Ontario Green Party calls on Ford government ‘to get Kitchener moving’

Following an announcement made Feb. 14 by the Ford government on replacing Kitchener’s Frederick Street bridge, the Ontario Greens released a statement urging the government to commit to expanding GO train service for this area.

“Their top priority should be delivering on their long-overdue promise to bring all-day, two-way GO to our community,” said Ontario Green’s Deputy Leader and MPP for Kitchener Centre Aislinn Clancy in the media release.

The Ford Government promised to expand GO service in the area to include two-way all-day GO train service when Ford was running for Premier of Ontario in 2018. To date, no plans to expand the GO line has been made.

In November, Ontario’s NDP leader, Marit Stiles, presented a motion to Queen’s Park, asking for clear timelines and a firm commitment from the Ford government. It was voted down.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced on Wednesday in Kitchener that Highway 7 will be expanded and spoke about the government’s previous commitment for expanding the GO line.

“We’re fully committed to increasing service levels on Kitchener GO and were going to continue to work with the community here to give the ridership an increase in service levels as we have in the past two years,” said Sarkaria.

“The Kitchener line is one of the most important GO rail lines to us at the province. It’s something we know and appreciate how significant the impact will be from a transit perspective.”

Sarkaria pointed to some challenges working with CN rail to get things completed but said they are continuing to work together.

As part of the Ontario government’s $70 billion plan to expand transit services in the province in the next 10 years, Sarkaria said supporting Kitchener and Waterloo is important to them as the area continues to grow rapidly.

Still no firm commitment or timeline was given on expanding GO train services.

“Kitchener and Guelph are growing communities,” said Ontario Greens leader and MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner in the release. “Our residents need fast, reliable transit options that get them where they need to go.”

The Green’s are continuing to call on the Ford government to increase transit options and create direct bus routes between Guelph and Kitchener while also requesting they commit to their original promise of an all-day two-way GO train service.