The future of Hamilton's public transit

[HSRman]

and those pictures of vancouver are nice and all, but how would hamilton afford that? would the government pay for it? the hsr? taxpayers? i think that it is unrealistic right now to think that we'll get a BRT or LRT any time soon.
and RAISETHEHAMMER: i agree, the artic buses that hsr has are awesome looking. i applaud the hsr on that.

[go_leafs_go02]

meh, the provincial and federal governments are pretty gung ho about improving transit across Canada right now, especially in the GTA, and Hamilton falls under that.

any cash infusions from those levels will aid the HSR to improve service, and the money given is allocated specifically for something like that.

[flar]

Originally Posted by HSRman

and those pictures of vancouver are nice and all, but how would hamilton afford that? would the government pay for it? the hsr? taxpayers? i think that it is unrealistic right now to think that we'll get a BRT or LRT any time soon.
and RAISETHEHAMMER: i agree, the artic buses that hsr has are awesome looking. i applaud the hsr on that.

The province is ready to kick in $300 million with a possible $100 million more from the feds. That's why there's all the talk about LRT & BRT. With that kind of dough we could have LRT. Kitchener's getting LRT so we should too.

[HAMRetrofit]

Kitchener is in the same situation as Hamilton. They are still studying possible routes hoping to run light rail. The planners there support rail over buses. The province has committed to funding 2/3rds of phase one with the feds offering no commitment yet. I would say they have spend more time spinning their wheels but are not closer to construction than Hamilton.

[raisethehammer]

here's a link I found that has commuter rail service being developed on existing freight tracks:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...44#post3352844

No reason why Hamilton can't see something like this happen both in and outside of the city.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

here's a link I found that has commuter rail service being developed on existing freight tracks:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...44#post3352844

No reason why Hamilton can't see something like this happen both in and outside of the city.

Absolutely!! I'd love to see Brantford and even KW connected to Hamilton with a commuter rail! We don't have to centralize everything around getting in&out of Toronto! We should work on strengthening our ties to our other urban neighbours rather than alienating them!

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by DC83

Absolutely!! I'd love to see Brantford and even KW connected to Hamilton with a commuter rail! We don't have to centralize everything around getting in&out of Toronto! We should work on strengthening our ties to our other urban neighbours rather than alienating them!

Pull up a map from 75-100 years ago and that's exactly how southern Ontario was designed.
A gradual shift in thinking took place and was really found in the TO-centred provincial governments in the late 60's, early 70's that were desperate to turn TO into some world mega-city. That's why Hamilton lost out on Burlington when Hamilton-Wentworth was formed. Despite the fact that Burlington has always been a suburb of Hamilton and we share the same harbour and highways, the provincial government cut back Hamilton's portion during that regional amalgamation with an ultimate goal of Toronto taking over everything right up to Hamilton's border.
Thankfully that will never happen now, but the TO-centric problems still exist as evident by GO, airport development, money for downtowns, social services money etc....

Look at that evaluation sheet that was posted earlier showing all the strengths of Hamilton. I hope someone on the metrolinx board sees that and says "wait a minute. we've got another true city here 45 minutes away. Let's tap into the potential instead of focusing everything on TO. Imagine how much congestion could be eased if 25% of the current commuters into TO from Hamilton,Halton and Peel were able to get jobs in downtown Hamilton and take the GO and QEW the opposite way in the morning.

It's plain sense, which means it'll never crack the doors of Queens Park or any other government agency.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

Look at that evaluation sheet that was posted earlier showing all the strengths of Hamilton. I hope someone on the metrolinx board sees that and says "wait a minute. we've got another true city here 45 minutes away. Let's tap into the potential instead of focusing everything on TO. Imagine how much congestion could be eased if 25% of the current commuters into TO from Hamilton,Halton and Peel were able to get jobs in downtown Hamilton and take the GO and QEW the opposite way in the morning.

This is why I like Dalton and his Liberal crew (even though I voted NDP). They seem to understand this and have invested millions upon millions into the Hamilton area since taking over from the previous Harris-Eaves Gov't which F'd us good.

They (seem to be) on the right track and don't (seem to) let the Toronto-vote sway their decisions all that much. The only thing I don't like is how the North is ignored.

Metrolinx seems to favour Hamilton as a second business centre rather than just a bedroom community the fromer Gov'ts saw us as. So I'm pretty confident Public Transit will improve greatly across our region. This connection to Brantford/KW/Guelph, however, is just a pipe-dream of mine.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by DC83

This is why I like Dalton and his Liberal crew (even though I voted NDP). They seem to understand this and have invested millions upon millions into the Hamilton area since taking over from the previous Harris-Eaves Gov't which F'd us good.

They (seem to be) on the right track and don't (seem to) let the Toronto-vote sway their decisions all that much. The only thing I don't like is how the North is ignored.

Metrolinx seems to favour Hamilton as a second business centre rather than just a bedroom community the fromer Gov'ts saw us as. So I'm pretty confident Public Transit will improve greatly across our region. This connection to Brantford/KW/Guelph, however, is just a pipe-dream of mine.

Don't let them fool you. We are being screwed in terms of sustainable funding, especially for social services. The $12 million a year (or whatever it is) that they send us at tax time is a far cry from the money we deserve.
Instead of including us in the GTA social services pool, they just eliminated the entire thing. Set TO back a few years too.
This upcoming transit money looks good, but I'll believe when I'm standing in downtown Hamilton holding a ticket for the next LRT to pull in! Then, I'll give them full credit.

[SteelTown]

^ That 12 million a year is better than nothing than the previous government.

So far everything Dalton has said about public transit for Hamilton has been done with action. Such as speeding up the environmental assessment for a max of 6 months, that's really going to help us out.

[hamiltonguy]

Originally Posted by DC83

Absolutely!! I'd love to see Brantford and even KW connected to Hamilton with a commuter rail! We don't have to centralize everything around getting in&out of Toronto! We should work on strengthening our ties to our other urban neighbours rather than alienating them!

Theres no rail line between Hamilton and KW/ Brantford. There is still right of way to Brantford but lots of money would have to be spent to rebuild the track and fix the cainsvilles area where the ground is extremely unstable.

KW could be done with an interurban along Highway 8 as an extension of Hamilton's EW LRT and KW's LRT.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by hamiltonguy

Theres no rail line between Hamilton and KW/ Brantford. There is still right of way to Brantford but lots of money would have to be spent to rebuild the track and fix the cainsvilles area where the ground is extremely unstable.

KW could be done with an interurban along Highway 8 as an extension of Hamilton's EW LRT and KW's LRT.

dang, could you imagine....commuter rail like the link I posted above of Portlands new commuter rail, between KW and Hamilton?? The province and guys at metrolinx etc...need to really start thinking this way. TO ain't NYC no matter how much they wish they were. Everything can't be centred there. I have a friend who lives near Mac and attends U of Waterloo. He hates the drive twice a week, but does it. Imagine having commuter rail at his doorstep along Main West?? right to the campuses in KW. would be awesome. How about Brock University in St Kitts to Eastgate Sq?

[Jon Dalton]

If we can bring jobs and commerce back to the core, Hamilton would rightly become a mobility hub for the region. The TH&B station first existed to serve Welland and Brantford and points beyond. If Hamilton were to regain its significance in the region I could see Hunter St. becoming a mini Union Station to these and other locales.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by hamiltonguy

Theres no rail line between Hamilton and KW/ Brantford. There is still right of way to Brantford but lots of money would have to be spent to rebuild the track and fix the cainsvilles area where the ground is extremely unstable.

KW could be done with an interurban along Highway 8 as an extension of Hamilton's EW LRT and KW's LRT.

Hey, that's right. I actually google-mapped it after I posted that and couldn't find a connecting rail line. I believe the line that used to exist is now what we call the Rail Trail, right? I remember back in the day there was that rail bridge that went over Stonechurch right near Dartnell where trucks would always get stuck! hahaha

But ya, a connected GGHA (Greater Golden-Horseshoe Area) is my ultimate dream for the region. It could happen with some will and TONS O' CASH!

[Jon Dalton]

The rail trail that goes up the east side of the mountain was the old Hamilton and Lake Erie line that went to Port Dover. The chedoke rail trail was the TH&B line to Brantford which was eventually abandoned after the Cainsville fill section just sank into the ground one day. The Hamilton and Brantford electric railway also ran along there.

Hamilton to Brantford could be done by following the tracks used by VIA that join up just past the Desjardins Canal bridge.

Does anyone know if there ever was a connection between Hamilton and Guelph, Cambridge or K/W?

[go_leafs_go02]

I don't know of any railway trails between K/W and Hamilton area, I can't see a new ROW being created for that sake.

[hamiltonguy]

Originally Posted by Jon Dalton

The rail trail that goes up the east side of the mountain was the old Hamilton and Lake Erie line that went to Port Dover. The chedoke rail trail was the TH&B line to Brantford which was eventually abandoned after the Cainsville fill section just sank into the ground one day. The Hamilton and Brantford electric railway also ran along there.

Hamilton to Brantford could be done by following the tracks used by VIA that join up just past the Desjardins Canal bridge.

Does anyone know if there ever was a connection between Hamilton and Guelph, Cambridge or K/W?

Nope, but there was Between KW and and Brantford.

Anyways I can see an Interurban running on Diesel power between cities and on Electric power when it runs concurrent with LRTs in the cities.

[SteelTown]

[SteelTown]

Two decade later it's rebranded as B-Line Express with new articulated hybrid buses. A decade from now will be the same time when majority of MoveOntario 2020 projects should be completed and perhaps LRT for this route.

[raisethehammer]

awesome bus and awesome logo.