we welcome your input. You are invited to attend any one of the Public Information Centres listed below. GO Transit staff and the study consultants will be on hand to discuss plans, answer questions, and receive your comments.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sheraton Hotel
116 King Street West
Hamilton, ON

Wednesday, January
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Market Square
91 King Street
St. Catharines, ON

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Club Italia
2525 Montrose Road
Niagara Falls, ON

Thursday, February 4, 2010
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Casablanca Winery Inn
4 Windward Drive
Grimsby, ON

 

[kettal]

Here;'s da update:

They will be using the CN corridor to serve Niagara, and there will be a new GO station in Hamilton at James Street North.

8 services per day into Niagara (4 in each direction)

There will continue to be the same train service at GO's current Hamilton station.

Additionally, there will be 20 new train services (10 each direction) between the new James St North Station and Toronto. Presumably, 8 of these 20 go through Niagara too.

 

[RedRocket191]

Any indication on how they will deal with the canal?

 

[kettal]

Sorry, I didn't ask about the canal, and there was nothing on the display boards about it.

 

[kettal]

Apparently GO Transit has redesigned their website. The new website will go live tomorrow (Tuesday).

still looks the same to me

Edit: now it's changed.

 

[DavidH]

It now looks very different to me, very much in the visual style used for the Union Station site they set up a few months back.

One nice thing: service updates, schedules, and fare information are available in obvious links from every page.

The logo at the top uses the "A division of Metrolinx" text, although oddly the copyright is still the Greater Toronto Transit Authority.

Still no mobile-friendly site, although hopefully these hcanges mean one would come soon.

 

[Kiwi]

GO unveils all-day trains plan

January 27, 2010
Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/712517

Hamilton will see 20 additional commuter trains a day, and Niagara eight trains, if a proposal to bring expanded rail service to Niagara becomes reality.

GO Transit unveiled a plan last night at the Sheraton Hotel in which it aims to extend all-day train service -- that now goes to Aldershot -- to a proposed station on the Canadian National Rail line at James Street North.

That would involve 10 trains each way between the proposed new Hamilton station and Union Station in Toronto. Niagara would see four trains each way between Union Station and Niagara Falls.

Hamilton would keep its eight trains -- four each way -- that now run between Union Station and the former Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway station on Hunter Street.

The proposal is part of the GO Niagara Rail Service Expansion study that GO hopes to complete by the end of the year. If approved, and funded by the province, the new services could be on track within five years. Cost has not been determined.

GO officials showed off their proposal at a public open house. GO is looking at expanded rail service in line with Ontario projection's that the Hamilton-Niagara area will have a population of two million by 2031.

GO did study potential passenger rail service for the Canadian Pacific Railway line between Hamilton, Welland and Niagara Falls, but it had a lower evaluation compared with the CN line, considering travel time, state of the line and closeness to population centres.

The CN line is 72 kilometres between Aldershot and Niagara Falls, compared with 111 kilometres between Aldershot and Niagara Falls through Welland.

GO manager Greg Ashbee called the CN option "a slam dunk," but he said the CP line might be considered again one day.

"Never say never," he said.

The CP option was something explored by Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina and the City of Welland in 2008.

GO is proposing to have new stations on the CN line at James Street North and Centennial Parkway in Hamilton; Fruitland Road and Fifty Road in Stoney Creek; Casablanca Boulevard and Bartlett Avenue in Grimsby; and Ontario Street and Vineland Avenue in Lincoln. It is aiming to use the existing VIA stations in Grimsby, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

Layovers for trains are proposed for First Avenue, Vansickle Road and Glendale Avenue in St. Catharines. A layover is also being looked at for Centennial Parkway.

Ashbee stressed the site selections are just proposals and will likely get pared down as the process moves towards the end of 2010, including a second public meeting.

"We've recommended a route," he said. "We haven't selected stations and layovers."

Brothers Matt, 28, and Dan Thompson, 26, were among the people who came out to look over the plans. They liked what they saw, although they had their own ideas about station locations. Both believed GO should look at establishing a station near Ottawa Street North or the Centre Mall in east Hamilton.

"There's a ton of people who live in that area who might want to take the train to Toronto," said Dan Thompson, an environmental science student at McMaster.

 

[Swarley]

I doubt they're actually planning for all those stations... they must just be alternate locations. Two stations for Grimsby and two for Lincoln seems a bit much. There's 21 000 total population in Lincoln Township.

 

[RedRocket191]

Could be an opportunity to test out the flag stop concept, where the train only stops on request and only picks up if passengers flag the train down - otherwise it proceeds at speed.

 

[TOareaFan]

Every time I read about these plans for regular every day service to Niagara two thoughts come to mind.

1. Maybe we should have different threads for GO Improvements and GO Additions.....on the theory that not all additions are improvements (at least not in everyone's minds);

2. A letter I got from Gary McNeil years and years ago (over 10) telling me that an idea that I had was good (probably he didn't think it was but no harm in saying it) but that it represented a new service and that GO would not be adding new services until all of their existing services ran every day in both directions. Since then, obviously, we have seen the addition of Barrie and now we are seriously looking at 4 trains a day in each direction to a city that is 111 kms from the current terminus of a line....where the city we are going to be serving has a population of under 100k and in between we will be building stops (possibly multiple stops) in communities with populations of 21k?

The Niagara service as a seasonal, touristy type thing made a bit of sense to me....as a regular service it just seems to be a resource draw away from more compelling issues and one that probably should not be contemplated until the network/service-offerings are far more mature.

Probably not a popular opinion but it is the way I see it.

p.s. feel much the same way about Peterborough.

 

[DavidH]

Could be an opportunity to test out the flag stop concept, where the train only stops on request and only picks up if passengers flag the train down - otherwise it proceeds at speed.

If GO starts saying that they WILL stop at those stations, it's only a matter of time before they HAVE to stop at those stations.

 

[Kiwi]

Any regular GO Train service to the Niagara region is still years off, probably another 7-10 years off. But building the James St N Station and getting additional GO Train service will have to be done before 2015, before the Pan Am Games. The Station will be directly across from the proposed stadium. This alone will probably cost $80 to $100 million to fix the Hamilton Junction.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Every time I read about these plans for regular every day service to Niagara two thoughts come to mind.

1. Maybe we should have different threads for GO Improvements and GO Additions.....on the theory that not all additions are improvements (at least not in everyone's minds);

2. A letter I got from Gary McNeil years and years ago (over 10) telling me that an idea that I had was good (probably he didn't think it was but no harm in saying it) but that it represented a new service and that GO would not be adding new services until all of their existing services ran every day in both directions. Since then, obviously, we have seen the addition of Barrie and now we are seriously looking at 4 trains a day in each direction to a city that is 111 kms from the current terminus of a line....where the city we are going to be serving has a population of under 100k and in between we will be building stops (possibly multiple stops) in communities with populations of 21k?

The Niagara service as a seasonal, touristy type thing made a bit of sense to me....as a regular service it just seems to be a resource draw away from more compelling issues and one that probably should not be contemplated until the network/service-offerings are far more mature.

Probably not a popular opinion but it is the way I see it.

p.s. feel much the same way about Peterborough.

A valid point. Should GO be expanding service before improving service on existing routes? And when does GO's type of service (i.e. Inter-Urban CBD focused trips) give way to VIA? To whit, is the Niagara service something that might be better served by VIA rather than GO?

I really feel that places like Niagara and Barrie are better served by VIA service leaving GO to serve the 416 and inner 905 cluster. Imagine Union station as the centre of a circle with a 100 km radius, this would be an area that is roughly a one hr drive away. I believe the areas with in that 100 km radius are best served by GO Transit.