Heavy Rail, Commuter Rail, & Intercity Transportation

[logicbomb]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

This is true... and yes I know a bus would be more frequent, but why not both. Amtrak Cascades runs both buses and trains and I know which one I would prefer to take (despite it being slower).

And with congestion on the S2S not getting any better... it seems like something we should at least be "planning" for. I don't think it needs to be BC Rail cars, but I wonder if an outfit that already has trains could run the line. Could we not use a WCE trainset on the weekends, for example?

I realize this might not work with the time tables, but the WCE trains sit at Waterfront just waiting to go back to Mission.

The FIRST WCE train gets to Waterfront at 6:40am.
The LAST WCE train leaves Waterfront at 6:20.

That's 12 hours of sitting.

What if that train left Waterfront at 7am for Whistler?

It would have to backtrack through the Grandview Cut to the 2nd Narrows, so not super practical for a trip from downtown but convenient if you wanted a one-seat ride... or if you were picking up the train in North Van.

I'll assume it gets into Whistler before 10am. Great timing for someone heading up for the weekend. It leaves Whistler by 3PM to (I would assume) arrive back in Vancouver so a few hours after people have checked out of hotels.

Some tourists would take it for a ½ day trip too, I'm sure just for the experience.

---
Alternatively, if that schedule seems too "crazy" for some people, you simply use the trains on the weekends for early morning runs up to Whistler.

You'd just have to get a trainset from Mission to population centers... but with some creativity you could get it to work. You'd even get an extra run from Mission to Vancouver on the weekend for Mission-ites (Missionaries?) who want to spend the whole day in Vancouver on the weekend.

1) The WCE would have to share a very busy track along the Grandview Cut and would need to switchback and share a busy crossing into North Van. It would take 45 min to 1 hour get to North Vancouver alone. Another 3 hrs to Whistler. So around 4 hours when a bus could take 90-120min.

2) CN is going to continue to hold the line between North Vancouver and Whistler. Even in the inevitable outcome where there are no longer customers in Squamish, they may elect to use the line as storage just to strong arm the government into purchasing the ROW.

3) There's already chatter about the Rocky Mountaineer ceasing the Rainforest to Gold Rush route. It seems like a foregone conclusion that the ROW north of Squamish will be abandoned with a high probability of the ROW being sectioned off and returned to the First Nations group.

I think rail is a long-term solution to the insane congestion around the province but there's zero political will at all levels to inspire any meaningful vision when it comes to a commuter rail network.