[Paclo]

This thread will be used for discussion of the Confederation GO Station: an under construction 1-storey GO station developed by Metrolinx serving the Lakeshore West line on the southwest corner of Centennial Parkway North and Goderich Road in Hamilton's Nashdale area.

Renderings from Metrolinx:

Google Street View of the site as of April 2023:

Construction progress photo via @GoExpansion on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674426316018581507

For general discussion relating to GO Expansion or Metrolinx projects, please continue to use the dedicated threads in the Transportation & Infrastructure section.

 

[Branden Simon]

Bridge Graders that support the platforms installations is underway with two big mobile cranes at Confederation GO. Lane restrictions in effect for Centennial Pkwy.

 

[Branden Simon]

Staircases are being installed and ready to pour via G) Expansion on X

 

[BCTed]

Does anyone know if this station will have any kind of express trains? It's a lot faster to drive to Burlington Station from here than to take the train around the lake to West Harbour and Aldershot before reaching Burlington.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Does anyone know if this station will have any kind of express trains? It's a lot faster to drive to Burlington Station from here than to take the train around the lake to West Harbour and Aldershot before reaching Burlington.

I assume that any express trains that will serve West Harbour will be extended to serve Confederation.

 

[Sunnyside]

I assume that any express trains that will serve West Harbour will be extended to serve Confederation.

This seems to be the idea- any services terminating at WH today will simply be extended to Confederation.

It makes sense considering the factors that determine the “breaks” in LSW service levels around here are all between Aldershot and WH; anything beyond is more or less the same (with CN).

Does anyone know if this station will have any kind of express trains? It's a lot faster to drive to Burlington Station from here than to take the train around the lake to West Harbour and Aldershot before reaching Burlington.

The question of if Confederation is really that useful to park-and-riders is a good one. I’m sure for rush hour commutes it’ll make sense given the QEW mess to reach Burlington. BUT, it’s not a functional alternative to driving without a pretty big time penalty outside of rush hour. If your gonna drive to a GO Station on a lazy Sunday, Confederation trains are just going to waste your time riding around the bay compared to driving across the QEW to Burlington.

This isn’t the only place where circuitous routing is an issue on the GO network, but there is a heavy amount of both local and regional trips that will stil have a far more direct highway option. I’ve highlighted this issue before; If we could double the money thrown at Niagara expansion, we could probably solve this. A Burlington beach sub rebuild and dedicated tracks from Aldershot (or at least Confederation) to the eastern termini would make local and regional trips a no-brainer.

But thats a lot of money, and It’s not like Niagara expansion has been cheap. I’m sure Metrolinx is wary of bypassing Hamilton in principle, despite the penalties of routing everything eastward through it. Maybe once GO expansion has wrapped up, a “phase II” of GO exp. and Niagara exp. could be bundled together.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I assume that any express trains that will serve West Harbour will be extended to serve Confederation.

My understanding is that the trains running to West Harbour will largely be extended to Confederation upon opening. They will be express trains, but those express trains will also still be stopping at Burlington GO So there won't really be time savings.

It will likely end up that it is still generally faster to drive over the Skyway and get on in Burlington however, due to the trains having to go the long way around.

The skyway is generally a complete disaster in the morning, but isn't too bad in the evenings, especially when most GO commuters are arriving at Burlington GO (~6-7pm).

Many will likely still park here as it will offer a more reliable trip than the skyway, which can be very inconsistent.

Also important to remember than many people don't think about things like travel times that much (surprisingly) and often just drive to the closest GO station to them. For many people, purely in terms of travel time, it's often fastest to drive to Clarkson GO from Hamilton from my experience.. but almost nobody actually does that.

 

[rdaner]

I wonder if there will be a small group of riders who will want to go from Confederation to just Harbour?

 

[Chris R.]

Also important to remember than many people don't think about things like travel times that much (surprisingly) and often just drive to the closest GO station to them. For many people, purely in terms of travel time, it's often fastest to drive to Clarkson GO from Hamilton from my experience.. but almost nobody actually does that.

Because half the benefit of taking GO is the comfort. Why sit in traffic if you're going to take the train anyway, might as well lose 10 minutes but improve comfort substantially.

 

[BCTed]

My understanding is that the trains running to West Harbour will largely be extended to Confederation upon opening. They will be express trains, but those express trains will also still be stopping at Burlington GO So there won't really be time savings.

It will likely end up that it is still generally faster to drive over the Skyway and get on in Burlington however, due to the trains having to go the long way around.

The skyway is generally a complete disaster in the morning, but isn't too bad in the evenings, especially when most GO commuters are arriving at Burlington GO (~6-7pm).

Many will likely still park here as it will offer a more reliable trip than the skyway, which can be very inconsistent.

Also important to remember than many people don't think about things like travel times that much (surprisingly) and often just drive to the closest GO station to them. For many people, purely in terms of travel time, it's often fastest to drive to Clarkson GO from Hamilton from my experience.. but almost nobody actually does that.

The trip from Hamilton to Clarkson GO is pretty much the same path as the GO train, so any time savings from driving are probably pretty minimal. Even with the Skyway traffic, there will probably be like a 10-15 minute time savings for many East Enders to drive to Burlington rather than backtracking to Confderation, which is substantial each way over the course of a week. Plus only every other train or so currently goes past Aldershot... let's see if that ever actually changes.

A side note is that many GO stations are basically very much doubling as homeless shelters these days --- not great.

 

[Dan416]

The trip from Hamilton to Clarkson GO is pretty much the same path as the GO train, so any time savings from driving are probably pretty minimal. Even with the Skyway traffic, there will probably be like a 10-15 minute time savings for many East Enders to drive to Burlington rather than backtracking to Confderation, which is substantial each way over the course of a week. Plus only every other train or so currently goes past Aldershot... let's see if that ever actually changes.

A side note is that many GO stations are basically very much doubling as homeless shelters these days --- not great.

What? I take the GO train frequently and never seen any homeless at Erindale GO.

 

[BCTed]

Hamilton GO Centre, West Harbour, Burlington GO, Renforth Transitway, Union Station (among many others, I imagine) all have homeless people in them regularly.

 

[berklon]

Increased cost of fares is another disadvantage of taking the train from Confederation over Burlington.
Currently it costs about $50+ more a month to take the train to Union Station from Hunter compared to taking it from Burlington. I suspect the fare from Confederation will be even higher than it is at Hunter since the distance is longer.

 

[drum118]

What? I take the GO train frequently and never seen any homeless at Erindale GO.

They maybe not in your sight at the time and out of the way a peak time, but come night, they are there.

 

[ShonTron]

The problem too is that the trains operate through a restricted speed zone all the away across Hamilton. If the corridor could be properly fenced and level crossings upgraded, that would not as much of an issue, and it would shave a few minutes off the travel time. But since it is CN that owns that track, and they run limited through freight trains through (most are local industrial runs to/from Hamilton and St. Catharines/Welland), there’s little incentive for them to do so.