mdrejhon
Senior Member
Yep. The rail bridge replacement/expansion includes 4 tracks and room for GO platforms as the Confederation GO station platforms overlaps the bridge.
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- Thread starter mdrejhon
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mdrejhon
Senior Member
UPDATE! Good news! Confederation is still on track.
>>Construction on the new Confederation GO Station in Hamilton is expected to start in 2019, with completion expected in 2021.
They've edited it already:
>>Construction on the new Confederation GO Station in Hamilton is expected to start in 2017, with completion expected in 2019.
(Ontario: Tut, tut! ... Hamilton, long neglected, should deserve a smidgen more respect and proofreading in announcements.)
>>Construction on the new Confederation GO Station in Hamilton is expected to start in 2019, with completion expected in 2021.
They've edited it already:
>>Construction on the new Confederation GO Station in Hamilton is expected to start in 2017, with completion expected in 2019.
(Ontario: Tut, tut! ... Hamilton, long neglected, should deserve a smidgen more respect and proofreading in announcements.)
mdrejhon
Senior Member
To confirm, there are only 2 freight trains running per day on the CN Grimsby sub -- and that means only 2 freight trains a day transiting between the West Harbour railyard, through St. Catharines?
I want to find the original source of information that shows 3 freight trains being replaced by 2 (perhaps bigger), as I'm writing a Hamilton-targeted article related to this.
I want to find the original source of information that shows 3 freight trains being replaced by 2 (perhaps bigger), as I'm writing a Hamilton-targeted article related to this.
christiesplits
Senior Member
mdrejhon:
Do you know why the GO Niagara weekend train does not stop at West Harbour? Seems foolish considering its proximity to James Street and the waterfront.
Do you know why the GO Niagara weekend train does not stop at West Harbour? Seems foolish considering its proximity to James Street and the waterfront.
smallspy
Senior Member
Look at the track configuration - there is no way for a train to do so without a backup move, and a huge addition of time to the schedule.
Dan
Toronto, Ont.
ShonTron
Moderator
I think the better question to ask is why the platform track (only one of two tracks are laid) at West Harbour is still stub-ended.
Jonny5
Senior Member
I bet it will be connected only when the Lewis storage facility is complete.
mdrejhon
Senior Member
It will probably by Victoria Day 2017, as related work completes then.
My super-long answer, I am the author of this article:
http://www.raisethehammer.org/article/2720
Alas not on time for this year, but completion timelines (Lewis, Hamilton Junction, West Harbour) point to 2017 season being a shoo-in.
For construction related work, I have quotes from Anne-Marie Aikens waiting for GO Part #3 that I am writing.
mdrejhon
Senior Member
SoBi data / SoBi expansion / BIKETOWN comparision
Excellent analysis on RTH on Cannon Cycle Track, thanks to heatmapping from the 750 GPS-tracked SoBi bike-share bikes.
It also includes some juicy SoBi tidbits:
SoBi usage data
Heatmap of 750 GPS tracked SoBi bikes from July 18-24, 2016
SoBi Expansion
Article re-confirms that Hamilton SoBi Expansion may be imminent:
The city is currently putting together funding from multiple sources for a small SoBi expansion. Several sources of funding are already confirmed (including my city councillor Matthew Green of Ward 3 -- who has already sponsored an early arrival of an Ottawa Street SoBi station using a surplus hub -- the station is covered in Matthew Green wrap). It's my current understanding that Matthew Green is pitching a little part of my ward's area-rating funds as one of the several pots of funding for the SoBi expansion. One of the last pieces is a grant hopefully confirmed by a grant in 2 weeks. Red stations are pre-existing, Blue stations would be expansion stations for SoBi, stretching the bikeshare territory all the way to Ottawa Street:
Incidentally, when this happens, SoBi will have covered 75% of the upcoming Hamilton LRT route (excluding Phase 2) -- only two LRT stations not near SoBi stations. One more incremental expansion ought to give Hamilton LRT full coverage for first-last-mile hops.
BIKETOWNpdx -- Portugal bikeshare using same smartbikes
Hamilton is no longer the world's biggest smartbike bike share system. BIKETOWNpdx is now -- for the moment.
(For the purposes of this post, smartbikes means a fully GPS tracked bike-share fleet, utilizing dumb kioskless stations, where a bike can also be locked anywhere -- using an electronic U-bar -- away from official bike stations too, and can be located by the next user via an app. These systems also partially utilizes crowdsourced bike rebalancing too, with bounty credits for people who return bikes to hubs. As a result, SoBi has far lower bike rebalancing cost per member than BIXI type systems. There is only one bike rebalancing vehicle for the entire city of Hamilton!)
Portugal just launched 1000 bikeshare bikes, to resounding enthusiasm -- and surpassed expectations -- Day 1 of bikeshare ridership exceeded the entirety of the larger Minneapolis "Nice Ride" bikeshare after 5 years. And this is more than the 750 smartbikes Hamilton has.
(Credit: bikeportland.org)
Hopefully after the SoBi expansion, this will allow Hamilton to become the world's largest smartbike bikeshare system again. Hamilton has beecurrently being beaten by BIKETOWN Portland, which just launched 1000 bikes of the same kind (Social Bicycles) sponsored by NIKE Inc. It is currently significantly surpassing expectations, another sign that smartbike systems are the way of the future.
Let's see the SoBi Hamilton incremental expansion leapfrog BIKETOWN...
Excellent analysis on RTH on Cannon Cycle Track, thanks to heatmapping from the 750 GPS-tracked SoBi bike-share bikes.
It also includes some juicy SoBi tidbits:
SoBi usage data
Heatmap of 750 GPS tracked SoBi bikes from July 18-24, 2016
SoBi Expansion
Article re-confirms that Hamilton SoBi Expansion may be imminent:
The city is currently putting together funding from multiple sources for a small SoBi expansion. Several sources of funding are already confirmed (including my city councillor Matthew Green of Ward 3 -- who has already sponsored an early arrival of an Ottawa Street SoBi station using a surplus hub -- the station is covered in Matthew Green wrap). It's my current understanding that Matthew Green is pitching a little part of my ward's area-rating funds as one of the several pots of funding for the SoBi expansion. One of the last pieces is a grant hopefully confirmed by a grant in 2 weeks. Red stations are pre-existing, Blue stations would be expansion stations for SoBi, stretching the bikeshare territory all the way to Ottawa Street:
Incidentally, when this happens, SoBi will have covered 75% of the upcoming Hamilton LRT route (excluding Phase 2) -- only two LRT stations not near SoBi stations. One more incremental expansion ought to give Hamilton LRT full coverage for first-last-mile hops.
BIKETOWNpdx -- Portugal bikeshare using same smartbikes
Hamilton is no longer the world's biggest smartbike bike share system. BIKETOWNpdx is now -- for the moment.
(For the purposes of this post, smartbikes means a fully GPS tracked bike-share fleet, utilizing dumb kioskless stations, where a bike can also be locked anywhere -- using an electronic U-bar -- away from official bike stations too, and can be located by the next user via an app. These systems also partially utilizes crowdsourced bike rebalancing too, with bounty credits for people who return bikes to hubs. As a result, SoBi has far lower bike rebalancing cost per member than BIXI type systems. There is only one bike rebalancing vehicle for the entire city of Hamilton!)
Portugal just launched 1000 bikeshare bikes, to resounding enthusiasm -- and surpassed expectations -- Day 1 of bikeshare ridership exceeded the entirety of the larger Minneapolis "Nice Ride" bikeshare after 5 years. And this is more than the 750 smartbikes Hamilton has.
(Credit: bikeportland.org)
Hopefully after the SoBi expansion, this will allow Hamilton to become the world's largest smartbike bikeshare system again. Hamilton has beecurrently being beaten by BIKETOWN Portland, which just launched 1000 bikes of the same kind (Social Bicycles) sponsored by NIKE Inc. It is currently significantly surpassing expectations, another sign that smartbike systems are the way of the future.
Let's see the SoBi Hamilton incremental expansion leapfrog BIKETOWN...
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mdrejhon
Senior Member
West Harbour GO station, updated pix.
Underground parking garage appears pretty much complete.
Presto readers waiting to be installed. Its directly platform edge, very disabled friendly.
Over the next few months...
-- All 300 parking spots open (fall 2016)
-- Third morning GO train to West Harbour, 6 trains a day (April 2017)
-- Niagara summer seasonal makes stops here beginning Victoria's Day 2017.
-- Hamilton Rail Junction Expansion complete (late 2016)
-- Two tracks at West Harbour (late 2016)
-- Lewis yard (late 2016)
...I'd confidently predict a Steven Del Duca podium being set up at West Harbour between September 2016 and March 2017 to announce most of the following simultaneously. It will probably include Niagara-Hamilton talk and some mention of all-day 2-way GO service (might be a token mention, or a big splash like confirming West Harbour instead of Hunter is the all-day terminus).
Underground parking garage appears pretty much complete.
Presto readers waiting to be installed. Its directly platform edge, very disabled friendly.
Over the next few months...
-- All 300 parking spots open (fall 2016)
-- Third morning GO train to West Harbour, 6 trains a day (April 2017)
-- Niagara summer seasonal makes stops here beginning Victoria's Day 2017.
-- Hamilton Rail Junction Expansion complete (late 2016)
-- Two tracks at West Harbour (late 2016)
-- Lewis yard (late 2016)
...I'd confidently predict a Steven Del Duca podium being set up at West Harbour between September 2016 and March 2017 to announce most of the following simultaneously. It will probably include Niagara-Hamilton talk and some mention of all-day 2-way GO service (might be a token mention, or a big splash like confirming West Harbour instead of Hunter is the all-day terminus).
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I had a thought today, and it centres around this piece of land:
It's the Chedoke public golf course. The thought I had was extending Lakeshore West service to a new station on this land, and redeveloping the golf course into a new neighbourhood around it. It would have several advantages:
1) It would provide direct service to Hamilton, without having to deal with the Hunter St tunnel (as is required to substantially boost service to downtown Hamilton). The line is double tracked from Bayview Junction to the wye at Dundurn, so there would be less conflict with trains using the Hunter St tunnel.
2) It could replace/supplement Aldershot as the default 'off the 403' station, as a new street could be built through the area, with new EB off and WB on ramps being constructed. This would allow it to be an ideal transfer station for bus service to/from Brantford, and could be the terminus point for bus routes to elsewhere in Hamilton, or maybe places like Caledonia.
3) It would be within walking distance of McMaster University, largely negating the need for a separate GO bus route to serve it.
4) The sale of the land for development would pay for a pretty sizeable percentage of the new station. Most of the track required is already there, so that's a pretty minimal cost.
The service pattern that I envision is 30 min off-peak service to Chedoke, and 30 min off-peak service to Hamilton Centre. This would then combine for 15 min Lakeshore West service at Aldershot heading east. The West Harbour service would instead be a separate Niagara GO service, terminating at Aldershot.
Thoughts?
It's the Chedoke public golf course. The thought I had was extending Lakeshore West service to a new station on this land, and redeveloping the golf course into a new neighbourhood around it. It would have several advantages:
1) It would provide direct service to Hamilton, without having to deal with the Hunter St tunnel (as is required to substantially boost service to downtown Hamilton). The line is double tracked from Bayview Junction to the wye at Dundurn, so there would be less conflict with trains using the Hunter St tunnel.
2) It could replace/supplement Aldershot as the default 'off the 403' station, as a new street could be built through the area, with new EB off and WB on ramps being constructed. This would allow it to be an ideal transfer station for bus service to/from Brantford, and could be the terminus point for bus routes to elsewhere in Hamilton, or maybe places like Caledonia.
3) It would be within walking distance of McMaster University, largely negating the need for a separate GO bus route to serve it.
4) The sale of the land for development would pay for a pretty sizeable percentage of the new station. Most of the track required is already there, so that's a pretty minimal cost.
The service pattern that I envision is 30 min off-peak service to Chedoke, and 30 min off-peak service to Hamilton Centre. This would then combine for 15 min Lakeshore West service at Aldershot heading east. The West Harbour service would instead be a separate Niagara GO service, terminating at Aldershot.
Thoughts?
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doady
Senior Member
SoBi usage data
Heatmap of 750 GPS tracked SoBi bikes from July 18-24, 2016
No bikes on the Mountain? I remember once people here mentioned Hamilton used to have funicular. Maybe they need to bring that back.
mdrejhon
Senior Member
There were.
It is not easy to safely bike up/down. Several accesses are literally freeways!
There was a trial pf SoBi bikes on mountain last year but the funding isn't there to do a big system yet. Plus, it has a high bike-rebalancing cost brining the bikes back up the mountain. They are looking for capital funding for a real mountain expansion for SoBi.
I will presume when the "Keddy Access" cycle track gets built it will happen.
Keddy Access is my preferred name, in honour of deceased well-loved kindergarten teacher Mr. Keddy who died on bike on Claremont Access in a hit-and-run -- which helped trigger the upcoming Claremont Access cycle track they want to build within a couple years. If the family of Jay Keddy wishes it to be dedicated in his name, I'd press @CycleHamilton to drive this initiative!
Here's select pages of Hamilton's first protected cycle track infrastructure up the escarpment, that is actually true transport infrastructure (in addition to trails -- the beautiful, but very very long, Escarpment Rail Trail):
This incredible detail, hopefully means Jay Keddy's death was not for nothing:
And a bunch of other pages here:
https://www.hamilton.ca/streets-transportation/biking-cyclists/cycling-facility-claremont-access
Overall, it is an amazing plan in execution, with multiple bike trail connections at regular intervals along Claremont (and not a boring continuous stretch of unexitable "freeway" cycle track with only two ends).
Except for the need of some minor refinements (continuous cycle track to Hunter, with no stop sign at bottom of hill), which I've provided to the city in public consultation.
That said...
...Fully protected jersey-barriered cycle track (multiuse trail), with several enhanced accesses to connecting trails (including Rail Trail!) on the overengineered Claremont Access "freeway". There are now flying pig sightings. This will be the first-ever fully protected quick way to ride a bike up/down the Mountain in Hamilton. As in a direct commute rather than be limited to the choice of carrying a bike up the #HamOntStairs. Or limited to a beautiful slow nearly-crosstown Rail Trail ride that is less commute-practical for many.
This Claremont Access bike infrastructure, is kind of a holy grail cross-escarpment bike access, if all sub-accesses are fully implemented.
Once this connectivity happens, I think there will be good viability for a SoBi mountain expansion!
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mdrejhon
Senior Member
mdrejhon
Senior Member
Bunch of general updates for Hamilton General Transit issues:
Hamilton Bike Share Expansion Complete
(1) SoBi expansion was completed this year, adding 75 bikes (White-colored 8-gear SoBi bikes), several new stations in low-income areas, plus a major expansion of subsidized memberships ("Everyone Rides Initiative") for those who can't even afford bikeshare.
(Source: CHCH article)
Hamilton B-Line now the full "Mall-to-University" route.
(2) You already know this now, but if you're living under a rock, Hamilton LRT B-Line is now planned as the full Eastgate length (see Hamilton LRT thread). Status of A-Line LRT is deferred.
GO Expansion Delays
(3) Reportedly, Metrolinx and CN has so far been unable to get a schedule that supports their available manpower and schedule for further construction/work in Hamilton this year. This delays the addition of additional service along the Grimsby sub (West Harbour). Also, Confederation GO will open in 2021, not 2019 (as originally announced in 2015). There is a serious chance that next summer's Niagara GO trains still won't stop at West Harbour on Victoria's Day 2018, but we'll see.
Electric Trains to Hamilton between 2025-2041
(4) Metrolinx 2041 (PDF) proposes 15-min RER service AD2W extension to Hamilton (From Burlington/Aldershot) sometime after 2025, in Appendix 3D:
Hamilton Bike Share Expansion Complete
(1) SoBi expansion was completed this year, adding 75 bikes (White-colored 8-gear SoBi bikes), several new stations in low-income areas, plus a major expansion of subsidized memberships ("Everyone Rides Initiative") for those who can't even afford bikeshare.
(Source: CHCH article)
Hamilton B-Line now the full "Mall-to-University" route.
(2) You already know this now, but if you're living under a rock, Hamilton LRT B-Line is now planned as the full Eastgate length (see Hamilton LRT thread). Status of A-Line LRT is deferred.
GO Expansion Delays
(3) Reportedly, Metrolinx and CN has so far been unable to get a schedule that supports their available manpower and schedule for further construction/work in Hamilton this year. This delays the addition of additional service along the Grimsby sub (West Harbour). Also, Confederation GO will open in 2021, not 2019 (as originally announced in 2015). There is a serious chance that next summer's Niagara GO trains still won't stop at West Harbour on Victoria's Day 2018, but we'll see.
Electric Trains to Hamilton between 2025-2041
(4) Metrolinx 2041 (PDF) proposes 15-min RER service AD2W extension to Hamilton (From Burlington/Aldershot) sometime after 2025, in Appendix 3D:
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