Quote:
Originally Posted by acottawa
It seems to me the countries good at building and maintaining infrastructure have one principle city where all resources can be directed.
On this project I don’t know if it is emblematic of a lack of commitment to infracture or a poorly-conceived project. It is a wash for the Toronto-Montreal route (because most speed increases will be lost with a longer routing through Ottawa).
|
I did the math and the new route is only 47 km (or 9%) longer (584 km vs 537 km)*. Currently the fastest train is 4:49 and the slowest is 5:28, so that is an average speed of between 98 and 112 km/h. To get the new route down to 4 hours, they need it increase the average speed to 146 km/h. With fewer stops, dedicated tracks and faster trains, this doesn't seem unreasonable.
Quote:
|
It is worse for the half million or so people living on the lakeshore (who will lose intercity train service to be replaced with an unknown regional service). It is very much an Ottawa-centric solution which makes it politically dumb.
|
I am not sure about that. Because the trains along the lakeshore are to/from Ottawa and Montreal, they are the cities influencing the schedule. As a result, the lakeshore will frequently get two trains back to back and then a long gap without one. With service dedicated to the lakeshore, they could end up with fewer trains, but equivalent if not better service.
* Here is the math I used:
Current Route (in miles)
CN Oshawa Subdivision Toronto to Belleville 113.19
CN Gananoque Subdivision Belleville to Brockville Yard 94.41
CN Cornwall Subdivision Brockville Yard to Montréal (Central) 126.24
Total 333.84
in km 537.26
HFR Route (in miles)
CP Oshawa Subdivision Toronto to Agencourt 12.80
CP Peterboro Subdivision Agencourt to Havelock 88.00
CP Havelock Subdivision Havelock to Glen Tay 93.70
CP Belleville Subdivision Glen Tay to Smiths Falls 15.40
CN Smiths Falls Subdivision Smiths Falls to Federal 35.80
CN Beachburg Subdivision Federal to Riverside 5.70
CN Alexandria Subdivision Riverside to de Beaujeu 70.62
CP Winchester Subdivision Crossing CN to Dorion 16.50
CP Vaudreuil Subdivision Dorion to Dorval 14.00
CN Cornwall Subdivision Dorval to Montréal (Central) 10.31
Total 362.83
in km 583.92
References:
C.N.Ry. in Ontario,
CPR 1947 Ontario Timetable, and
The Foamer Files