In other UT forums, people (besides me) bring up the need for more passenger rail in the province. It can be fit into 2-3 categories; Commuter/RER and intercity.
Two place that have been discussed for commuter rail is London and Ottawa. Obviously, it would not be a 12 car train running at 15 minute 2WAD, but many of the ideas are enough for single level coaches, much like what GO started with. The problem with starting anything up is who should do it and where should the funds come from. Currently, GO is a provincially funded entity. Money may come from the various regions an counties it serves, but it is funded through the province. The regional commuting of London and Ottawa is no different than Toronto in that regard. Is there enough for a train? We-Don't-Know. What could be a good first step is just like GO in the GTA, have buses running. Do a 5 year pilot program to build demand. On those routes that have a high enough ridership, put in a train. They don't need to be bilevels, but if the province wanted to keep the rolling stock the same, it could be. The first GO single level coaches had seating for 94. The bilevels hold 360. It looks like (and someone can correct me on this) the original GO trains had 7 coaches including the cab car. for a total of 658. That is 2 bilevels. Imagine today seeing a train with 2 bilevels running in the GTA? Run 2 bilevel trains in Ottawa and London.
Metrolinx
goingstrong.gotransit.com
There is a lack of good intercity rail in the province. Even with what Via offers,there is a demand for more. The problem is, Via is largely ignored by the federal government.With the restoration of the Northlander in a few years, A conversation about the province expanding intercity rail where it can should be had. For example, have an express train early in the morning to actually bring commuting to London-Toronto Four hours was ridiculous. Not having it timed for someone to get to Union before 9am was equally ridiculous. It could be better suited to a Via style stop system. Putting it in, expanding it, and even adding more tracks where needed and where can fit is something the province has shown they can do with GO/Metrolinx.
If the Northlander is successful, my hope would be that Ontario Northland looks at their bus system and begins the process of looking at where they could expand passenger rail to. Obviously, they do not own the tracks elsewhere, yet.I say yet because I feel that HCR will likely fold within a few years due to the shutdown of Domtar in Espanola.
| Route | Number of buses | Ownership |
| North Bay - Toronto | 4 | CN |
| North Bay -Timmins/Cochrane | 1 | ONR |
| Timmins - Cochrane | 2 | ONR |
| Sudbury - Toronto | 3 | CN/CP |
| Sudbury - Timmins - Hearst | 1 | None |
| Sudbury - North Bay - Ottawa | 1 | OVR/Abandonned |
| Sudbury - North Bay | 3 | OVR |
| SSM - Sudbury | 1 | HCR |
www.ontarionorthland.ca
This table illustrates a few things:
1) It shows the demand is between Toronto - North Bay -Sudbury as a triangle. With the highest number of buses it is where the demand really is.
2) It shows that outside of that, demand may not be there. I am expecting north of North Bay, the Northlander won't be full.
3) It shows that if you own the line, running a single train may be worth it.
It also begs the questions:
1) If the province owned the HCR, would running a single passenger train along it once a day, every day be realistic?
2) Should a train be run along the OVR daily between Sudbury and North Bay?
2a) If one were run,and were timed to meet the Northlander going North, could that draw the Sudbury riders going to Timmins off the bus?
3) Is the break even point 4 buses on a route owned by another company?
4) What would the business case be to return the old Ottawa Valley route be?
4a) How many freight customers would be needed?
4b) Does that exist, but not utilized?
Two things to think about:
1) This housing crisis we are in could be resolved easier if more places had more options for transportation. Northern ON has lots of land to build on. Without good inter city transportation options outside of the Corridor, you see the skyrocketing housing costs happen.
en.wikipedia.org
2) Without planned commuter service, the sprawl will just keep happening without any real checks and balances. It wasn't good for the GTA, it isn't good for London or Ottawa.
