I agree with someone that electrification of the current system does fulfill much of what rail was supposed to accomplish. There are a number of valid, and a number of less valid reasons why a small city might lust after rail. Valid ones are mainly that it may reduce operating cost, increase capacity, and add desirability and a sense of permanence. But the cost savings is much less when comparing rail (especially non-electrified commuter rail) with electric buses. Plus our system isn't crowded enough to need a significant capacity boost beyond what more frequent buses can offer.
Some of the other major reasons people want rail is that we assume rail means dedicated ROW which = speed + ability to bypass congestion. But that isn't necessarily the case because there are many modern LRT and streetcar systems that operate partly or fully in mixed traffic, and there are many bus-based systems in which buses have priority measures such as dedicated lanes or signaling. Another thing is that rail is a status symbol. It's similar to things like major league sports, tall skyscrapers, etc. that symbolize that a city has reached a new level and is no longer a small-fry backwater. While a few crotchety bah-humbug cranks see it as a waste of money, to most of us it signals civic pride, ambition and a willingness to invest in the public realm. This is hard to argue, but the aesthetic advantages can only push the needle so far in terms of cost vs practical utility arguments.
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Originally Posted by swimmer_spe
Make a U. Take the tracks from the existing Via Station, all the way around the basin to Alderney Landing. With that, you now are servicing anyone needing to get anywhere within the major urban area. No new tracks laid.
Stations and trains are all you need.
Ironically, the Via Station likely would replace Scotia Square as the terminal. And finally, they could biuld a real terminal instead of side of street stops.
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No new tracks laid? They removed one of the two tracks in the railcut so if that's going to accommodate both passenger and freight service with any sort of frequency the second track needs to be added back. There's only a single track through most of Dartmouth as well. Also, there's no track on the magazine Hill part of the "U" since the track from Halifax meets the track from Dartmouth way out in Windsor Jct. The Dartmouth track veers to the northeast just after it passes Burnside rather than continuing northwest to Bedford. Not only would lots of new track be needed, but a whole new corridor would be needed between Burnside and Bedford too.
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