GO/VIA Transit

[SteelTown]

GO Transit will likely pay for the entire cost, 4 or 5 stations just recently got $30 million (feds/province) for a parking garage. Take a look at Burlington's parking strucuture, it's literally right next to the tracks. A parking structure that's free will only benefit LIUNA's banquet business.

[SteelTown]

Burlington's GO parking strucuture

http://www.ogca.ca/members/project/9

[SteelTown]

Commuters on board new, later train
Maybe it will draw some condo types

March 03, 2009
Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/523296

Commuters aboard the first 7:17 GO train out of Hamilton yesterday morning welcomed the extra trip into Toronto -- though some said they'd prefer an even later departure time.

"7:17 is good, but in order to have the best commute, you need to have a later train," said Stavros Rougas, who takes GO Transit into to Toronto each day. "The train service is still limited, especially for people who don't start work until 9 a.m."

The 7:17 a.m. trip is the first new GO train service Hamilton has received since 2000. It's currently the latest train out of the city behind the 6:14 a.m., 6:34 a.m. and 7:04 a.m. trains.

Vanessa Thomas, spokesperson for GO Transit, said GO chose the 7:17 timeslot to accommodate the existing 7:23 train out of Aldershot.

Thomas also said the rails are extremely busy between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and there's not enough space now to add a later train leaving from Hamilton.

Matthew Ley, who commutes into Toronto, said the 7:17 departure time will be especially valuable in the winter when GO buses battle snow and ice on the highway.

Downtown Hamilton Councillor Bob Bratina, who has been pushing for another morning train from the city since 2005, was among the passengers on the train yesterday. He was joined by Ontario Minister of Government and Consumer Services and local MPP Ted McMeekin.

"We've worked a long time to get this train in service," said Bratina, who also sits on the GO Transit board.

"It will probably be a good incentive for people living in condos in downtown Toronto to get themselves a house with a back yard."

Bratina said his next hurdle is to find parking for commuters in the downtown core, adding he has a property in mind that can make way for parking spaces.

[adam]

Build a parking garage on a vacant lot. Or designate a parking lot within a 2-3 minute walk by branding it with a GO-Train emblem..

[DHLawrence]

I don't know if it's been posted here before, but this ghastly plan was posted on another forum:



PLEASE tell me that this idea was sent to the shredder ages ago...

[flar]

That plan is completely nonsensical.

[adam]

Yes, the drawing almost looks like its an editorial cartoon. I find it amusing how the caption says "EXISTING HISTORICAL STATION NOT TO CHANGED" meanwhile there is a huge parking garage abutting it! "Not to changed" my a$$ !!

[Batman]

What is the ridership like on the Stoney Creek shuttle to the Burlington GO station? I've only taken it twice so far, both times during off peak hours, but the GO buses I was on only had one other rider. Is the ridership high enough during the rush hour period to justify the connection? I would hate to see the route reduced or cancelled due to lack of ridership as it can be quite convenient for me in some situations.

[matt602]

Ah I see the increased GO ridership has brought Batman to Hamilton.

[Batman]

LOL yes you would be surprised by what the forces of darkness get up to these days over by Barton and Nash

[sofasurfer]

"To Lococo's, Robin - we're out of rapini!|"

Or something...

[thistleclub]

Aldershot GO will soon get more traffic...

New interchange for Waterdown Road-403
West Burlington gets relief valve
April 23, 2009
John Burman

BURLINGTON – Good news for Highway 403 commuters.

The long-anticipated Highway 403-Waterdown Road interchange upgrade is finally going ahead.

The City of Burlington has tendered for the work which will add an off-ramp from the westbound 403 to Waterdown Road as well as an eastbound on-ramp onto the highway via the entrance to the Aldershot GO station.

The interchange currently provides access to Highway 403 only to and from the west (Hamilton), causing frustration for commuters in the rapidly growing area.

Burlington’s share of the interchange being built in a cost-sharing arrangement with the Ministry of Transportation is about $7 million. The province’s share is about $3.4 million.

The added off-ramp will also allow westbound commuters caught in legendary traffic jams between the QEW and Highway 6 an escape route onto Waterdown Road and around tie-ups.

Ward One Councillor Rick Craven, who represents the Aldershot community, said he is delighted.

“This has been the No. 1 priority in Aldershot for over a decade,” he said in a statement. “We’re finally getting on with it.”

Craven says the city’s plan is to award the contract early this summer and begin on the west-bound off-ramp on the north side followed by construction of the east-bound on-ramp on the south side of the highway.

Total construction time will be more than a year.

The new interchange is expected to improve highway access for residents; open west Aldershot to new economic investment; become the new gateway to the Royal Botanical Gardens and improve highway safety through better access for emergency vehicles.

Craven has said in the past officials estimate thousands of cars a day, and more than 1,000 trucks a day, will be taken off Plains Road once the interchange is complete.

[Jon Dalton]

I hope this means the crappy bus that goes to Aldershot and Burlington during rush hour starts using the 403 instead of going through Burlington on Fairview St. That's what we get stuck with if we don't manage to catch one of the 4 trains that goes to Hamilton.

[SteelTown]

City eyes Stoney Creek GO hub

Kevin Werner
Hamilton Community News
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/563932
Hamilton is proposing to purchase a parcel of land in Stoney Creek that could eventually result in the construction of an inter-regional transportation terminal.

Members of the public works committee this week approved a recommendation for the city to negotiate with the Ontario Realty Corporation to buy 3.25 hectares of land at Winona Road and South Service Road in Stoney Creek. The ORC is a provincial crown corporation. No price for the property was discussed.

A city report last year identified the southwest quadrant of Fifty Road and the South Service Road as an “ideal location” of a multi-modal, inter-regional transportation terminal.

The idea would be for GO Transit to extend service to the location, which would serve as a gateway to the Niagara Region. The area could also serve as the eastern terminal for the city’s proposed B-Line rapid transit service.

A transportation terminal would also add to an $85-million commercial retail complex proposed for the area by Penady Developments.

A public meeting on the development company’s proposal was held at Stoney Creek Municipal Service Centre May 6.

The developer is waiting for a number of studies, including a transportation master plan and a drainage plan, to be completed before seeking approval for a rezoning application.

[matt602]

I like the idea of having the B-Line go out that way as well. Hopefully the Barton could be extended further East at some point as well.

[mishap]

Originally Posted by matt602

I like the idea of having the B-Line go out that way as well. Hopefully the Barton could be extended further East at some point as well.

It may be happening in the next couple years, according to stuff gleaned at cptdb.ca. It requires a transit budget increase. I have no idea how it will work, but I imagine it'll replace some (or all) of the 55A route, and may also lead to an increase in 55 service. The downside is that - unless other improvements are planned - this will really hurt what little north-south transit movement there is in Stoney Creek.

[SteelTown]

GO Trains coming to Niagara Falls

Visitors to Niagara Falls will soon have a new way to get there – by GO Train. Minister of Transportation Jim Bradley announced on May 14 that GO Transit will run a seasonal weekend and holiday train service to Niagara Falls, starting this summer.

This service will offer four trips daily on weekends and holidays in each direction between Toronto and Niagara Falls, stopping at Port Credit GO Station, Oakville GO Station, Burlington GO Station, St. Catharines rail station, and Niagara Falls rail station.

Visitors from the Niagara region will also be able to take the train to Toronto, making it a great summer travel option for people from across the region.

More details, including operating dates, schedule, and fare information will be available soon.

Other new routes were recently announced, including:

*
Weekday GO Bus service to Niagara Falls – starting September 2009
*
Weekday GO Bus service to Peterborough – starting September 2009
*
Weekday GO Bus service to Kitchener-Waterloo – starting October 2009

Full schedule and fare information for these new services will be available soon. "

[SteelTown]

GO to study electrifying its rail lines

May 26, 2009 04:30 AM
Tess Kalinowski
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/640319

GO Transit will begin a study this summer on electrifying its entire train system.

Metrolinx plans to announce today that the study, to be complete by winter 2010, will be overseen by an external advisory committee including community representatives, technical and environmental experts. It's likely a member of the Clean Train Coalition would be invited to join the committee, a source told the Star.

That group, composed of residents, community associations and businesses living along the Georgetown line – in the path of a huge expansion of GO service – has been pushing the province to go to cleaner electric trains rather than diesel.

GO had been planning to electrify the busy Lakeshore West corridor by 2020, but converting the Georgetown line was supposed to be at least 15 years away.

The coalition says Georgetown should happen first, because it will see 300 to 500 trains a day once GO starts all-day two-way service to Brampton and Georgetown and a high-speed rail service to the airport begins.

"Any move toward electrification is good, but I don't want them to be studying this while they're installing diesel," said Mike Sullivan, a representative with the coalition.

"The diesel plans have to be put on hold while the electrification plans proceed. If they need to be preceded by a study, let's have the study. Let's not continue with the wrong plan while we study how to do the right plan," he said.

Sullivan believes it would cost about $5 million a kilometre, or about $150 million total, to electrify the line between Brampton and downtown.

New trains will be needed anyway, and electric trains are less expensive, he said.

[SteelTown]

Metrolinx to study electrification of GO Transit's rail system

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../26/c7396.html

TORONTO, May 26 /CNW/ - Metrolinx is going to study the electrification of its entire GO Transit rail system as a future alternative to diesel trains currently in service. An external advisory committee made up of community representatives, including riders and independent technical experts, will be established to advise Metrolinx on the Terms of Reference for the study.

"This committee's advice will be important as we move forward in designing the study to guide us in converting GO Transit's urban rail network from diesel to electric," said Rob Prichard, President and CEO of Metrolinx.

Among the issues the Terms of Reference could address:

- Criteria to determine the staging of electrification of GO's rail lines
- Performance improvements for riders
- Power supply and distribution
- Union Station capacity
- Rail corridor ownership
- Urban planning benefits
- Vehicle technology options and availability
- Physical constraints
- Property impacts
- Impacts on GO capital and operating costs

"The Big Move recommends future Express Rail service throughout the GTHA, for which electrification is an important element. This study is the critical next step. I am very pleased that we are moving forward on this issue in a comprehensive way," said Rob MacIsaac, Chair of Metrolinx.

The study could commence as early as this summer and be completed by winter 2010.

[markbarbera]

Great news! We are behind the curve on this one. I understood GO was looking at electrifying Lakeshore line, glad they are extending to all lines now too.