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GO Transit
It'll probably only be on the table once they start running all trains to West Harbour. I'm not sure it's finished yet.
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Possibly due to the through tracks not having platforms?
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Hmm? I thought there were two stations in Hamilton:

-One where it goes straight through to Niagara
-One where the trains have to back up along a Spur track or something

Is that not the case?
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The Niagara line goes through West Harbour GO.

West Harbour GO was built with only a single platform, on a line that did not continue through to Niagara, meaning that all services to Niagara could not stop there.

It's on the books to make that a through line, but they're taking their sweet time with it.
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To clarify a little further, West Harbour is the shiny new station built a couple years ago to the north of downtown.

The other station is Hamilton GO Centre, which occupies a nearly century-old Art Deco facility smack in the middle of downtown. It also houses the main intercity bus terminal.

While Hamilton is a nicer station, it is not on the tracks to Niagara. Those tracks *pass through* West Harbour, but no platform for them has been built yet.
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Here's a link to Google Maps, that shows the platforms at West Harbour, and the track that just dead ends after them. (You'll have to turn off 3D)

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.266611,-7...!1e3?hl=en
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There's one platform at West Harbour that sees maybe two trains a day. Hamilton GO Centre sees more, but is limited by CP's ownership of the former TH&B line; as we all know, they do not like traffic that isn't theirs. Their line crosses into the US at Fort Erie; there used to be CP trackage in Niagara but it was pulled up a few years back.
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Is there a diagram anywhere that shows the track configuration? I appreciate your descriptions, but I still can't at all picture how Hamilton is set up, or why a Niagara-bound Toronto train couldn't stop in Hamilton.
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(07-30-2017, 09:43 PM)Canard Wrote: Is there a diagram anywhere that shows the track configuration?  I appreciate your descriptions, but I still can't at all picture how Hamilton is set up, or why a Niagara-bound Toronto train couldn't stop in Hamilton.

This diagram explains the situation pretty well. Have they installed track to the second platform yet?

[Image: rejhon_go2_existing_tracks_at_west_harbour_go.jpg]
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But why can't it stop at the other station then?
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The other station is on the CP line, and in addition to CP wanting it clear for their traffic outside of peak period, the tracks go to Welland and Fort Erie, not Niagara.
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And to expand capacity on the CP line they would have to dig the Hunter Street tunnel deeper to add a track. That's only going to happen when the height limitations become inconvenient for CP.
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I'll have I trace my finger along the tracks on Google Maps and see if I can't figure this out.

What you say about the CP thing is a shame - Welland and Fort Erie are far more desirable destinations as a cyclist than where the Niagara Falls stations spits you out.
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Asking CP to increase passenger capacity - anywhere on its network - is getting blood from a stone. It's the big stumbling block for Cambridge service, too.
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So the other old art deco station isn't in use by GO anymore? And all GO trains use the new one?
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