If you live in Waterloo Region, you should be livid to hear that yet again, it would appear GO Transit is looking to extend GO Train service to Guelph and leaving Waterloo region clearly in the cold.. from the Guelph Tribune, with MPP Liz Sandals and Mayor Karen Farbridge contributing:
“”GO is starting to wonder if it can get service to Guelph without having to do track improvements from Georgetown to Guelph,” [Liz Sandals] said.
“However, the same doesn’t apply to extending GO train service to Kitchener-Waterloo, because there are track issues between K-W and Guelph that would need to be addressed for GO trains to operate there, she said.”
“What to do about extending GO trains west of Georgetown is “sort of an evolving discussion,” and no final decisions have been made, she said.
Double-tracking west of Georgetown would be very expensive, Sandals has said in the past, because a lot of the bridges and grade build-ups involved have been designed for single-tracking.”
The Mayor of Guelph who is very supportive to GO Transit, had the following to say
“She said her letter included information on demand in Guelph for GO trains, work the city is doing towards building a new transit station downtown, and the city’s plans to get more people to live in the downtown area.
When GO trains were extended to Barrie, the business case there called for sufficient ridership to develop over a period of two years, but “the ridership was there within two weeks,” Farbridge said.
Great stuff from Guelph — a very proactive coordination of Government and lo and behold things are moving along… but what of Waterloo Region? … again, if you are from Waterloo start asking your politicians the same question.. it is not too late to get things started.
- Steve Host, Guelph
