West Harbour GO Station | ? | 3 fl | Complete

[eatboots]

Originally Posted by Davis137

Wow, that area of town is starting to look great! I am guessing it's only a matter of time before more development happens around here, including retail, and more residential low-midrise buildings...

I don't think we will have to wait long before we see a redevelopment proposal for Chris' Restaurant Supply. That's a primo location for a business that could be literally anywhere in the city.

[timach]

Originally Posted by eatboots

I don't think we will have to wait long before we see a redevelopment proposal for Chris' Restaurant Supply. That's a primo location for a business that could be literally anywhere in the city.

It's nice having a mix of businesses downtown. Maybe he'd move into the main floor of a condo building lol

[atnor]

Tiffany Square is very important to this area.

[thomax]

• Video Link


West Harbour GO Station South Platform by mdrejhon, on Twitter


West Harbour GO Station South Platform by mdrejhon, on Twitter


West Harbour GO Station South Platform by mdrejhon, on Twitter


West Harbour GO Station South Platform by mdrejhon, on Twitter


West Harbour GO Station South Platform by mdrejhon, on Twitter


West Harbour GO Station South Platform by mdrejhon, on Twitter


West Harbour GO Station South Platform by mdrejhon, on Twitter


West Harbour GO Station Parking Counter by mdrejhon, on Twitter

[matt602]

the rusty rails with weeds poking through the ties completes the ghost station look quite nicely.

[drpgq]

Yeah this is basically farce now.

[lachlanholmes]

Originally Posted by drpgq

Yeah this is basically farce now.

It was a farce from the start- I'm a transit lover and love new transit but this was a particularly shortsighted move from the start.

Even more since the Niagara train doesn't even stop there, and just bypasses the station, as well as the absolutely pathetic rates of service.

Now that, almost 3 three years after opening, the Hunter GO still has more trains than the West Harbour GO, it is clear that this was simply a show-pony for the Pan Am's.

Originally Posted by atnor

Tiffany Square is very important to this area.

Was on my way down Bay St. heading to Hutch's for fish and chips and noticed Tiffany Square is probably dead, Cushman and Wakefield signs on the land noting it is now for sale.

[lachlanholmes]

Accidental Double Post. Sorry.

[TheRitsman]

While I would have appreciated increased service and improvements to Hunter Go station over this, it could still be a worthwhile project yet. It may take almost a decade to be useful in the capacity it was meant for, but I think shifting attitudes toward transit will show this to be a good project down the road.

I imagine it like the ghost stations in many Asian countries, that anticipate growth. This station is proof, and a reason, for the city to grow, especially towards transit.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by scootaround

Now that, almost 3 three years after opening, the Hunter GO still has more trains than the West Harbour GO, it is clear that this was simply a show-pony for the Pan Am's.

You mean the GO train service that took people from the GTA to the non-existent stadium at the West Harbour?

I never paid attention to what the train schedule was/is like to/from the WH station, so I just took a look. 2 trains departing in the morning and 2 train arrivals in the evening. Seriously? That's it? I thought it was more than that.

I guess we need even more people from Toronto/GTA to move to Hamilton to increase train usage, but most will probably just use the Hunter station still.

What a shame. Such a fantastic little station - nicely integrated into its surroundings... but seemingly very pointless.

[davidcappi]

There are at least 150 people departing from Hamilton on the 7:18 union-bound train from Hunter every day, as well as many many people on the 16 express bus at commuter times.

I never depart from West Harbour, but occasionally I catch a train home that ends there. I think the 4:00 & 4:30 trains from Union go to West Harbour, which gets you into Hamilton just before 6:30p.

On a side note, I took a break from commuting for about 8 months, and in that time the number of Toronto bound people I see at the Go station in the mornings has infinitely grown.

[matt602]

I've noticed a huge increase in train commuters at Hunter in the last year or two as well but I don't think we can expect things to change at West Harbour until GO gets off their ass and connects the station up to the main line in order to join it with regular Niagara bound service.

I think the biggest reason that nobody really uses WH is because it gets exactly the same service window as the Hunter Street station. If it at least got weekend service or a reverse of the Hunter Street station (inbound morning, outbound evening) I think it would see a lot more usage. As it is now, the only people it's really going to appeal to are those who can walk home from the station or who just happen to be at Union when the train is leaving and are willing to walk up James back to downtown/a connecting HSR bus.

[DDP]

Originally Posted by davidcappi

There are at least 150 people departing from Hamilton on the 7:18 union-bound train from Hunter every day, as well as many many people on the 16 express bus at commuter times.

I never depart from West Harbour, but occasionally I catch a train home that ends there. I think the 4:00 & 4:30 trains from Union go to West Harbour, which gets you into Hamilton just before 6:30p.

On a side note, I took a break from commuting for about 8 months, and in that time the number of Toronto bound people I see at the Go station in the mornings has infinitely grown.

I've never fully bought the commuter thing. It costs about $400 a month to take the Go to Union, daily. You cannot park near the station, so you need to be walkable to it, or bus down.

If you are a renter and work in Toronto, it is cheaper and easier just to rent in Toronto and take the TTC. If you are a family, easier to buy in Mississauga/Burlington/Oakville and drive to a station.

West Harbour is a Political station, with little long term practical merit. Hunter at least can shove people to downtown Hamilton for work long term. The two stations are 1.5KM apart, look at the push back there is on Vaughn when they are putting in a second station up there since they are so close.

[Berklon]

I've been working from home that least 2.5 years, and have only taken the train into the office about 7 times during that period.

I didn't really notice any increased amount of commuters at Hunter, however - the days I went into the office were usually either during the summer or on the Friday of long weekends - so it's quite possible that many people took those days off.

Originally Posted by DDP

If you are a renter and work in Toronto, it is cheaper and easier just to rent in Toronto and take the TTC. If you are a family, easier to buy in Mississauga/Burlington/Oakville and drive to a station.

That might be true, but there are a lot of people from Toronto who only rented in Toronto because they couldn't afford to buy - so they purchased in Hamilton instead. I suspect these are the people who are increasing GO train usage in Hamilton.
Renters aren't going to see a huge savings by moving to Toronto - and certainly not enough to offset the increase in commuting costs and inconvenience.

Some examples of people in this article:

Divided days: Hamilton newcomers build lives here while commuting to Toronto jobs

[drpgq]

Well at least we didn't end up getting stuck with the spur line of the LRT to the station (ironically thanks somewhat to Whitehead). That was really an emperor has no clothes moment where nobody in the media or on council seemed willing to call out its stupidity from fear of offending the province/OLP.

From reading some of the reporting on the Niagara region, faster improved service to the Harbour station will come from Niagara politicians complaining rather than Hamilton politicians. Eisenberger should really be calling out the province to move faster, but I don't really see him doing it.

[Chronamut]

There is only one way that station would be useful to me, and that is if they made it a via rail stop to toronto and buffalo.

Do you know how long I have waited for a via rail station in hamilton? I could go to montreal directly from hamilton, or new york from hamilton.

Why do I have to go all the way to aldershot or to toronto? We have a station right on the tracks now.. no excuse.

Esp. since hamilton USED to have a train to buffalo out of hamilton in like the 70s.. it used to be the crossroads hub for major cities all around. Now it's just a ghost of itself. It's slowly getting better but it needs to step things up a bit imo.