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General railway discussions

[citation needed] ;)

Too late in the evening for deep dives........ I found a couple of links quickly which discuss the potential service; one of which references the federal Infrastructure Bank; neither of which are totally specific on VIA though I know I've read they were considered a candidate operator.

But if your understanding is different, I would take that to be the case.


 
Some CN shareholders raising objection to the KCS offer.

Suggestion is put out that debt levels to finance the transaction may be excessive; and that there is substantial risk to the company's balance sheet if it is denied regulatory approval for the purchase.

 
I found this map interesting. While CN has a good route to the Gulf, it has little connectivity to Mexico. And look at how little of its business is attributed to the deep south.

I have to think that traffic expectations have changed a lot from then. Even with the existing haulage agreements, CP does not feed all that much north-south traffic over KCS. The game changer is the access to Mexico and Texas.

I have to think the change of US Administration, and a huge shift in Mexico-US trade friendliness, is what has driven the timing and economics of this deal.

My point being - while at first it seemed that CN was just trying to keep CP from getting a bargain, there may be more at stake for CNl. They may actually see a real opportunity here, and risk of being cut out of a major market.

- Paul

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- Paul
 
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^ When's the VIA AGM again? I think it's very soon. I know the group has submitted that question so maybe there'll be a response.
 
I guess it can be a big question - if you haven't followed what VIA has been reliably responding over the last 8 years the hundreds of times they've been asked this question...
I found references to them saying they would. But I found nothing direct about it, and I have doubts about funding issues.
 
I found references to them saying they would. But I found nothing direct about it, and I have doubts about funding issues.
The service is temporarily suspended due to ongoing infrastructure issues, not withdrawn or cancelled. Therefore, VIA has the mandate to restore service as soon as track conditions allow it and I have no reason to doubt VIA's determination to fulfill that mandate again as soon as the infrastructure allows passenger service to safely and reliably resume all the way to Gaspé with a travel time which is comparable to the schedules prior to the suspension...
 
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A massive waste. The feds throwing money at something completely unnessecary, yet the Huron Central which connects some of Ontario's major industrial centers threatens to close and all we hear from the feds are crickets. If something similar happened to a railway in Quebec, the feds would be tripping over themselves to give as much money as they can.
 
A U.S. centric issue when it comes to the future of commuter rail, not sure of how much of it applies here.


 
A U.S. centric issue when it comes to the future of commuter rail, not sure of how much of it applies here.


The challenges will be much smaller for GO Transit (which was already heading for RER and AD2D and 7/7 operation) than for exo in Montreal, where the only commuter rail line with somewhat discernable evening and weekend service is currently dismantled for the REM scheme...
 
The latest in the CN/KCS/CP saga.

CN has repackaged its voting trust plan; and announced an intent to sell 1 bit of the combined rail network in Louisiana to address competition concerns.

CP's CEO is still suggesting he doesn't believe this will be approved, nor that the proposed sale would begin to address competitive concerns.

 
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