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Barrie Collingwood Railway (BCRY)

Seeing some conversation about Collingwood rail, I do want to remind folks of this from back earlier this year:

Allandale25 said:
Here is a Simcoe County Committee of the Whole item that was considered and passed today:



The report goes on to discuss building setbacks from the corridor, signs to show the corridor may be reactivated, and retaining track where possible.

Main report: https://simcoe.civicweb.net/document/108607/CCW 2022-110 BCRY Trail.pdf?handle=1C5B3CA48B5C45238D3ECAD6260B3DAD

Other related item: https://simcoe.civicweb.net/document/108589/CCW 2022-110 Schedule 2.pdf?handle=20E5640548EF48FA8D3DDBEB8D
Click to expand...
 
I wanted to bring forward this slide from the most recent PIC (ongoing) for the BCRY trail. More can be found here.

7A0AAADB-3999-4AAB-993A-EDAE4C58C73D.jpeg
 
Railrunner said:
How long would the corridor be a trail before becoming an active railway once more? 5 years until Metrolinx begins setting up the railway for GO trains?
Click to expand...
Unknown timeline. The key ingredient is political will from the PC government to get it done. Compared to other projects, it would be cheap (hundreds of millions probably rather than billions).
 
SaugeenJunction said:
Unknown timeline. The key ingredient is political will from the PC government to get it done. Compared to other projects, it would be cheap (hundreds of millions probably rather than billions).
Click to expand...

At minimum it means 21 miles of new rail, ties, fasteners, and ballast. Installation of crossing protection at roughly 30 crossings, and resurfacing of those crossings (many of which have had the track torn out). Quite possibly installation of signalling. And that's just Utopia - Hume Stret.

Another dozen crossings and several miles of track that might need to be upgraded and/or signalled between Allandale and Utopia.

The food for thought in that is - 21 miles of new track is almost as much as ML is installing just to get to Aurora. And it's about one-fifth of the amount of track needed (and just as many crossings) to get VIA from Havelock to Perth. Will the ridership actually match one-fifth of HFR?

I like the idea of this line, but I see it very far off in the future. The cost is not proportional to ridership. Bus will be much more cost effective for a decade or two, or more.

- Paul
 
Railrunner said:
How long would the corridor be a trail before becoming an active railway once more? 5 years until Metrolinx begins setting up the railway for GO trains?
Click to expand...
SaugeenJunction said:
Unknown timeline. The key ingredient is political will from the PC government to get it done. Compared to other projects, it would be cheap (hundreds of millions probably rather than billions).
Click to expand...
Both of you are working on the assumption that it is needed. While at some point in the future it may be needed, there is nothing showin that it is needed in the next 10 years.
 
micheal_can said:
Both of you are working on the assumption that it is needed. While at some point in the future it may be needed, there is nothing showin that it is needed in the next 10 years.
Click to expand...
Wasaga Beach and Collingwood today combine for a population of >50,000 in a land area of 90km2. Assuming a 4% annual growth for the two municipalities the population in 10 years will be upwards of 80,000, in 20 years upwards of 120,000 and in 30 years would be just shy of 180,000. Furthermore, as mentioned in this thread Blue Mountain which is not included in these projections is a town with significant tourism and development of its own. With 1.5 million visitors annually visiting Blue Mountain. Finally Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is the busiest provincial park in the province, receiving over 1.5 million visitors every year.
 
I really want to see a GO connection to Collingwood, but I don't realistically see Metrolinx focusing too hard on this until many of the other peripheral GO network extension projects with greater ridership potential (Bowmanville Extension, London Extension, Niagara Falls Expansion, Bolton Line) start to make more progress. However, the growth potential for Simcoe region is pretty significant, so I don't think it would be the worst if it were built in the next 10 years or so.

It would be a relatively cheap investment in comparison to some of the other projects, though. I also think it would also make a really good backbone for helping control how the Barrie-Simcoe region develops in the future.
 
Railrunner said:
Wasaga Beach and Collingwood today combine for a population of >50,000 in a land area of 90km2. Assuming a 4% annual growth for the two municipalities the population in 10 years will be upwards of 80,000, in 20 years upwards of 120,000 and in 30 years would be just shy of 180,000. Furthermore, as mentioned in this thread Blue Mountain which is not included in these projections is a town with significant tourism and development of its own. With 1.5 million visitors annually visiting Blue Mountain. Finally Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is the busiest provincial park in the province, receiving over 1.5 million visitors every year.
Click to expand...

Sadly, tourism isn't what Metrolinx focuses on. They are Toronto commuter focused. Until GORER is rolled out, an extension further north does not make much sense. It will come, but not that quick.

ericmacm said:
I really want to see a GO connection to Collingwood, but I don't realistically see Metrolinx focusing too hard on this until many of the other peripheral GO network extension projects with greater ridership potential (Bowmanville Extension, London Extension, Niagara Falls Expansion, Bolton Line) start to make more progress. However, the growth potential for Simcoe region is pretty significant, so I don't think it would be the worst if it were built in the next 10 years or so.

It would be a relatively cheap investment in comparison to some of the other projects, though. I also think it would also make a really good backbone for helping control how the Barrie-Simcoe region develops in the future.
Click to expand...
Are you saying it would be cheap compared to those other extensions?
 
micheal_can said:
Sadly, tourism isn't what Metrolinx focuses on. They are Toronto commuter focused. Until GORER is rolled out, an extension further north does not make much sense. It will come, but not that quick.


Are you saying it would be cheap compared to those other extensions?
Click to expand...
Are you saying that GO to Niagara Falls is Toronto commuter focused?
 
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