Subject to a final agreement with CN Rail, Metrolinx will start the consultations, planning and design work required to implement the service including:

• Track improvements
• New and upgraded rail stations
• A new layover facility in Niagara Falls
• Additional GO rail fleet to provide service along the corridor
• Adding more than 30 kilometres of new track.

Three other stations are proposed along the corridor in addition to the Confederation GO Station – a new station on Casablanca Boulevard in Grimsby as well as upgraded VIA rail stations in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

Expansion of the regional rapid transit network will help support economic development, increase travel options and manage congestion. Work will begin in 2017 to plan, design and retrofit the existing VIA stations, with completion expected in 2023. Service is estimated to reach Grimsby in 2021, and construction would be completed by 2023 to enable service to Niagara Falls.

Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province’s history — about $160 billion over 12 years. This is supporting 110,000 jobs every year across the province, with projects such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals. In 2015, the province announced support for more than 325 projects that will keep people and goods moving, connect communities and improve quality of life.

Investing in priority transit infrastructure is part of the government’s economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs. The four-part plan includes helping more people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding access to high-quality college and university education. The plan is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit in Ontario’s history and is investing in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth, export-oriented businesses. The plan is also helping working Ontarians achieve a more secure retirement.

QUICK FACTS

• The Niagara Falls GO rail extension will operate on approximately 60 km of track between the future Confederation GO Station in Hamilton and Niagara Falls.
• Construction on the new Confederation GO Station in Hamilton is expected to start in 2019, with completion expected in 2021.
• Since 2003, Ontario has extended GO’s rail network by nearly 90 kilometres, opened 14 new GO stations, rebuilt four existing stations, and added more than 31,000 new parking spots across the system.
• Metrolinx is transforming the GO rail network to provide faster and more frequent GO train service across the region, with electrification of core segments of the network. Weekly trips across the entire GO rail network are expected to grow from about 1,500 to nearly 6,000 over 10 years.