GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[dowlingm]

I have to come back to this. I thought West Harbour was supposed to be the main focus for Hamilton Rail Service. And I though off peak was supposed to go through there. To get off peak to the Hamilton GO centre, they have to negotiate with CP and fix the bridge. Why not just West Harbour?

Hunter Street is more central to Hamilton as a city, and will be near the LRT.

 

[muller877]

Hunter Street is more central to Hamilton as a city, and will be near the LRT.

The Niagara service will likely terminate at or before West Harbour. GO does not want their schedule exactly lining up with the Niagara-Hamilton service. Way too many delays crossing the canal. So you really do need 15 minute service to West Harbour during the time when the Niagara trains run to permit this de-linking of schedules.

I don't think CN/CP will allow the Niagara train to travel to Aldershot (capacity issues).

All this means that the 15 minute service will have to go to West Harbour. And Hunter will only get the left-overs (all-stop service)

 

[mdrejhon]

The Niagara service will likely terminate at or before West Harbour. GO does not want their schedule exactly lining up with the Niagara-Hamilton service. Way too many delays crossing the canal. So you really do need 15 minute service to West Harbour during the time when the Niagara trains run to permit this de-linking of schedules.

I don't think CN/CP will allow the Niagara train to travel to Aldershot (capacity issues).

All this means that the 15 minute service will have to go to West Harbour. And Hunter will only get the left-overs (all-stop service)

That's one of the many outcomes, West Harbour becoming a transfer point for Toronto-Hamilton 15-min service, and Hamilton-Niagara all-day service. That was essentially the www.niagarago.ca proposal.

Right now, they're making it Confederation GO initially instead of West Harbour, but ultimately I think it's going to be West Harbour once the extra track is built and the bridges are rebuilt (e.g. Birch) and the upcoming CN corridor capacity study commissioned by Metrolinx.

If the A-Line BRT becomes an A-Line LRT (Phase 2, to Mohawk or Limeridge only, not all the way to airport), that could massively amplify West Harbour GO importance depending on how political stars align.

In all situations however, Downtown GO will always get peak period trains and continue its existing bus terminal.

Scenario A: West Harbour gets all-day, Downtown continues peak
Scenario B; West Harbour gets peak, Downtown gets all-day
Scenario C: West Harbour gets all-day, Downtown trains discontinue

In all situations, Hamilton 16 Expresses still continue (at possibly adjusted schedule after LRT is built), as it is still listed in the Metrolinx 2041 RTP.

But the Scenario C is what I never want to see happen: Train discontinued from downtown. This implies a full disconnection from Hamilton LRT, unless A-Line becomes an LRT that also connects to an important part of the Mountain.

GO is slowly converting from a commuter train system into a regional rapid transit metro -- where trains are 15-min 2-way. Hamilton should someday get infill stations (Dundurn RER, Gage RER) and both-station all-day service, even if it is not till ~2051, so that has to be protected for.

However, one station needs allday train service sooner than later, and that is the problem to be solved. One problem at a time.

 

[rbt]

The Niagara service will likely terminate at or before West Harbour. GO does not want their schedule exactly lining up with the Niagara-Hamilton service. Way too many delays crossing the canal.

While I think it's appropriate for Niagara service to run a smaller scale trainset (at least for the first decade while building ridership), GO has negotiated a priority over canal boat traffic during specific time slots for regular Niagara service.

Of course, the longer the route the harder it will be to hit that time slot.

 

[mdrejhon]

One scenario is "one-seat" peak Toronto-Hamilton-Niagara trains.

And transfers between all-day offpeak Toronto-Hamilton trains and Hamilton-Niagara trains.

Ideal transfer point would be West Harbor GO station, but theoretically, Lakeshore West all-day trains could be extended to Confederation GO station. Recently, extra tracks were added to the Desjardins canal, so capacity between Aldershot and West Harbour is about to go up massively, and we have currently went above-and-beyond the 2011 Niagara ESR for half-hourly to West Harbour.

The ESR says the capacity is there. Half-hour to West Harbour can be activated by 2021 given sufficient money given to CN for running rights, without interfering with CN's schedule (except occasionally).

Given the newly-added multiple track-crossing opportunities before and after a freight train between West Harbour and Aldershot -- depending on where a late freight train, a GO train can now finally cross before it, or cross after it, thanks to the Desjardin Canal construction in Hamilton that I've been photographing over the last 2 years.

There are still some switchwork left to do, but most of the signals are now active all the way to West Harbour.

Construction funding of Confederation includes trackwork & bridgework between West Harbour and Confederation -- some of this begins later this year. Once West Harbour becomes a through station (by 2019) connecting to Confederation GO station and Lewis GO yard (2019-2021). Lewis Yard is already activated, as seen in satellite photographs on Google Maps -- with 4 active tracks (only 2 in use) and expansion room for 8 storage tracks. Minor funding is all that is needed to succeed a political promise of reliable allday service to Niagara Falls (at least as a peak-only single-seat ride, and an all-day transfer in Hamilton).

Once that's done, and the extra track between West Harbour and Lewis is built (already funded, planned), then there is little barrier to a politician demanding & funding 30-minute Lakeshore West through Grimsby -- Metrolinx can then theoretically activate LW 30-minute extension thru West Harbour in just mere months. (Incidentally, that'll redeem all the lavishness spent into West Harbour GO -- it's clearly designed to be expecting allday service)

This means either West Harbour GO or Confederation GO could be the transferpoint of the Niagara shuttle service. That politically is still up in the air.

Ideally, I prefer the Niagara GO rail shuttle transferpoint at West Harbour, but Confederation is capable of that too. If that happens, then the Hamilton LRT B-Line should have a 1-stop extension to Confederation, to "complete the transit network".

A realistic Already-nearly-fully-funded ~2025 all-day Niagara outcome is:
- Peak: One-seat ride for 4 peak trains a day (12-seat GO train), utilizing Welland guarantee
- Offpeak: Transfer in Hamilton for Toronto-Hamilton and Hamilton-Niagara offpeak allday trains.
- Allday Lakeshore West 30-min extension to West Harbour or Confederation
- Allday Hamilton-StCat back-and-fourth rail shuttle (2 hour intervals, 1 hour per direction) for midday and evenings -- ala NiagaraGO proposal. Might even be doable all the way to Niagara Falls (only 4 Welland crossings guaranteed per day, so reserve those for the single-seat 12-coach rides), but StCat should be easy enough.
- No Welland Tunnel needed!

Again, all of this is already mostly funded and under construction. Provisions for extra tracks all over the place are already being built, the massive 5-track Confederation bridge, the Desjardins canal, the recent completion of new track between Desjardins and West Harbour, and the studies to rebuild bridges (e.g. Birch Ave in Hamilton) on time for the Niagara services.

Again, funded. The alldayness is simply only an unannounced increment (e.g. CN running rights negotiations). Any politician can achieve this "relatively" easily by funding Metrolinx to pay CN out of the nose, and the problem is solved. But this is cheap relative to the expense already done -- the existing funding already going on with construction already going on as we speak on the Hamilton-Niagara corridor.

Does the business case justify?
Eventually, yes.
How quickly, is the question, though.

Till then, empty West Harbour is impatiently twiddling thumbs. There's a lot of expensive pre-built infrastructure waiting to go live. While I don't like uttering the four-letter F-word currently leading a blue-colored political party, I do respect the people who are voting and understand their desparations of difficult pick-poison political choices being made. But any party color can easily do Niagara all-day by 2025 -- when you follow the money:

Follow the money! Because it's essentially mostly funded and under construction. The Lewis Yard is lavishly overbuilt, West Harbour is lavishly overbuilt, the Confederation Bridge is lavishly overbuilt, the Desjardins bridge is unnecessary if you don't need allday thru Hamilton West Harbour. Increasingly, Niagara GO allday is the ultimate end result (at least for a 2-hour cadence to StCat) -- the freight excuse is not sufficient enough for the amount of overbuilding currently going on between Hamilton and Niagara.

The business case of "Cancel and let it go fallow versus finish off the remaining incrementals" now heavily leans towards at least eventual StCat all-day shuttling, so it's pretty much irreversible under any government color: It would be a total scandal to cancel because of what is already going on and being photographed, and what I see on Google Satellite View of Lewis Yard (with only two West Harbour trains parked in it), etc. And it's still expanding: It just recently got federal funding for additional Lewis Yard construction yet to come. Following the money, it's quite obvious.

I would not be surprised to see all-day Niagara shuttles well before 2030 even with orange, red, green or blue governments.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Both stations deserve peak service.
Toronto-Hamilton Downtown-Downtown direct service with DT GO.
Toronto-Hamilton-Niagara intercity commuter service with WH GO.

The political football question of which gets allday by 2025 -- lingers though.

Theoretically, both can get allday of some form by 2041+.

It is possible the business case eventially can build to justify it (e.g. popular usage by StCat students and Niagara-Hamilton work commuters, which is above-and-beyond Toronto tourists and Niagara tourists).

It is a shame that the football is taking long, though.

There is some ball-faking going on, but the ball is going to throw soon.

Even this summer.

That's one of the many outcomes, West Harbour becoming a transfer point for Toronto-Hamilton 15-min service, and Hamilton-Niagara all-day service. That was essentially the www.niagarago.ca proposal.

Right now, they're making it Confederation GO initially instead of West Harbour, but ultimately I think it's going to be West Harbour once the extra track is built and the bridges are rebuilt (e.g. Birch) and the upcoming CN corridor capacity study commissioned by Metrolinx.

If the A-Line BRT becomes an A-Line LRT (Phase 2, to Mohawk or Limeridge only, not all the way to airport), that could massively amplify West Harbour GO importance depending on how political stars align.

In all situations however, Downtown GO will always get peak period trains and continue its existing bus terminal.

Scenario A: West Harbour gets all-day, Downtown continues peak
Scenario B; West Harbour gets peak, Downtown gets all-day
Scenario C: West Harbour gets all-day, Downtown trains discontinue

In all situations, Hamilton 16 Expresses still continue (at possibly adjusted schedule after LRT is built), as it is still listed in the Metrolinx 2041 RTP.

But the Scenario C is what I never want to see happen: Train discontinued from downtown. This implies a full disconnection from Hamilton LRT, unless A-Line becomes an LRT that also connects to an important part of the Mountain.

GO is slowly converting from a commuter train system into a regional rapid transit metro -- where trains are 15-min 2-way. Hamilton should someday get infill stations (Dundurn RER, Gage RER) and both-station all-day service, even if it is not till ~2051, so that has to be protected for.

However, one station needs allday train service sooner than later, and that is the problem to be solved. One problem at a time.

Hunter Street is more central to Hamilton as a city, and will be near the LRT.

The Niagara service will likely terminate at or before West Harbour. GO does not want their schedule exactly lining up with the Niagara-Hamilton service. Way too many delays crossing the canal. So you really do need 15 minute service to West Harbour during the time when the Niagara trains run to permit this de-linking of schedules.

I don't think CN/CP will allow the Niagara train to travel to Aldershot (capacity issues).

All this means that the 15 minute service will have to go to West Harbour. And Hunter will only get the left-overs (all-stop service)

So West harbour for express and hunter for off peak, but how will they work with CP to make that happen.

 

[mdrejhon]

So West harbour for express and hunter for off peak, but how will they work with CP to make that happen.

Officially, the promise is Downtown allday.

Unofficially, it's up in the air.

Behind the scenes, either station are subject to negotiations with freight companies. I've seen Metrolinx documents as recent as ~2015(ish) saying either station may get allday service. I have hyperlinks to some of them from my RaiseTheHammer article: www.raisethehammer.org/article/2672

Hints of hedging still remains today. My impression is they WANT allday to downtown (and me too), and WANT (eventually 2041+) allday to both stations.

But "trace the money" shows West Harbour GO is already all-day ready in ~2019-2021, and the Niagara 2011 ESR already shows sufficient capacity. It's possible they are waiting for the CN Corridor Capacity study (newer study) before deciding to all-day West Harbour.

But at that stage, that's just dotting i's and crossing t's with pre-built infrastructure by then, and a matter of a dollar $ amount paid to CN for running rights.

Personally I would not be surprised if West Harbour got switched to getting allday service (While the 4 peak trains continued in Downtown GO). This would be okay with me, as long as HSR + GO massively improved bus connection to West Harbour, and that Niagara becomes an option.

The station, simply put, is built and ready for allday GO service already, sitting right in front of our eyes, awaiting politics, simply waiting for a few dependencies (that are already funded and/or under construction). However, we must not lose Downtown GO.

As my (more conservative) neighbours scream "boondoggle" at the West Harbour White Elephant getting a mere "schedule-convenience-overlooked" trains every weekday -- I am witnessing an incredibly critically important station that's just been completed a few years too early -- ready to get far more traffic in less than a decade thanks to the incredibly overbuilt infrastructure I see in satellite maps (Lewis Yard)...

Grimsby, Ontario -- Almost halfway to St.Catharines from Hamilton
(And it just got federal funding recently for even more expansion.... Wonder why?)

And photographing from bridges (Desjardins canal and Centennial Parkway) -- it is really clearly intended to get a very frequent StCat/Niagara train service in less than a decade from now.

Stoney Creek, Ontario -- Past Hamilton towards Niagara
(Centennial Parkway, near Stoney Creek, across from Walmart, at the upcoming Confederation GO station -- 5 track bridge!)

Hamilton, Ontario -- only helps West Harbour GO
(UrbanToronto article from 2017; bridge is now complete with track, switchwork under way now).

All of this spending is totally unnecessary without allday service well past Hamilton. It's as if, quitely, everyone is agreeing that this is the eventual "do or die" end result -- frequency remains unspokenly handwavey, with the "freight" excuse -- and probably the final allday decision is right after the CN corridor capacity study (likely simply a refinement on the 2011 Niagara ESR capacity study).

Toronto is about to have literally nearly two dozen GO RER stations inside 416 regardless of political party color, so Hamilton definitely deserves to keep more than one station as GO transitions from a commuter train service to a regional rapid transit system.

At some point between now and 2021, the temptation will be so great to simply flick-a-switch (pay CN) and we suddenly have allday Lakeshore West hourly (or half-hourly) hitting West Harbour GO and Confederation GO.

Freight, while occasionally contentious, will no longer be a showstopper after the Desjardins canal bridge which wasn't even in the 2011 Niagara ESR.

 

[gweed123]

This means either West Harbour GO or Confederation GO could be the transferpoint of the Niagara shuttle service. That politically is still up in the air.

It could also be both. It would be quite possible to have the two services overlap for one station. Run Lakeshore West services from Confederation inward, and run Niagara services from West Harbour outward. This avoids the "I just got on at Confederation and now I have to get off again 1 stop later to transfer" scenario, and the capacity constraints on the corridor aren't the section between West Harbour and Confederation.

Also, peak period trains will likely be stored at Lewis, so you're going right through Confederation anyway to get there (coming from Toronto).

 

[mdrejhon]

It could also be both. It would be quite possible to have the two services overlap for one station. Run Lakeshore West services from Confederation inward, and run Niagara services from West Harbour outward. This avoids the "I just got on at Confederation and now I have to get off again 1 stop later to transfer" scenario, and the capacity constraints on the corridor aren't the section between West Harbour and Confederation.

Also, peak period trains will likely be stored at Lewis, so you're going right through Confederation anyway to get there (coming from Toronto).

That's a very interesting idea.

I wonder if they've thought of overlapping the transfer trains like that.

I thought of that already too, but is that something Metrolinx would even consider... they do seem more open to unconventional service plans that aren't traditional GO.

 

[gweed123]

That's a very interesting idea.

I wonder if they've thought of overlapping the transfer trains like that.

I thought of that already too, but is that something Metrolinx would even consider... they do seem more open to unconventional service plans that aren't traditional GO.

It would all depend on whether or not CN would allocate them enough track capacity to do that. But like I said, the pinch points are the Desjardins Canal and the Welland Canal, so I wouldn't think that the straight stretch through Hamilton would be an issue, but you never know.

It certainly would solve a lot of transfer-oriented headaches though, and would effectively transform the GO line into a quasi express B-Line. If you're taking the 44 down from the East Mountain, you'd just continue to Confederation GO and then transfer westbound instead of getting off at Eastgate and taking the B-Line westbound.

 

[crs1026]

The unfortunate detail at West Harbour: if it is to be the transfer point between a Niagara local train and the ‘mainline’ LSW service to points east, it should have been built as a center island platform to facilitate quick stair-free across the platform access.
Maybe they can squeeze a stub track in somewhere.
It won’t be quaint like those wonderful British main line - branch junctions, but it will be worthwhile.

- Paul

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Officially, the promise is Downtown allday.

Unofficially, it's up in the air.

Behind the scenes, either station are subject to negotiations with freight companies. I've seen Metrolinx documents as recent as ~2015(ish) saying either station may get allday service. I have hyperlinks to some of them from my RaiseTheHammer article: www.raisethehammer.org/article/2672

Hints of hedging still remains today. My impression is they WANT allday to downtown (and me too), and WANT (eventually 2041+) allday to both stations.

But "trace the money" shows West Harbour GO is already all-day ready in ~2019-2021, and the Niagara 2011 ESR already shows sufficient capacity. It's possible they are waiting for the CN Corridor Capacity study (newer study) before deciding to all-day West Harbour.

But at that stage, that's just dotting i's and crossing t's with pre-built infrastructure by then, and a matter of a dollar $ amount paid to CN for running rights.

Personally I would not be surprised if West Harbour got switched to getting allday service (While the 4 peak trains continued in Downtown GO). This would be okay with me, as long as HSR + GO massively improved bus connection to West Harbour, and that Niagara becomes an option.

The station, simply put, is built and ready for allday GO service already, sitting right in front of our eyes, awaiting politics, simply waiting for a few dependencies (that are already funded and/or under construction). However, we must not lose Downtown GO.

As my (more conservative) neighbours scream "boondoggle" at the West Harbour White Elephant getting a mere "schedule-convenience-overlooked" trains every weekday -- I am witnessing an incredibly critically important station that's just been completed a few years too early -- ready to get far more traffic in less than a decade thanks to the incredibly overbuilt infrastructure I see in satellite maps (Lewis Yard)...

View attachment 143837
Grimsby, Ontario -- Almost halfway to St.Catharines from Hamilton
(And it just got federal funding recently for even more expansion.... Wonder why?)

And photographing from bridges (Desjardins canal and Centennial Parkway) -- it is really clearly intended to get a very frequent StCat/Niagara train service in less than a decade from now.

View attachment 143836
Stoney Creek, Ontario -- Past Hamilton towards Niagara
(Centennial Parkway, near Stoney Creek, across from Walmart, at the upcoming Confederation GO station -- 5 track bridge!)

Hamilton, Ontario -- only helps West Harbour GO
(UrbanToronto article from 2017; bridge is now complete with track, switchwork under way now).

All of this spending is totally unnecessary without allday service well past Hamilton. It's as if, quitely, everyone is agreeing that this is the eventual "do or die" end result -- frequency remains unspokenly handwavey, with the "freight" excuse -- and probably the final allday decision is right after the CN corridor capacity study (likely simply a refinement on the 2011 Niagara ESR capacity study).

Toronto is about to have literally nearly two dozen GO RER stations inside 416 regardless of political party color, so Hamilton definitely deserves to keep more than one station as GO transitions from a commuter train service to a regional rapid transit system.

At some point between now and 2021, the temptation will be so great to simply flick-a-switch (pay CN) and we suddenly have allday Lakeshore West hourly (or half-hourly) hitting West Harbour GO and Confederation GO.

Freight, while occasionally contentious, will no longer be a showstopper after the Desjardins canal bridge which wasn't even in the 2011 Niagara ESR.

I think the political pressure will be all day to West Harbour. It's unfortunate about the Hamilton Go Centre, but they can't keep delaying service for the sake of a deal with CP. West Harbour was just built and it looks like it's not being used. 2019 should there should be a deal with CN and Doug wants 2 way to Niaagra Falls.

 

[smallspy]

The unfortunate detail at West Harbour: if it is to be the transfer point between a Niagara local train and the ‘mainline’ LSW service to points east, it should have been built as a center island platform to facilitate quick stair-free across the platform access.
Maybe they can squeeze a stub track in somewhere.
It won’t be quaint like those wonderful British main line - branch junctions, but it will be worthwhile.

- Paul

The northern platform was built to allow it to be expanded to become an island platform with the current mainline track if necessary.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[Leo_Chan]

The old accessibility coach ramp at Oriole is gone.

 

[mdrejhon]

The northern platform was built to allow it to be expanded to become an island platform with the current mainline track if necessary.

That would maximize operational flexibility.

Shame it was not done in 2015 even for a 6-coach section,