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Originally Posted by GoTrans
1. Just because you split 1 train into different sections does not mean that the trips in whole or in part would not be of interest to tourists. Look at the Rocky Mountaineer, all their trains to/from Jasper and Banff stop overnight in Kamloops. This has not had a negative impact on their ridership volumes. By stopping overnight you are in fact segmenting the trip. For the Canadian we could do Toronto- Winnipeg, Winnipeg- Edmonton and Edmonton = Vancouver or Winnipeg - Vancouver. If the train through northern Ontario was routed on CP along Lake Superior and through Thunder Bay you would gain more ridership.
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Maybe, to me it would seem that the Rocky Mountain section would be more in demand than the other sections so running that separately could make sense.
This is a red herring though really, the Canadian and that route is not the part of VIA we need to be worried about, as the demand is not there for normal passenger rail. If we're worried about the cost, privatize it or scrap it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoTrans
2. If you ran a regional train from Winnipeg - Calgary you would also gain ridership because you are serving larger population centres and service 2 provincial capitals.
3. Buses are not better. For long trips they are not as comfortable as trains that run on time and offer a reasonable frequency. The proof is in the pudding as Greyhound has pulled out of the inter-city market in most of Canada. In northern Ontario, Greyhound has been replaced by Ontario Northland buses in many locations. So you can either subsidize the train or the bus. I choose the train for its better longer haul characteristics.
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If given the chocie, everything else being equal, between a journey on a train or a journey on a bus, yes I'd prefer a train and it's 'better'.
But do you know what's worse than a train? No train. And worse still, no train, and no bus. That's the reality you will get if you only want trains.
Buses are:
- Cheaper
- Simpler to operate
- Aren't delayed by other trains so are more reliable
- Faster
- Can run anywhere there are roads
- Due to all this, can be run more frequently
For places that don't have the demand to fill up a frequent (every few hours) train service, buses are the far better option. There are a few places that only have rail access, but there are far more that have road access. Buses should be used as feeders for the main rail routes, and any bus routes that fill up enough to demand rail should get rail. If you support rail, you should support buses.