Niagara not stopping on GO
Niagara Region Chairman Alan Caslin is continuing to push for regular Toronto to Niagara Falls GO train service to be up and running in time for the 2021 Canada Summer Games.
However, Metrolinx — the arm’slength provincial agency that operates GO Transit — isn’t committing to any changes to its originally proposed timetable.
“We are aware of the request to launch service by 2021 instead of 2023 as promised, but it’s too early to say at this point,” said GO spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins, adding Metrolinx is going to provide a full update on GO expansion in the fall.
Caslin, noting the Games could bring in more than 30,000 visitors — including spectators, athletes and media — said GO trains would be a boon for the region in 2021, allowing visitors from out of town greater access to the Niagara area.
He said Niagara’s still in-development inter-regional transit system would be up and running by then.
It is being designed specifically to link with GO train stations in the region.
“That way when someone arrives in Niagara by GO train, they can immediately catch a bus or get a taxi or an Uber to get to where they need to go in Niagara,” Caslin said.
Even if the full GO Niagara line isn’t entirely ready by 2021, expanding the current Toronto to Niagara GO summer service could provide an interim solution specifically for the Games, he said.
“The point is, the service is already there,” said Caslin in a Wednesday interview with The Standard about the status of GO Niagara. “Absolutely, that could be done.”
Metrolinx, however, said the situation is not as cut and dried as some people might like.
Aikins pointed out that Metrolinx does not own the rail lines in Niagara’s transit corridor. Those lines are owned by CN, and negotiations with Metrolinx are ongoing.
“So, like similar extensions to Kitchener-Waterloo and Bowmanville, the expansion plan requires extensive collaboration with our rail partner and the region. We’re continuing our work,” Aikins said.
There are other logistics that could impact the GO timeline.
In May, Erin Moroz, director of communications and community relations for Metrolinx, told The
Standard that a Niagara commuter service is not just about who owns the tracks. It is also about trains.
Moroz said Metrolinx needs to expand its fleet of trains to meet the growing demand for GO services in Ontario.
Nevertheless, Caslin said the Region will continue to push for train service to be available for the Summer Games.
The current timetable would see GO service arrive at a to-be-built Grimsby GO station in 2021, with service reaching Niagara Falls in 2023. Although the precise details of how the Niagara service will work haven’t been finalized by Metrolinx, the 2015 regional business case for GO proposed a Niagara to Hamilton service, with riders heading to Toronto by boarding another train.
Where that exchange would take place has yet to be decided.
While Metrolinx continues to evolve the Niagara project, including talks with CN, work at Niagara Region to prepare for the commuter services is ongoing.
“There is a tremendous amount of work that has to be done,” said Matt Robinson, director of the Region’s GO Implementation Office.
Robinson recently made an internal move at the Region from corporate communications to become the director of the Region’s GO Implementation Office.
He is the Region’s point-man for every aspect of the GO project, including helping facilitate landuse issues between local municipalities and Metrolinx to build stations, and linking the developing interregional transit plan with the overall GO system.
“I’m in Toronto often these says ,” he said. “Ultimately, this is a Metrolinx project, but the Region of Niagara is a key partner, and we want to make sure we are involved and doing what we can every step of the way.”
A consistent and robust approach to the GO file is what got Niagara onto Metrolinx’s agenda in the first place, said Caslin.
Niagara’s politicians, local and provincial, have been working to make a case for GO trains since 2014. Following a meeting that year with Premier Kathleen Wynne, a regional working group produced a comprehensive business case to present to Metrolinx.
It was on the strength of that plan that the provincial government announced in 2016 that GO would come to Niagara.
Robinson said the impact of the business case cannot be understated. Other communities were also vying for GO train expansion, but were not able to present the data on costs, ridership and proposed service details.
“So what is happening now is that other communities are looking at our success with our business plan as a gold standard they are trying to replicate,” Robinson said.
Caslin said having a focused GO office is a continuation of the approach that has moved the file this far, ensuring the Region meets its obligations and is ready to help all GO partners — including Metrolinx and Niagara municipalities — when needed.
Robinson said there is a lot to juggle, even as Niagara waits for a final Metrolinx plan, including the proposed GO station sites, public consultations and emerging business interest generated by the proposed GO line.
Caslin and Robinson said people who own land near proposed GO station sites are actively looking for developers who want to build residences or businesses.
Already, Caslin said, a developer building a residential complex across the QEW from the proposed Grimsby GO station near Casablanca Boulevard is already asking how residents will be able to reach the station. Options such a pedestrian bridge are being considered.
Even as Robinson’ s office continues with the technical work, Caslin said the political effort is also ongoing.
Although the current Liberal government has committed to building a GO commuter service to Niagara, Ontario faces an election in 2018, and shifting political tides could stall or stop the GO plan.
The Progressive Conservative party, for instance, has been historically cool on the idea of GO expansion to Niagara and the Liberal government is currently unpopular.
With that in mind, Caslin said he has met with Niagara’s NDP and PC MPPs to ensure they understand how important GO is to the region.
Later this month, Caslin will meet with PC Leader Patrick Brown and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in Toronto and will, he said, carry the message to the party leaders.
Although a change in government could impact GO expansion, Robinson said by their nature, Metrolinx’s strategic plans are somewhat divorced from the life of a single government.
When Metrolinx plans GO expansions, it looks ahead several decades, he said. Current Metrolinx projections reach 2041 when the population of Niagara is expected to grow to 610,000.
A population that size will require new mass transit options, Caslin said.
“Already, the QEW encounters frequent traffic congestion, and that is only going to get worse over time,” he said.