nfitz
Superstar
Sure, if they can present a good business case.I don't see the problem. If they can present a good business case, then I think that we should fully support it.
For reference, it is ~135km along the rails to Niagara Falls and ~160km along the rails to Havelock (even less to Peterborough).
But it's unlikely they will. The Peterborough CMA has population of only 119K in the last census compared to 392K for St. Catharines—Niagara Falls.
The Niagara Falls run after it leaves Toronto goes through the densely populated Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamlton, and Grimsby providing with millions of people. Once the Peterborough line leaves Toronto in the NE corner of Scarborough, it skirts the edge of Markham and is quickly quite far north of the 407, missing even Pickering, with the biggest town between there and Peterborough being the village of Pontypool, population about 2,000.
If the Peterborough line ran through other places east of Toronto, there might be a case. With the construction of 407 now extending east to the 115, car and bus travel to Toronto will be even more competitive in the future. Peterborough would be best served by connecting a GO bus to the proposed Courtice Road GO station.