Rural Commuter Rail

[Charles5]

A short anecdote:

The hospital at Canadian Forces Base Borden is located in the North West corner of the Base while the majority of the population lives and works in the central and southern parts, thus making it somewhat inconvenient to access. The reason it is located where it is is because that is where the previous hospital it replaced was located. That earlier hospital was there because it replaced the very first hospital that was constructed back in WW1 when the Base was created.

So, why was the original hospital placed in the NW corner. Well, in WW1 they were still using horses and the stables were located on the northern part of the Base. The prevailing winds came from the NW and so the hospital was located upwind of the stables so that the smells and the flies would be reduced.

What's the purpose of the story? I relate this to rail corridors and people's insistence that we need to keep all existing rail lines. Just because it made sense to have a rail line there 100 years ago or 50 years ago doesn't necessarily mean that it makes sense now. Each situation needs to be looked at on its own merits and in the light of today's environment and the current situation. In some cases it will make sense to maintain existing corridors, in other cases they should be abandoned, and in some cases we may even want to create new ones.