Metrolinx ‘very pleased’ with early Niagara GO figures

Stcatharinesstandard.ca
Feb. 1, 2019
Ray Spiteri

Metrolinx officials are "very pleased" with early ridership numbers as daily weekday GO train service in Niagara enters its second month.

Metrolinx spokesman Matt Llewellyn said during the first week of service, which began Jan. 7 between Niagara Falls and Toronto, a daily average of 12 people boarded in Niagara Falls and 20 people boarded in St. Catharines.

"We are very pleased. We saw a steady increase of ridership throughout the week and expect even more as popularity grows," said Llewellyn.

"This is something we've experienced many times with new services as more and more customers get on board."

For example, he said when Gormley GO in Richmond Hill first launched in December 2015, 44 customers used the service.

"We have since seen ridership nearly triple. A similar jump was also seen at West Harbour GO (in Hamilton), where five times the customers boarded there in 2018, compared to when the service first launched in 2015."

Earlier this week, Niagara Falls city council approved a motion asking staff for an update report on the service and ways the municipality can promote it.

Mayor Jim Diodati said he's impressed by the early numbers, especially since the service arrived early (originally scheduled to start in 2023), and since the initial schedule sees only one train leave from Niagara Falls at 5:19 a.m. There is also only one return train from Union Station at 5:15 p.m.

Some have questioned how many people will use the service, pointing to its schedule limitations.

Diodati said while he understands the comments about the schedule, the "most important thing" is that the service has arrived in Niagara.

"The key is starting, that is the most important thing. If they can start with those kind of numbers, it's going to grow into something significant and as it grows they're going to add more times and it's going to have a ripple effect," he said.

"That's exactly the recipe that you need for expanded service, which will lead to expanded ridership, which will lead to more expanded service, which will lead to more expanded ridership. It's the snowball going down the hill, getting bigger and picking up speed and that's exactly what we have."

Matt Robinson, director of the GO implementation office at Niagara Region, said: "We have ridership (figures) for the first week … and we are very happy with the uptake thus far."