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Could it be because of a planned separation of local and express trains from Bramalea to Union? Intuitively it would make sense for the majority of Kitchener-Union trains to have limited stops within the GTA in order to maintain a competitive trip time, ideally with transfers to local trains...

I'm honestly amazed by how little the federal government has done to ensure the availability of essential intercity transportation throughout the pandemic. While VIA has received support to provide a skeletal service, nothing has been done to address the departure of greyhound and how it has...

Is this the hydro corridor freight bypass that was cancelled by Ford? I'm not up to date with southwest Ontario rail plans but recall that there was an initiative to reroute freight trains off the Kitchener line to enable all day go service. Thought I might just be confusing that with some parts...

AECOM was also a principal contractor for the REM. They told me that they were studying how to optimally route the Quebec City - Montreal leg at a pre-covid job fair but did not provide any further details because they were only hiring for other projects. Given that they were not hiring anyone...

I see no realistic scenarios where a new tunnel is constructed. It would need to be a fantastically expensive new bore that may not even be possible given the existing building foundations. The existing tunnel was already widened to its maximum possible extent without encroaching on building...

I hope that this talk about using CP Winchester tracks was not inspired by my questions about such a routing over the summer. They were purely speculation based on the assumptions that VIA could use the then intact double track to run trains at 160km/h without major upgrades given that the line...

One other thing to consider is that the issue with the Montreal-Quebec service was, and still is, that it is extremely slow and unreliable. Travel by bus was a better experience with faster travel times and, in my experience, dramatically better reliability. Furthermore, the busses on this route...

The options were retained because the extra trains are required for the frequency increases that are the core of the HFR project. Even with the reduced travel times and increased equipment utilization enabled by dedicated tracks, more trainsets are needed to achieve hourly service along the core...

Has anybody heard anything about when the engineering studies for the HFR project are supposed to be presented? I recall hearing that the original plan was to have them completed in time to full funding to be considered in the 2021 federal budget. I also remember talking to both Arup and AECOM...

The lack of personal space was the main reason why I was questioning the use of GO trainsets for longer regional routes such as Toronto to Niagara. Assuming that they are configured similarly to the trains operated by EXO, they must have a very limited amount of storage space for personal...

Single track operation between De Beaujeu and Ballantyne may be possible, but likely should not be prioritized. All routes between these points contain ample space for easily adding additional tracks along much of their lengths. It could easily be significantly cheaper to construct long sections...

I am also confused about the MAX 188km/hr reading; I think it is why I did not post the data immediately and subsequently forgot about it. It appears to either be the axis maximum or a single erroneous speed measurement that I could not find on the graph. The speed measurements have a low...

I had assumed that HFR plan included an extension of the VIA rail owned trackage from the Alexandria subdivision to Dorion either alongside the CN trackage (likely by installing a new track on the southern side and transferring the northern track to VIA along with the reactivation of the gentler...

Does VIA not maintain partial control over the triple track segments constructed near Kingston in 2008? As for east of Brockville, my understanding is that the HFR plan is based on the continued usage of the CN tracks between Montreal and Les Coteau. Speaking of HFR retaining the existing...

True. Same with the diamond north of Saint-Polycarp. The suspense is real when you see a CP train pulling out of the yard as you slow to stop in Dorval on your way out of Montreal! 🤣

I just noticed that not all of the all-stop Ottawa-Toronto trains stop in Smith Falls. Is this because of scheduling conflicts with CP due to the at grade crossover? I guess that will be another conflict point that might need to be redesigned for HFR unless the new line connects to the existing...

Has the HFR planning included anything about the construction of a layover facility in Kingston or station upgrades? Given that the station is currently located directly on the mainline, leaving trains at the platforms between runs will likely be impossible. Likewise, forcing passengers to...

I think that was proposed a few years ago but never implemented... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/london-via-diesel-passenger-cars-1.3462193 It looks like it was proposed to Kitchener, but I can't read the article because I'm not subscribed to local news away from where I live...

This is one of the areas where, hopefully, HFR could have the most benefit. Transfer become much less disruptive when trains are both reliable and frequent. One of the most notable features I observed when using the Swiss rail network is that there were relatively few direct long distance...

^ I thought that they were normal diesel locomotives that could be swapped for electric ones while retaining the coaches and cab cars. The wikipedia entry does not show any signs of convertibility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens_Charger