GO train can’t come soon enough for some
Signs unveiled this week, announcing GO train locations in Niagara
It will be three to five years before the GO train rolls into Niagara, despite pressure to fast track the expansion of the commuter rail services. The train, however, is set to arrive on Niagara’s doorstep by next year. St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley was in Grimsby, Monday, unveiling the first of three signs announcing the location of GO stations planned for the region. He called the sign — located near the intersection of Casablanca Boulevard and South Service Road — “an important symbol of what’s happening in Niagara,” as well as an indication of the progress being made through teamwork at the regional and provincial levels. But while the station planned for Grimsby remains on track for completion in 2021 and stations planned for St. Catharines and Niagara Falls are to be built in 2023, Regional Chair Alan Caslin said he continues to urge the provincial government to speed up the project. “We started to have conversations with the province related to dates and timelines and I know it’s on the province’s radar that we’d like to have it all the way to Niagara Falls by 2021,” Caslin said, following the unveiling of the sign in Grimsby — located across the road from the existing GO transit bus terminal on South Service Road. “I can tell you that everybody has been working on that feverishly, but that has yet to become reality at this point,” he said. “When we talk about the traffic on the QEW, when we talk about the benefit that this will have for our region, sooner is better in all cases. If not for the 2021 Games, then just getting those cars off the QEW is important to us as a Region. “Let’s get it all the way to Niagara Falls as quickly as we can,” Caslin said. Grimsby Mayor Bob Bentley also stressed the importance of expanding the service to Niagara, as soon as possible. “Because of the 2021 Canada Summer Games, we have to have the train here before that,” he said. In the meantime, Niagara commuters might still benefit
from the $150 million Confederation GO Station, on Centennial Parkway in Hamilton, slated to open in 2019. That station is only about 16 km away from the site of the station planned for Grimsby — a 14-minute drive along the QEW. Bentley said the nearby station is “a big step for us, that’s for sure.” While pointing out that the timeline is congruent with the 2016 provincial government announcement, Metrolinx representatives at the unveiling said they couldn’t provide many details. Capital projects manager Joe Costigan said it’s still too early in the planning stages, adding details such as the cost, building size and construction timing have yet to be determined. Costigan said Metrolinx is also working with CN Rail regarding the use of its two-track corridor being used for the commuter service expansion, but those negotiations are also “very preliminary.” The promised GO train expansion is making west Niagara communities more attractive to home buyers and contributing to the growth of the communities. “That’s going to be 25 per cent of our population, an increase right there,” Bentley said, gesturing to a residential construction project underway on the north side of the QEW. Mayor Doug Joyner said West Lincoln is seeing exceptional growth too, with many new residents “very eager and willing to use the GO train.” And Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton said GO train expansion “is going to make such a big difference for us in West Niagara.”