Quote:
Originally Posted by GoTrans
You cannot say that Regina does not deserve service because it only has 228,928 people. It is the travel demand between Calgary and Regina, including the points in between. Here is a list of all the cities that you say do not deserve to have the service back that they once had in order that we can service towns on the current route from Winnipeg to Edmonton that for the most part have populations less than 10,000. Why does this make sense? Are the northern prairies any more scenic than the southern?
Calgary 1,336,000
Brooks 14,451
Medicine Hat 63,260
Swift Current 16.604
Moose Jaw 33,890
Regina 228,928
Brandon 48,859
Portage la Prairie 13,304
Winnipeg 808,419
Total 2,563,685 Note: this is not a small number in comparison with service currently provided on some Via routes.
Some of these potential travellers would also access rail service to Red Deer and Edmonton.
This is about addressing western alienation, climate change and providing accessible public transport. Nobody is suggesting running trains on a daily basis to smaller towns.
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Go to Urban Toronto and ask Urban Sky this question, he'll let you know exactly why the Canadian runs the way it does.
I don't want to do a disservice by posting things that aren't accurate, but AFAIK the Canadian runs the way it does because VIA has a mandate both to run that tourist service, and run some mandatory services to remote communities. The single route it takes is the most efficient way of fulfilling both those roles.
If it was just running for local traffic, it likely won't run at all, so the question of whether the southern cities 'deserve' rail less than the northern ones is irrelevant. A second milk run through the south would be a waste of money.
If we are to think about reintroducing rail to the prairies (and I think we should), we have to start where there is most bang for buck. It may be home team advantage, but it seems clear to me that the obvious place for that is Calgary, and Edmonton. Calgary has opportunity for commuter rail as its rail lines are conveniently placed, and we can run lines to Banff, Lake Louise and Edmonton that would actually be useful and well used. For everything else, start running buses to gauge demand. If there is enough demand to start filling hourly trains - start doing that.