Falls officials want to bring Canadian commuter train across the border

Niagara-gazette
Feb. 13, 2019
Rick Pfeiffer

Falls Mayor Paul Dyster was working the crowd hard at a Thursday night reception for the National Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C.

The host of the reception was the Canadian Embassy and the mayor wanted to talk trains with his hosts.

Dyster was especially interested in making a pitch that the popular GO Train service, which began daily operation Jan. 7 between Toronto and Niagara Falls, Ont., should be extended across the border.

“We’re very excited about this,” Dyster said. “That fact that it happened four years ahead of schedule shows the wisdom of, when funds were available, building our new train station.”

The GO Train, featuring large green double-decker engines and passenger cars, is operated by Metrolinx, an agency of the Ontario provincial government. It was created in 2006 to improve the coordination and integration of all modes of transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas as well as the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario which includes St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

The GO Trains, in particular, are designed to meet the needs of commuters who live in those cities.

“For those looking to commute to Toronto and avoid the traffic, it’s a great alternative,” said Amanda Ferguson, a senior media relations advisor for Metrolinx.

Prior to Jan. 7, GO Train service to Niagara Falls, Ont., had been primarily seasonal. The move to daily service came after significant study.

“This was something we were looking to deliver on in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls,” Ferguson said.

And after three weeks of operation, Metrolinx is pleased with the service’s performance.

“The first week our daily average was 12 riders in Niagara Falls and 20 in St. Catharines,” Ferguson said.

“We saw a strong increase in ridership from then and expect more as the service grows. We’re thrilled with what we’re seeing right now.”

The GO Train pulls out of the Niagara Falls, Ont., station at 5:19 a.m. Monday through Friday and delivers commuters, at 8:35 a.m., to Union Station in Toronto. A return train to the Falls pulls out at 5:15 p.m. each week day.

With the recent announcement of the establishment of a satellite campus of Niagara University in Vaughan, Ont., a city just north of Toronto, Dyster says the expansion of a commuter rail opportunity on this side of the border makes sense.

“People from Niagara University are commuting now to Vaughn and (the GO Train) is a way to get them there,” the mayor said. “We’re also looking to see if we can get the Nexus (Whirlpool) Bridge open for pedestrians and cyclists so they can catch an early morning train (to Toronto).”

While the Falls train station currently serves only American operated lines, Dyster said its design always envisioned something more.

“Our station is built to accommodate Canadian Customs,” the mayor said, “and we’ve been working with (Canadian Border Services Agency) to establish a pilot program with (Amtrak’s) Maple Leaf line (providing service from New York City to Toronto) to get Canadian Customs installed (at the Falls train station) for pre-clearance.”

Dyster described the customs facilities at the train station as being suitable for American Border and Customs Protection as well. And the mayor said he has broached his ideas from cross-border Go Train service with mayors in Ontario and New York.

“I spoke with Mayor (Bill) DeBlasio (Thursday night). He was excited about improving rail service between New York City and Toronto and supportive of inviting Canada Customs to do pre-clearance on the U.S. side,” Dyster said.

“We’re also looking for $530,000 for funding an engineering study to improve the rail lines between Niagara Falls and Buffalo and bring Go Trains to Buffalo.”
Dyster said in discussions with St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik, that his Canadian counterpart was “very enthusiastic about this.”

“We very much appreciate the kind words about our service from (Dyster),” Ferguson said.

“This is the first we’ve heard of this.” But the Metrolinx spokeswoman said the focus for GO Trains remains the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the Golden Horseshoe (cities south of Toronto like St. Catharines and Niagara Falls).

“The focus is regional transit, trains that service not only Toronto, but the greater Golden Horseshoe,” Ferguson said.

“We have no plans to extend to New York state.’

Ferguson called that kind of an expansion of GO Train, “incredibly complicated.”

“It’s an entirely different set of inspections and standards (to operate a GO Train outside the province of Ontario),” Ferguson said. “We just couldn’t do it at this time.”

As for the future, Ferguson didn’t speculate.

Dyster’s efforts to bring the trains here are expected to continue.