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Originally Posted by ardecila
Seems like a waste to operate through Canada without stopping in a few major cities like Windsor, London, or Hamilton. The train won't get slots on CN/CP track without the strong support of VIA, and why should they support a train that makes no stops?
If you want to connect Michigan to the East Coast and connecting at Toledo (or Chicago) is too hard, why not partner with VIA to bring their Toronto-Windsor trains into Detroit? Apart from setting up customs and moving the Windsor station, the expense would be negligible, would not require additional slots on Canadian trackage and Detroiters could transfer to the Maple Leaf at Hamilton. Plus Detroit could essentially free-ride on Canada/Ontario's efforts to improve speed and reliability rather than relying on Amtrak's broken-dreams budgeting.
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Don't count on VIA. VIA is dependent on Canadian federal government funding, which has been trending downward. There is presently a study underway but its focus is to speed up service between Toronto and Montreal via Ottawa. Nevertheless, the current Ontario government has claimed to support rail improvements between Hamilton and Niagara Falls. I never fully believe these grandiose ideas that always seem to be more political talk than action. Nevertheless, the GO Transit rail network centred on Toronto is slowly expanding. GO Rail service has expanded to Kitchener-Waterloo and will soon reach Stoney Creek, which is the first step beyond Hamiliton and towards Niagara Falls. The Ontario government is also working towards all day service on most of its GO rail lines, which will allow much more convenient connections within Ontario than VIA can offer.
Of course, there is a Detroit River rail tunnel that could connect Windsor to Detroit (as I am sure it did in the past) and there is a Canada-US agreement for customs pre-clearance for trains that already exists at a number of Canadian airports. I am sure there are many details still to be worked out to bring customs pre-clearance to a reality. The great delays for customs is the number one reason why cross-border rail service is not likely to be improved anytime soon.