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https://www.cheknews.ca/first-nation-voices-opposing-en-railway-revival-growing-1143034/ This article is a few days old, but worth a post. I would really hate to see the corridor dismembered, but given the calls for land back, I think that is what will happen. But to be fair, even if it was...

The First Nations are right. There is absolutely no net positive BCR case to bring back service on this corridor. Beyond the flimsy justification, neither the federal or provincial governments have shown even the slightest bit of interest in this project. In fact the Horgan even said that he...

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/first-nations-board-members-resign-from-island-corridor-foundation-board-6634905 I think this basically seals it. It is virtually guaranteed now that rail service will not return to Vancouver Island.

If this route is to be used, whoever will be operating the service (GO, Region of Waterloo etc) should look to getting their plans sorted. I have heard CN has lost one of their bigger customers on the Fergus Spur and is likely to abandon it soon. Personally though, I found this alignment to be...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/espanola-paper-mill-domtar-1.6716788 If this closes down, Huron Central is done. It won't be able to recover from this loss of traffic. The announced investment would be for nothing unfortunately if this happens.

I'm personally of the opinion that this should be the last straw for HCR. This crisis was near identical to what it went through in 2009. If it isn't getting enough traffic, then next time there should be no investment. There are other rail connections to SSM and transloading in Sudbury can...

Was there a reason that the route of the Northlander was altered in 1992? It doesn't seem logical that they would cut out ridership generators like Barrie and Timmins but there isn't a lot of documentation that I could find as to why this was done. In fact, the whole Newmarket Sub has a lot...

They are interested, but your comment proves my point. They likely won't have the resources to buy out the line when the time comes as the salvage value will likely be inflated as what tends to happen when these lines go up for abandonment. Similarly, Metrolinx will not see it as a priority as...

Not a lot of intel on what happened. The customer they lost as a logistics company. A transload which handled drywall. In my view, CN was likely demarketing this line. In general, their takeover of the former GEXR territory has been a disaster with substantial traffic losses. I'm not as...

Operational conflicts with freight are not really a concern with this project. The problem comes from the fact that since Cambridge GO service is not an immediate priority, neither Metrolinx or the region of Waterloo are likely to purchase the RoW leading to it being redeveloped in pieces.

https://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=50548 CN has lost a major customer on the Fergus Spur. As a result, the job which services the line is no longer based in Cambridge. Abandonment is likely around the corner which means that GO service to Cambridge by this route is likely off the menu...

I don't suppose there is any word on Brampton's plan for railbanking in their official draft that was removed mysteriously. My interpretation is that getting GO service/future rail use requires cooperation of other municipalities corridor owners and they weren't on board so there won't be a...

Related to the Skeena, what is the purpose of keeping that train running? The route is paralleled by highways and I would imagine given the length of the consist and the potential ridership that the train is horribly inefficient compared to busses. What keeps that service alive?

I agree. As much as it pains to say, I believe the Canadian should be cancelled at the end of the current fleet's life. For the time being, investment should be focused in high density corridors. We have so much catching up to do and that needs to take priority. On a related note, I am...

This is the uncomfortable truth for transit advocacy. Most of the trains people want restored are better as busses. The parts of the VIA network that disappeared, for the most part didn't do so without good reason. I also believe this to be true about the Northlander but despite all the same...

To return to the BCR issue in the business case, I wonder if it might be worth it to make the Northlander seasonal for the winter months. The question of reliability for the bus in poor weather is valid. Seasonal service would be a way to maintain the link in the winter and spare the expense of...

It gives liability in the event of an accident to an individual. The problem is creating perception systems for automating mainline railways which dont give too many false stoppages. Autonomous road transport is much less demanding on perception and has a nearly two decade head start. That's...

I feel like people use boondoggle vanity projects like these to excuse their dismissal of autonomous vehicle deployment in general. Tesla and AVs are a false equivilance and the sooner Musk is deposed from the CEO position, the better. In other AV news...

There were 100% problems with the old service, but I am still undecided if cancelling it was the wrong thing to do. Part of me wonders if there is a cap to how efficient you can make rail in this corridor and if bus really is the best choice, especially given the BCR in the business case. I...

Scaling on the fleet and business side is the easy part, so to speak. It is really a matter of capital investment. In general, I believe we have reached an inflection point in the s-curve of mass adoption for AVs. The proceeding of test programs will be defining for where the space is headed in...