MPP Arnott responds to GO Transit announcement
NEWS RELEASE
Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington-Halton Hills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2016
MPP Arnott responds to GO Transit announcement
(Queen’s Park) – GO Transit has announced plans to improve train service to Acton, Guelph,
and Kitchener, but Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott says the announcement lacked a
firm timeline as to when the Government will launch its promised all-day, two-way GO train
service to Kitchener.
Beginning in September 2016, GO Transit is promising to extend two morning and two
afternoon trains that currently run between Georgetown and Union Station to make additional
stops in Acton, Guelph, and Kitchener.
The Government also announced an agreement-in-principle with CN Rail that will allow GO
Regional Express Rail to be built along the Kitchener GO corridor. According to a Government
news release, the agreement-in-principle also begins the planning and technical analysis to
build a new freight corridor that will allow CN to shift most of its freight traffic from the section of
the Kitchener corridor the company owns – roughly between Georgetown and Bramalea – to the
new corridor, freeing up capacity for more GO service through Brampton to Kitchener.
“Improved train service will be appreciated by commuters in Wellington-Halton Hills,” said Mr.
Arnott. “However, this announcement still falls far short of the all-day, two-way service the
Liberals promised during the last election.”
During the 2014 election campaign, the Liberals promised all-day, two-way GO train service
between Kitchener-Waterloo and the GTA. Presumably, this would include more stops in
Georgetown and Acton.
“While the Liberals made this promise during the election, it was only afterwards that they
admitted it would take as long as ten years for it to happen,” Mr. Arnott pointed out. “Even with
today’s announcement, the Government still didn’t provide a firm timeframe in its news release.”
Right after the 2014 election campaign, on the very first day it was possible to do so, Mr. Arnott
tabled a Private Member’s Resolution in the Ontario Legislature calling on the Government to
immediately move forward to fulfill their commitment to provide all-day, two-way GO train
service on the Kitchener line between Waterloo Region and the GTA with stops in Wellington-
Halton Hills. The Resolution is still on the Order Paper as a reminder to the Government of its
promise.
Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Michael Harris, who also serves as the Ontario PC Critic to the
Minister of Transportation, has also been a strong advocate for all-day, two-way GO train
service to Kitchener-Waterloo, and has raised the issue in the Legislature repeatedly. Mr. Harris
called today’s announcement “an insult” to the commuters and businesses of Waterloo Region.
“The Government promised us all-day, two-way GO train service, and we expect them to follow
through on that commitment,” Mr. Arnott said. “We shouldn’t have to wait ten years.”
– 30 –
Ted Arnott, MPP
Phone: 416-325-3880
Email: ted.arnott@pc.ola.org