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VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
crs1026
Senior Member
I suspect that’s exactly why Pickering is getting in early with advocacy towards a station somewhere.
When one considers that the stop in Oshawa is so popular that almost every (or was it every?) Ottawa and Montreal train stopped there, we ought to be concerned about HFR sidestepping Durham Region altogether. There’s no easy placement for a station on the new line, but it’s too big and important a potential ridership base to dismiss, or to relegate to a local service that may demand a change of trains in Kingston.
- Paul
roger1818
Active Member
I agree 100%. One promise the government might be making is that once HFR is built, some of the lakeshore trains will stop at the Pickering GO station. Assuming that some of the lakeshore trains will still continue on to Ottawa and Montreal (possibly with an extended stop in Kingston to help catch up if running late), that would give Pickering direct access to those cities.
KevinT
Active Member
... and numerous other points which I shall sum up here:
I've noticed that you often forget to lock your door when you're busy. You have a nicer TV than I do, and I don't think that's fair. Ergo, I go into your house and steal your TV because you made it easy, and encourage others online to do the same.
Totally legit, right?
kEiThZ
Superstar
A stop north of Scarborough and the east end of Markham would be so much better. Good for the tech community to connect between Kanata and Markham. Pickering, not so much.
Urban Sky
Senior Member
This would become feasible at very low capital cost if you connect the Southern platform of Pickering Station with the Kingston Sub towards Oshawa, but you would still need to avoid GO trains, which might be scheduled from that platform during peak hours...
dowlingm
Senior Member
Except that the area south of Claremont includes the remaining non-transferred airport lands. My suspicion in any case is that if HFR is routed off the Havelock and onto Stouffville trackage for the trip down, what Pickering will really want is a branch of GO Stouffville over that self-same trackage, similar to the overlay of VIA along the North Main Line to Kitchener and London.
Source for the upper image: https://www.tvo.org/article/rouge-p...ze-will-pickering-airport-plans-ever-take-off
kEiThZ
Superstar
I sincerely hope the government doesn't reneg on its Kingston hub promise. Through service in Kingston will mess that up.
Urban Sky
Senior Member
From all I've heard as a non-Ontarion, the Pickering Airport proposal is more than dead. Also, not sure how you want to build a link to Mount-Joy through "Rouge National Urban Park", nor how you want to avoid conflicts with Metrolinx as they are "increasing the number of weekly train trips from 1,500 to about 6,000" including service every 15 minutes to Unionville...Except that the area south of Claremont includes the remaining non-transferred airport lands. My suspicion in any case is that if HFR is routed off the Havelock and onto Stouffville trackage for the trip down, what Pickering will really want is a branch of GO Stouffville over that self-same trackage, similar to the overlay of VIA along the North Main Line to Kitchener and London.
Source for the upper image: https://www.tvo.org/article/rouge-p...ze-will-pickering-airport-plans-ever-take-off
View attachment 375518
The more stops you serve (and Lakeshore services will skip far less stops than today post-HFR), the less your average speed deviates from that of freight trains, thus reducing your delays. I imagine that a scheduled dwell time of 20-30 minutes in Kingston would provide enough of a buffer to allow for an acceptable on-time performance at train departure in Kingston...
Bordercollie
Senior Member
This is in pickering but there is nothing there.
This area by the Smart Centres would be a good place to have a station but it's before York Durham Line.
kEiThZ
Superstar
This is in pickering but there is nothing there.
This area by the Smart Centres would be a good place to have a station but it's before York Durham Line.
This is exactly my pick too!
Direct access to the 407. Not far from the Markham-Stouffville hospital hub. Not far from Hwy 7 or Steeles. Donald Cousens is a proper non-stroad arterial than can support bus lanes too.
roger1818
Active Member
Will GO continue to use that platform after GO RER is complete? Looking at the current schedule, it doesn't look like they are using it now (the track at that platform is currently disconnected from the Kingston sub at the east end and none of the trains end at Pickering, thought that might be COVID).
Even if GO does plan to use that platform, I only suggested that some of the trains could stop there. If there was a scheduled conflict with GO, VIA could skip the station.
While I am not convinced that it is a good idea for VIA to do this, it is a better option than having an HFR Pickering station on the Havelock Sub.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
Previous to COVID there where some trains that ended at Pickering and used that platform. Not to say they wouldn't be able to connect the east end of the platform to the mainline.Will GO continue to use that platform after GO RER is complete? Looking at the current schedule, it doesn't look like they are using it now (the track at that platform is currently disconnected from the Kingston sub at the east end and none of the trains end at Pickering, thought that might be COVID).
Even if GO does plan to use that platform, I only suggested that some of the trains could stop there. If there was a scheduled conflict with GO, VIA could skip the station.
While I am not convinced that it is a good idea for VIA to do this, it is a better option than having an HFR Pickering station on the Havelock Sub.
roger1818
Active Member
Agreed. I view the idea of a Kingston hub not that all trains will originate/terminate in Kingston (though some will), but that all trains will have their schedules optimized for service to/from Kingston (and other Lakeshore communities), rather than being optimized for service to/from Ottawa and Montreal. I don't see how always forcing a transfer in Kingston would be considered an improvement.
crs1026
Senior Member
So long as VIA is serving Oshawa, I don’t see the need to add a stop in Pickering… GO service provides an excellent connection for each of Ajax, Whitby, and Pickering.
The challenge for Durham is that Durham Transit is a relative late bloomer. It’s developing, but it may not be as good as one might want to support VIA, especially once VIA moves to the northern route. As pointed out, a station wher.e HFR meets the 407 could have good last-mile transit connections to several hubs in Durham.
I hope that the Mayor’s conversation was with respect to HFR…. Durham Region is over half a million people, and there are many business and professional users who already use VIA for travel to Ottawa and Montreal. A slower, less frequent freight-friendly service on the Lakeshore line isn’t sufficient for this market. Seems inevitable that service will suffer.
Some may see that as an acceptable tradeoff to get better service downtown to downtown. I don’t have an easy answer but I don’t think people should downplay the impacts that the switch will have.
- Paul