Quote:
Originally Posted by FactaNV
You're not wrong, I know that they'll never run a train to Hamiota, MB but you brought up what I was thinking, the North South line would actually be useful. Connecting the lines in E Selkirk and Selkirk and adding some track to Winkler would connect Winkler - Morden to Winnipeg, Winnipeg to Selkirk to the lake country around Winnipeg Beach and Gimli. That's a lion's share of the province using existing track. An East West to Brandon would be a lot harder to swallow but for now, if existing short runs could run passenger rail, that'd be a huge win for movement and connectivity in Manitoba and Canada writ large for a fraction of the cost of new rail. For rolling stock I'm sure it wouldnt be tough to find some cars and use the existing format of power on those tracks. Something like this might even incentivize people to spread out from Winnipeg. If I could live in Gimli on the lake with all the nature around it but I could commute to work on a 80-90 MPH train, I'd make that move, bringing my wages with me (bearing in mind I have no clue what the state of those tracks are like, to get them to 80-90 MPH/ Class 4 Class 5 ratings might be prohibitive.
Obviously a pipe dream but I can dream nonetheless haha.
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I strongly agree with your notion of ruralization. It will happen over the next decade. High prices drive people outward.
As for logistics. Selkirk-Winnipeg is a high demand route. Steinbach-Winnipeg. And Lake-Winnipeg (Gimili, Grand, Kenora) on weekends is too.
There's nothing stopping you running market research on these highest demand routes and starting a limited bus line man. Nothing at all. On these routes, for commutes, there's likely a market. But user experience has to be forefront.
Check traffic volumes on these corridors and get more insight into endpoints on both ends. For example, a dedicated Selkirk bus line ending at a large Winnipeg Transit transfer station could link people into the Wpg Transit system. Or if many people endpoint in the same area, more of a direct route style. Run the numbers. You could have a play to buy a bus and run a line.
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