Quote:
Originally Posted by acottawa
I think Via is repeating a number of the mistakes of the California gong show, including running the route through underpopulated areas and not having a clear plan to get the service to the central parts of cities.
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The YYC - YYZ plane route runs through unpopulated areas too. Is that route thus a failure? If the intent of a rail line is to service the major population centres, then having the rest of the line run through sparsely populated areas is a good thing, not a bad thing.
You might be right about not having plans to get to the centres of cities, but without funding right now that may be difficult. VIA can't ask the city of Montreal right now to put in accommodations in the tunnel if VIA don't even know if they'll have the money to pay for it, etc. I've probably mischaracterized the situation there, but you get the point. It's kind of chicken and egg - VIA won't be able to start implementing a plan without funding, but those giving funding will expect a much firmer plan than they are able to produce.
In other countries, it would not be a corporation building railways in this way, but a government department with much more spending power and clout. For example, in the UK it would be Network Rail and the Department for Transport that would decide how to most effectively allocate and build rail resources, but in this country it's just piddly little VIA who have no political authority whatsoever.
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