Quote:
Originally Posted by roger1818
First of all, as previously discussed, CP removed the double track from the Winchester sub about a year ago, making its reinstatement very affordable. The Belleville sub has never had double track along most of it.
Secondly, VIA will likely only be running a handful of trains a day along the Winchester sub, but will likely be running 30 or more trains a day on the chosen HFR route west of Smiths Falls. It is a lot easier to negotiate priority for a small number of high yielding express trains (with VIA otherwise not using the track) than it is to do so for a large number of trains.
Thirdly, there are hundreds of crossings in all those cities and towns along the Lakeshore that VIA would need to deal with. Because of the high vehicle traffic over the crossings in the towns, to double track them, VIA would likely have to pay for grade separation for not only their track but CP's as well. Grade separation in an urban area on an active rail line is not cheap. When crossing rural roads, grade separation isn't as important and even when it is needed, if there is a lot more room to work with to create temporary bypasses, and if the rail line isn't active, they might not even need to.
Fourthly, VIA already has a route approved for passenger trains along the lakeshore that they can use for the stopping trains. What VIA needs is an express route from Smiths Falls to Toronto, and for that, running through all those towns on the lakeshore is a liability, not a benefit.
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Why would you think there are only a handful of trains going to Montreal and (30 minus a handful) going to Ottawa?
This project is clearly not budgeting for significant grade separation no matter which route it takes. For the most part on Belleville it appears to be small local roads, with arterial roads already grade separated, which does not seem to case in Peterborough, for example.
The comparison is not the double tracking cost on Winchester vs Belleville, it is double tracking on Belleville vs. upgrading class 1 track, converting snowmobile tracks to rail service and cutting a new greenfield line through the wilderness.