Weekday GO Train service is coming to the Niagara region. The new morning and evening train service will begin in early January, which is four years ahead of schedule.

That’s the good news.

The bad news: there will only be one return trip a day. And we’re still waiting on all-day GO service in Hamilton.

“Today, I’m proud to announce the first ever regular commuter GO Train service between Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, and Toronto, ” announced Jeff Yurek, Transportation Minister.

Beginning on January 7th, weekday GO Train service along the Lakeshore West line will begin from Niagara Falls to Toronto’s Union Station, with one return trip a day.

But you’ll have to get up pretty early, as the train will pick up passengers at Niagara Falls at 5:19 am, stop in St. Catharines and the West Harbour Station, before continuing on to Toronto. In the evening, the existing 5:15 train to Hamilton’s West Harbour will continue on to St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

“This will benefit many workers in many local communities here here in this region, like Port Colborne, Welland, Beamsville, Lincoln and Thorold,” said Yurek.

The expanded service was originally slated to be complete four years from now, but the province was able to fast track the project, by using existing CN Rail infrastructure.

“What they’ve done is worked with CN so that freight can move at different times, opening up times available for the passenger rail to move.”

Some commuters say one return trip a day is a start, but isn’t enough…

In Hamilton, we’re one step closer to all-day GO service to Toronto, with the construction of another bridge over the Desjardins Canal.

“The bridge itself is completed and the track has been laid. But there are other enabling works on either side of the bridge that are still to be done before any trains can actually go on the new tracks,” explained Leslie Woo, Chief Planning & Development Officer, Metrolinx.

It’s still unclear when all-day service will begin.