Regional council remains committed to seeing GO Train service expanded between Niagara Falls and Toronto, a project Niagara officials have been working on for about 10 years.
Following a presentation by Matt Robinson, director of the region’s strategic information office, at a special council meeting, a motion was approved reaffirming the government’s position that all-day, two-way trips are desired.
The region is pushing for routes between Niagara Falls and Union Station, with stops in St. Catharines, Grimsby and Lincoln, calling this a “top priority” in the motion approved brought forward last week by Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati.
Council has directed Chair Jim Bradley’s office to lead an advocacy campaign in partnership with the 12 local municipalities, and to help push provincial decision-makers to increase the frequency and reliability of GO Train service patterns to Niagara.
Regional staff have also been directed to make the resources and staff available as needed to make support efforts to make those changes.
Staff projections indicate that there are more than 130,000 potential commuters identified within Niagara for the purposes of post-secondary education, employment and recreation, the motion says.
A $40-million capital budget for enabling GO service to Niagara stations has already been approved to fund the region’s strategy.
Last May, weekday service to Niagara Falls was increased by two daily roundtrips and weekend service was increased by one daily roundtrip, for a total of 21 roundtrips per week between Niagara Falls and Union Station.
Robinson told councillors that Niagara’s GO ridership increased between 2022 and 2023 by 67 per cent, a number that Diodati said could expand even further.
“That’s a scratch on the surface when we add the extra train times,” said the Niagara Falls mayor, one of the region’s champions on this expanded service for many years.
He said a “build it and they will come philosophy” needs to be applied to this effort.
The motion was approved unanimously and will be sent to Niagara’s 12 lower-tier municipalities, provincial ministers and Niagara’s four MPPs, as well as Metrolinx, a provincial agency that operates Go Transit, as well as the City of Hamilton.
