VIA Rail network developments

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I think there is potential conflict between commuter service and Montreal intercity service. In order for commuter service to be cost and time efficient, there is a need for it to have dedicated trains for that purpose. In other words, a train dedicated to an Ottawa-Alexandria run, with additional stops that don't negatively impact Montreal service. The commuter train needs to be time optimized to maximize ridership and there will be the need to be a place to store a train (or two) overnight in Alexandria. If we add stations, say in Vars and Maxville and maybe even Carlsbad Springs, the speed of service will be enhanced if the line were to be electrified, a potential dream of HFR.

Limoges is the most logical place for an infill stop as it has the largest population of the unserved communities along the line and its probably mostly Ottawa commuters living there.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Urban_Sky

The issue with train 28 is that it acts simultaneously as the afternoon commuter train and the evening last-train-of-the-day departure and as such a hybrid, it will always be too late for the commuter (who prefers 17:30, thus an hour earlier) and too early for the evening traveler (who prefers at least an hour later). This is unlikely to be fixable before we finally have HFR, just like the missing morning train stoping in Smiths Falls en-route for Ottawa...


That’s also how I read the article.


A commuter pass is $319 with 20 credits for Ottawa-Alexandria, so more like $35 per work day for daily commuters.

I do the commute from Alexandria to Montréal by train. I work DT Montréal so that train is even faster than some exo's commuter train. The income tax difference pays for the pass.

House prices are half of what they are in the Montréal area so the choice was easy for me.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by p_xavier

I do the commute from Alexandria to Montréal by train. I work DT Montréal so that train is even faster than some exo's commuter train. The income tax difference pays for the pass.

House prices are half of what they are in the Montréal area so the choice was easy for me.

Sometimes I wonder if you know djeffrey (not to be confused with Djeffrey from London) on this forum because he does the exact same thing as you do - living in Alexandria and working in MTL.

Anyway anyone been following the news? I’ve been frequenting Urban Toronto and it seems that HFR may actually be a thing!

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Sometimes I wonder if you know djeffrey (not to be confused with Djeffrey from London) on this forum because he does the exact same thing as you do - living in Alexandria and working in MTL.

Anyway anyone been following the news? I’ve been frequenting Urban Toronto and it seems that HFR may actually be a thing!

I expect they are one and the same.

[Dengler Avenue]

I guess someone lost access to the original account then.

[lrt's friend]

Anyway anyone been following the news? I’ve been frequenting Urban Toronto and it seems that HFR may actually be a thing!

I will believe it when I see construction started.

[Multi-modal]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Sometimes I wonder if you know djeffrey (not to be confused with Djeffrey from London) on this forum because he does the exact same thing as you do - living in Alexandria and working in MTL.

Anyway anyone been following the news? I’ve been frequenting Urban Toronto and it seems that HFR may actually be a thing!

From the Urban Toronto forum...

The new HFR video posted yesterday, for anyone that hasn't seen it: https://www.youtube.com/user/VIARailCanadaInc/videos

Also an RFP for a HFR Owner's Engineer: https://www.merx4.merx.com/public/solicitations/1186461056/abstract

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Sometimes I wonder if you know djeffrey (not to be confused with Djeffrey from London) on this forum because he does the exact same thing as you do - living in Alexandria and working in MTL.

Or Djeffery even lol. Always hated growing up and teachers getting that wrong. Now my kids are cursed the same way lol

[Gat-Train]

I've seen quite a lot of construction at the tracks near the Ottawa Station, as well as the road loop just outside. Some big piles of ballast too

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I guess someone lost access to the original account then.

p xavier (Alexdria-Montreal/Brayon) changed to that name to avoid confusion with the djeffery from London.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Acajack

p xavier (Alexdria-Montreal/Brayon) changed to that name to avoid confusion with the djeffery from London.

Yes, I know myself lol. I use my middle name as my preferred name now as it's easier to say in English.

[le calmar]

Good thing you changed your username, if one didn't look at the poster's location it was hard to know who was who. I even thought maybe it was the same person at some point. Some people create a second account just to boost their other posts, or to keep commenting on stuff that they otherwise could not due to them having a bad rap (there is at least one in the Canada section).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by p_xavier

Yes, I know myself lol. I use my middle name as my preferred name now as it's easier to say in English.

It was confusing for me at times, as I knew you a lot better than the other poster, and then I'd see things coming from a totally different perspective, which did not compute...

[Gat-Train]

Originally Posted by Urban_Sky

The issue with train 28 is that it acts simultaneously as the afternoon commuter train and the evening last-train-of-the-day departure and as such a hybrid, it will always be too late for the commuter (who prefers 17:30, thus an hour earlier) and too early for the evening traveler (who prefers at least an hour later). This is unlikely to be fixable before we finally have HFR, just like the missing morning train stoping in Smiths Falls en-route for Ottawa...

True. Having to run trains according to the whims of CN really limits VIA's options.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It was confusing for me at times, as I knew you a lot better than the other poster, and then I'd see things coming from a totally different perspective, which did not compute...

I have bad eyesight so even once I said wth, I didn't remember writing that. My username is the same on all the boards now so if you see my username on urbantoronto or mtlurb it's the same user.

[Truenorth00]

I appreciate VIA putting out the Video. Not sure who the target audience is though. When the folks paying the bills are the feds. I just wish they'd put the summary graphic they had back on their HFR page.

And maybe provide a little bit more background on key figures. How did they come up with that $4 estimate or 9.9 million ridership?

[Gat-Train]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I appreciate VIA putting out the Video. Not sure who the target audience is though. When the folks paying the bills are the feds. I just wish they'd put the summary graphic they had back on their HFR page.

And maybe provide a little bit more background on key figures. How did they come up with that $4 estimate or 9.9 million ridership?

Ultimately, the people paying the bill are the taxpayers. And the government has to (at least in theory) listen to their constituents

[Urban_Sky]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I appreciate VIA putting out the Video. Not sure who the target audience is though. When the folks paying the bills are the feds. I just wish they'd put the summary graphic they had back on their HFR page.

And maybe provide a little bit more background on key figures. How did they come up with that $4 estimate or 9.9 million ridership?

My understanding is that ever-since the federal government has announced the $71 million for the launch of the Joint Project Team (JPT) between VIA and the CIB, HFR is no longer solely a VIA project and I’d suspect that it will be the exclusive task of the JPT to work out with potential investors what the specs and scope of HFR will be, which will then determine the travel times and frequencies which can be achieved and the ridership and revenue which can be expected. Therefore, the infographic is outdated and will presumably be brought back once the Studies conducted by (or on behalf of) the JPT have yielded some results and my expectation as a taxpayer would be that at least an Executive Summary would be published of these studies...

[Baybreeze12]

Originally Posted by Urban_Sky

My understanding is that ever-since the federal government has announced the $71 million for the launch of the Joint Project Team (JPT) between VIA and the CIB, HFR is no longer solely a VIA project and I’d suspect that it will be the exclusive task of the JPT to work out with potential investors what the specs and scope of HFR will be, which will then determine the travel times and frequencies which can be achieved and the ridership and revenue which can be expected. Therefore, the infographic is outdated and will presumably be brought back once the Studies conducted by (or on behalf of) the JPT have yielded some results and my expectation as a taxpayer would be that at least an Executive Summary would be published of these studies...

Thanks for that link - I was wondering what exactly the $71 million was supposed to fund. I also found this part to be interesting:

The balance of the funding, $16.1 million, including $5 million still available from Budget 2018, is for Transport Canada and VIA Rail Canada to support VIA Rail Canada’s contributions to the important work of the Joint Project Team. It will also fund technical work to ensure the interoperability and integration of High Frequency Rail with operating tracks used by local and regional transit providers in Montreal and Toronto. This includes track work in Montreal’s Mont-Royal Tunnel to enable VIA Rail Canada’s heavy rail trains to operate on this segment of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) light rail system. This important piece of preliminary work is needed so that the different rail systems work together should High Frequency Rail proceed in the future.

What does $16.1 million in track work in the Mount Royal tunnel get you? Surely not a dedicated line - does anyone have an idea how that's supposed to work? If the REM is supposed to travel at 3-5 minute headways that's pretty tight timing for just passing tracks...

[Gat-Train]

Saw this at the VIA Station yesterday