Ontario to extend GO Transit rail service to Niagara Falls

Starting in 2021, Ontario will bring new weekday GO Transit rail service between the future Confederation Station in Hamilton and the Niagara region. By 2023, the province will establish service to Niagara Falls.

Subject to a final agreement with CN, GO Transit parent agency Metrolinx will start the consultations, planning and design work required to implement the service.

To make way for the new service, Metrolinx will perform track improvements, provide new and upgraded rail stations, build a new layover facility in Niagara Falls, add new GO Transit rail units along the corridor and lay more than 18 miles of new track.

Three other stations are proposed along the corridor in addition to the Confederation Station and upgraded VIA Rail Canada Inc. stations in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, according to a press release issued by Ontario's Ministry of Transportation.

"This is a natural next step for Metrolinx, building upon comprehensive planning, service and infrastructure improvements we’ve been working on with our partners," said Metrolinx President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce McCuaig in a press release. "Strengthening ties between Hamilton and Niagara Falls with weekday GO train service is helping us turn our vision of an integrated transit network into a reality."

Expanding the regional rapid transit network also is aimed at supporting economic development, increasing travel options and managing congestion.

Work will begin in 2017 to plan, design and retrofit the existing VIA Rail stations, with completion expected in 2023.