Recent content by urbanfan89

Between Perth and Vaudreuil, the new CN line would be built parallel to the existing CP line. Of course, reopening the entire former CP line will require upgrading it for double stack containers - but far more complex projects are done all the time. Just an idea. Somehow I think a PoC that...

CN will be free to run trains on the Toronto/Montreal corridor unmolested by pesky Via Rail trains. Maybe 3 or 4 trains per day can run Toronto-Peterborough-Smith Falls-Ottawa, but no more. The Havelock Sub also appears to be a marginal business for CP, so they'll be willing to part ways with it...

Perhaps the freight train problem can be resolved by purchasing the Havelock Sub from CP, double track rebuilding it to Smith Falls, and then giving it to CN in exchange for the Kingston Sub. The Kingston Sub would still be open to freight trains serving local destinations, but for the most part...

Granted. But not too long ago every respectable airline had first class on every international flight. Now, as you point out, only the highest yield routes on the poshest airlines still have first class, due to the opportunity costs. Still a massive opportunity cost. All that empty space...

Not gonna happen. The revenue per square metre will be much less than even coach class seating. Same reason why all but the snootiest airlines have abolished first class. They could introduce a Foodora-style app combined with Shinkansen-style bento boxes. If you are booked in seat 12A on the...

The Canadian is essential for communities in Northern Ontario, but elsewhere (the Prairies, even BC), all its stops are already accessible by highways. There's a good case to run a daily train between just Toronto and Winnipeg (and also a daily train between Toronto and Thunder Bay on the CP...

Ideally Via Rail will have two divisions: an "intercity" for fast and frequent journeys between cities, which could be complete in a few hours. Even routes like Toronto-Sudbury or Halifax-Quebec would deserve three trains a day. The other would be "long-distance" with a mandate to serve remote...

I agree, and that's why any HSR initiative should be incremental in execution: upgrade lines to allow 160-200 km/h average speeds, more sidings, straighten curves, and then when even these lines become saturated by competing with freight trains, the case for a greenfield HSR line becomes much...

There shouldn't be any need for (direct) government incentives to move to satellite cities. And besides, our economy today is much more fragmented, with more jobs created by smaller businesses. This makes specific incentives less and less effective. We wouldn't be creating bedroom communities -...

A railway network would be an excellent incentive for employers hoping to expand into the GTA to look beyond the 416/inner 905 areas. We already have startups clustering in KW which are now begging for all day GO service ASAP, as a prelude to future HSR. There's no reason why startups (or other...

Sounds like a dumb question, but what's the best free software available for drawing professional transit maps?

Granted, in China there's also the misallocation of resources. New commuter rail lines are tunnelled underneath miles of farmland because the government intends to flip them to developers for a massive profit, before even existing urban areas have adequate infrastructure. New RER-style railways...

The cost (political and monetary) of building a shack at CFB Trenton and paying for extra military security must be a fraction of the cost of an entirely new airport at Pickering. That is, if a new airport in the GTA is required at all. The optics alone of building Pickering just to benefit...

Looking at Google Maps, perhaps a civilian terminal (can be as simple as a prefab warehouse for several flights to Cancun or Punta Cana per day) can be built where the golf course is located, far from the military areas. And couldn't the cost of providing security be recuperated through airline...

In China, the HSR network has been a real boon to the smaller cities (of 0.5 to 1 million), which have attracted investment from the overcrowded and overpriced megacities. That has been the real story. So a proper HSR in the Windsor Quebec corridor would be a huge boon to the smaller cities, not...