Sounds like Hamilton is going to be a GO Train hub for a future GO Train or Bus service to the Niagara Region.
Falls mayor hopeful GO train service will be extended to Niagara on weekends this summer
Posted By Jennifer Pellegrini, Osprey News Network
Posted 2 hours ago
Niagara Falls Mayor Ted Salci is hopeful Toronto-area tourists will be able to ride the rails to Niagara this summer.
Salci met with GO Transit managing director and chief executive officer Gary McNeil last week in a bid to convince him to support extending GO train service to Niagara on weekends throughout the tourist season.
“We’re pushing for weekend transportation right away,” Salci said. “We think it’s a no-brainer because the rail stock is unused (on weekends).”
Negotiating GO service to Niagara by rail might be a bit tricky, he said.
GO would have to work out a terms-of-use agreement with CN Rail, which owns the tracks into Niagara.
“They place the movement of freight ahead of the movement of people,” Salci said.
In his previous role as Ontario’s tourism minister, St. Catharines MPP and provincial Transportation Minister Jim Bradley often advocated finding new ways to get people between the province’s two largest tourism destinations — Niagara Falls and Toronto.
Contacted at Queen’s Park, Bradley’s staff said he had a series of meetings scheduled in Ottawa and was unavailable for comment.
However, Bradley told Osprey News earlier this month bringing GO to Niagara would be a good idea.
“GO Transit itself has done those studies ... and believes that in the future they at least think it could be viable to extend the service to Niagara and to Waterloo, and, well into the future, perhaps other areas in the province,” Bradley said.
"The service concept used for analysis purposes would cost approximately $3.5 million per year to operate," the report reads. "The service could carry approximately 2,800 riders per day and expected revenues would cover approximately 50 to 75 per cent of operating costs, depending on the service levels provided. The capital cost would be about $9 million for additional buses and park-and-ride facilities."
Bradley acknowledges the report, which showed the Niagara Falls-Hamilton bus route has potential.
"I'm optimistic we'll see that happen in a progressive basis. As you know, what usually happens - and this has happened all along the route into Toronto - that bus service is established that takes people to the nearest train stop."
Bradley said train service will require a substantial financial commitment.
“There are some major works that would have to be done in Hamilton, I am told, that is to ensure you could bring a line to Niagara.”
The time for that work may have come.
In last month’s provincial budget, the government set aside $3 million to overhaul the downtown Hamilton rail station, which is currently in use as the Liuna Station banquet hall.
Bringing GO links to two Hamilton destinations — one along the CP Rail line and one along CN Rail where Liuna Station is — improves the potential for a Niagara spur.
“It’s something the municipality of Hamilton has been pushing for,” Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor said of the proposal to bring Liuna Station back to its railroad roots.
“This shows there is a commitment and I just want to get the message out there that we’re not just talking about things, we’re actually doing things,” Craitor said.
He acknowledged it may not be easy to convince CN to allow GO to use the service, but said if it can be pulled off, “it would also be a way for us to get a feel for ridership and effect on the highway.”
Salci said if rail service couldn’t be easily negotiated, GO bus service would help take the sting out of being stuck in traffic.
Bottlenecks on the QEW are one of many problems for Niagara Falls, which has begun to rely heavily on Toronto tourists for day trips as the number of short-haul American travellers has declined.
Visitors enjoy their stay once they get here, but the 90-minute trip to Niagara often takes much longer as travellers sit in traffic jams caused by construction, accidents and sheer volume.
“We’re hoping to get traffic off the road,” Salci said. “One bus is the equivalent of about 50 cars. That would ease the issue with the ongoing construction on the QEW in St. Catharines that’s scheduled to last the next two years.”
McNeil did not respond this week to attempts by Osprey News for an interview via telephone or e-mail.
However, an assistant in his office said she is aware of McNeil’s intention to try meet with representatives from CN Rail, although such a meeting has yet to be arranged.
St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan said he was not aware of a meeting between Salci and McNeil, but said he supports GO Transit coming to Niagara, whether it’s by bus or train.
“I support any initiative to get cars off the road and reduce our carbon footprint,” McMullan said.
He said while he’d be happy to have the three proposed Niagara stops — Grimsby, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls — tested in a pilot project this summer, reliable service over the long haul is key to bringing GO trains to Niagara.
“It may be a leap of faith for the government to go to GO trains first.
It’s less costly to go with GO buses as a start,” McMullan said. “But in the long term, I believe we’ll continue to press for regular, frequent and consistent service.”
