GO station plan “will be stopped”
Provincial government says Niagara GO stations require public-private partnership to move ahead
Niagara Region is seeking answers about the future of local GO train service after a Thursday letter from Metrolinx said the “delivery process” of new GO stations — including the planned station in Grimsby — has been halted.
The letter, citing a recent statement by Minister of Transportation Jeff Yurek, said the provincial government is seeking third-party investment to build new GO stations in Ontario.
“Not only can this approach save tax dollars and exponentially grow transit ridership, it will create and leverage the true value of transit and deliver much more than just transit stations; it will deliver local integrated built environments that offer the services people want at the doorstep of where people will live, work and play,” said the letter written by Phil Verster, president and CEO of Metrolinx.
The letter does not indicate what this may mean for the planned GO transit line, currently scheduled to run trains from Niagara Falls to Toronto by 2023.
“We have received the letter issued by Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster last evening outlining a new direction for Transit Oriented Development at any new GO stations. We are actively reviewing the new policy direction contained in the letter, what it means for Niagara’s
GO expansion and have reached out to Metrolinx requesting further clarity,” said Matt Robinson, the director of Niagara Region’s GO Implementation Office, in a Friday statement.
Government sources told The Standard that adopting a new “market based” approach to building GO stations was announced as a priority for future GO stations this week with little fanfare or advance notice.
Underpinning the idea is that the Provincial government no longer wants to fund, own and operate GO stations and wants private sector business as partners and stations integrated with commercial and residential development, the sources say.
The proposed stations in the current GO Niagara plan, approved under the previous Liberal government, were designed with the assumption they were going to be entirely built and funded with public money. The Niagara GO project is now in the late planning phases for station design and it is not clear how the new direction may impact that process.
The move came as a surprise to Welland NDP MPP Jeff Burch, whose private members bill confirming the 2023 timeline was unanimously passed by all parties in Queen’s Park two months ago.
“The Conservative government gave me some flak about it, but in the end they supported to it,” Burch said.
Grimsby MPP Sam Oosterhoff — Niagara’s only government MPP — did not respond to an interview request from The Standard.
Premier Doug Ford’s commitment to GO was a question during the provincial election campaign. Early in the campaign, Ford said he would have to review the plan before he could support it. After public and political outrage in Niagara, Ford later confirmed he supported the plan.
Former St. Catharines Liberal MPP and regional councillor-elect Jim Bradley said the announcement by the province didn’t come as a surprise. “Many people have been looking forward with great anticipation to the project moving forward as the last government announced it. We will keep our fingers crossed that the delay will be minimal.”
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati said the letter caught him off guard, but he is not disappointed.
“It doesn’t have to be all government built and government run. I don’t see this as stopping anything. They are still ordering trains. They are still rebuilding track. They are changing signalling equipment. There are so many aspects to it,” he said.