Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s staff are experts at leading the news cycle – he and his cabinet ministers have near-daily announcements to set the agenda.
This morning (Thursday, January 9), Premier Ford issued a public letter to the Chair of Metrolinx’s Board of Directors issuing a Minister’s Directive instructing the provincial transit agency to get to work on planning a ‘freight rail bypass’ to create more capacity for passenger rail service in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
The directive does not directly impact Hamilton. (The CN and CKPC freight lines here are geographically constrained by the Niagara Escarpment. Both mainlines are essential links for the companies to the United States.)
The directive notes that the “Hamilton light rail transit project” is a “critical transit project” that the Conservative government is committed to building.