VIA Rail

[Djeffery]

That's of course assuming people are starting or ending at city centres. Not all business travellers are starting out at their office on Bay St. A lot of travellers would be able to get to Pearson just as easily as Union Station.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

That's of course assuming people are starting or ending at city centres. Not all business travellers are starting out at their office on Bay St. A lot of travellers would be able to get to Pearson just as easily as Union Station.

Sure. But the train will be extended westward eventually. And for a lot of people in the 416, eastern and northern 905, a suburban HSR station would be faster to access and a shorter trip than Pearson.

This would basically kill Porter's business to YOW and YUL. And put a substantial dent in business at Pearson.

[sseguin]

The Plan To Bring High Speed Rail to the Corridor - Alstom's Proposal for High Frequency Rail (HFR)

While the procurement for High Frequency Rail (HFR) continues, there is a lot that remains unknown about what the future of passenger rail will be like in the Corridor. Alstom decided to go public with their vision of this future.

Instead of opting for the current design goal of 200km/h tracks and service, Alstom believe that High Speed Rail (HSR) with maximum speeds of 300km/h might be the better solution to increase ridership and the modal share of passenger rail.

Join us as we go over their plan and what the future could look like.

• Video Link

[Truenorth00]

Timeline and political risk. Let's see if they have a contract before the election and if that contract survives the election. Not to mention the election after, which is right before construction start.

[VANRIDERFAN]

If the LPC want to prove to the Conservatives that Canada can still build things then this is it.
Green Tech? Check
Public Transportation? Check
National unity? Well for S Ont and S Que, check

[Truenorth00]

Politics of this aside. There's substantial economic and quality of life benefits to doing this. It could help relieve the housing pressure on major cities by opening up HSR commutes for white collar workers who work hybrid. Better to have them sprawl around Peterborough than on Grade A farmland near Niagara. It expands the labour and services markets in the cities that it connects. Ottawa and Montreal would effectively become one market. And it improves the resiliency of our travel infrastructure but offering a reliable alternative to weather susceptible road and air.

But it doesn't win even a tenth of the votes as a tax cut or grant program....

[GoTrans]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

If the LPC want to prove to the Conservatives that Canada can still build things then this is it.
Green Tech? Check
Public Transportation? Check
National unity? Well for S Ont and S Que, check

This will probably end up like the military contracts where it is several governments and decades before we come back to the same options at a higher cost.

[VANRIDERFAN]

^^
The cynicism rot in this country is strong. Not like we've done anything lately to counter this trend.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Timeline and political risk. Let's see if they have a contract before the election and if that contract survives the election. Not to mention the election after, which is right before construction start.

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Politics of this aside. There's substantial economic and quality of life benefits to doing this. It could help relieve the housing pressure on major cities by opening up HSR commutes for white collar workers who work hybrid. Better to have them sprawl around Peterborough than on Grade A farmland near Niagara. It expands the labour and services markets in the cities that it connects. Ottawa and Montreal would effectively become one market. And it improves the resiliency of our travel infrastructure but offering a reliable alternative to weather susceptible road and air.

But it doesn't win even a tenth of the votes as a tax cut or grant program....

We are looking at the potential of austerity to be able to cut taxes to give people a break with the inflation. While this project would be great for Canada, when people are struggling to pay for groceries, they will see this as a vanity project.

[TorontoDrew]

Strange the plan doesn't go all the way to Windsor. There are plans for Amtrack to build HSP between Detroit and Chicago so it seems like an obvious connection point between VIA and Amtrack for HSR. If I could take HSR from Union Station to Vancouver I would never fly to see my family again. Sitting around at YVR and YYZ waiting to get crammed into a plane makes me dread visiting them.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Strange the plan doesn't go all the way to Windsor. There are plans for Amtrack to build HSP between Detroit and Chicago so it seems like an obvious connection point between VIA and Amtrack for HSR. If I could take HSR from Union Station to Vancouver I would never fly to see my family again. Sitting around at YVR and YYZ waiting to get crammed into a plane makes me dread visiting them.

lol you realize that even an HSR train would take over 24 hours to make such a trip? It's just too far. Even destinations like Chicago and New York are generally too far for HSR to be feasible.

[ssiguy]

I think the political pressure will build to get the train to Windsor. VIA already owns the entire trackage from Chatham to Windsor and there are 2 parallel tracks between Chatham and Woodstock one owned by CN and the other by CP. Flash a big enough cheque in front of them combined with political pressure and I think it is definetly doable.

The demand is also there as London is VIA's 4th busiest station and Windsor 6th added to the fact that a HSR line would get a lot of traffic from Detroit if it is taken over the border where people could go thru customs in Detroit itself as done with airports.

[Truenorth00]

Nobody has said Southwestern Ontario is not going to get HSR. Staging matters though. Not everything can be built in Phase 1. And there's no route analysis or clarity on plans at Pearson and integration there yet. With this government, that work could easily take half a decade.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Nobody has said Southwestern Ontario is not going to get HSR. Staging matters though. Not everything can be built in Phase 1. And there's no route analysis or clarity on plans at Pearson and integration there yet. With this government, that work could easily take half a decade.

If Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal is Phase 1, what phase would a Calgary - Edmonton be thought of? Would all of the Corridor from Windsor to Quebec City be done long before something outside of the Corridor?

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

If Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal is Phase 1, what phase would a Calgary - Edmonton be thought of? Would all of the Corridor from Windsor to Quebec City be done long before something outside of the Corridor?

Why would CalEd be tied to QW?

I don't follow.

Two different corridors can be built at the same time. This is like saying only one city at a time in the country can build a subway or LRT. Only projects in the same corridor need to be sequenced.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Why would CalEd be tied to QW?

I don't follow.

Two different corridors can be built at the same time. This is like saying only one city at a time in the country can build a subway or LRT. Only projects in the same corridor need to be sequenced.

For as long as HSR has been talked about many people point to the Calgary - Edmonton Corridor as a place it would work and do well.

The other reason is as you head west, investment in those provinces when compared to Quebec or Ontario is not nearly as high. So, if the TOM HSR is a success, why not use it as a political vote grabbing tool?

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Politics of this aside. There's substantial economic and quality of life benefits to doing this. It could help relieve the housing pressure on major cities by opening up HSR commutes for white collar workers who work hybrid. Better to have them sprawl around Peterborough than on Grade A farmland near Niagara. It expands the labour and services markets in the cities that it connects. Ottawa and Montreal would effectively become one market. And it improves the resiliency of our travel infrastructure but offering a reliable alternative to weather susceptible road and air.

But it doesn't win even a tenth of the votes as a tax cut or grant program....

While the Peterborough area doesn't grow the tender fruit that Niagara does, it's mostly Class 1 farmland. Peterborough County has more Class 1 land than Niagara Region by the looks of it. Either way, both are subject to the density targets of the Growth Plan.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

If Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal is Phase 1, what phase would a Calgary - Edmonton be thought of? Would all of the Corridor from Windsor to Quebec City be done long before something outside of the Corridor?

How much real interest has been expressed by the Alberta government and the cities of Edmonton and Calgary? They could help by at least promoting such a project.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

How much real interest has been expressed by the Alberta government and the cities of Edmonton and Calgary? They could help by at least promoting such a project.

A simple google search shows that it seems that the only acceptable thing there is HSR.

[rbt]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

... what phase would a Calgary - Edmonton be thought of?

The Alberta government promised that route to TransPod. I'm not sure the current government would accept a VIA service in that corridor even if the federal government fully funded the project.