Highways in Canada

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

MTO doesn't have jurisdiction over railways. Transport Canada does. MTO has no legislative powers to intervene over railway abandonment.

This is part of the problem - complete lack of coordination between modes.

Highways are fully funded through gasoline taxes, does the MTO need to provide a service to those who aren't paying for them?

What a strange and shortsighted view. Everybody uses services they don't directly pay for, and every government agency provides services to people who don't directly pay for them. There are many reasons to build transportation infrastructure for users other than drivers, as I'm sure you're aware. By the way, the vast majority of roads are municipal and subsidized through property taxes.

Would a Montreal to Toronto trip on HSR even be competitive with a flight if the rail route via Ottawa was selected?

At less than 2.5 hours, of course it would. Pretty much anything under 3 hours is the sweet spot for HSR.

Originally Posted by sonysnob

Even in Europe which has extensive HSR (and the population density to support it), flying is generally faster and less expensive than the train.

The argument for HSR in the Windsor to Quebec City would make more sense if there were significant capacity issues at the major airports that required major capital upgrades. It's only then that the capital investment to electrify and upgrade the railway becomes economically obtainable.

No, it's economically obtainable today. I don't know why people keep downplaying HSR on boards like these. It's generally cheaper than flying, just as fast, and more comfortable, reliable, and convenient. And it dominates market share. Look at the Madrid-Barcelona run, which is almost identical to Toronto-Montreal in distance and population. Since they opened the HSR line a few years ago its market share has gone from 10% to 60% and rising. There's no reason to think that the same thing wouldn't happen here.