General railway discussions

[drum118]

Anyway my point is that even if signed in ink stuff can get cancelled.

Such as building the Ontario line in streetcar tunnels that where cancelled in the 90's on queen st.

Now with PP's unpopularity in the house it's unlikely that he will get support from any party to support his government if he wins a minority allowing the other parties to work against him.
Another outcome is that JT steps down and they find an interim leader who will work with the BLOC and NDP to avoid an election likely for about 6-12 months since nobody really wants an election.

The NDP likely don't want PP to get elected because he plans to repeal the progress they made with the Dental and pharmacare programs.

The bloc also don't want an election because they cannot afford it. And they have refused to work with PP saying that he is a sleeze ball

If JT doesn't step down they could formulate a new budget that will get enough votes to pass without an election.

The only outcome where PP will benefit is if he wins a majority. Now given that he is ahead in the polls it's possible, but he doesn't have a real platform. He's just anti JT everything. Which is great but axing the carbon tax sounds great but how will we protect the environment? There isn't a clear plan here.

So a lot can change during an election campaign. Plus he doesn't have security clearance so how would he be the prime minister?

Sorry for the rant. Just wanted to lay it out to say that even though funding has been approved or committed and shovels are in the ground, things can still be canceled as history has shown time and again.

The Queen St tunnel was cancel in the 40's when the Feds pull their $25m for it and why only part of the Queen St station shell exist today.

Mike Harris told Toronto that they had $1 Billion to build a subway line when there were 2 being built in the 90's that saw Sheppard get built and the Eglinton one fill in.

How much of the GO system decrease in the 90's as well??

 

[nfitz]

How much of the GO system decrease in the 90's as well??

As far as I know, all the GO station closures in the 1990s were by the NDP.

 

[crs1026]

Credit Councillor Ainslie with advancing a "noise motion" that obtained Toronto City Council's support for a Toronto-New York high speed rail link

Agenda Item History 2024.MM24.23

Agenda Item History 2024.MM24.23

secure.toronto.ca

- Paul

 

[Bordercollie]

Credit Councillor Ainslie with advancing a "noise motion" that obtained Toronto City Council's support for a Toronto-New York high speed rail link

Agenda Item History 2024.MM24.23

Agenda Item History 2024.MM24.23

secure.toronto.ca

- Paul

Railways are federally regulated. Having the city 's support is useless.

 

[crs1026]

Railways are federally regulated. Having the city 's support is useless.

No question - this motion won't move the dial on getting anything going. It is a "noise motion", nothing more.

But it's interesting political context, especially in terms of begging the question of support for the Corridor project.....which Toronto City Council may have implicitly endorsed.

- Paul

 

[Northern Light]

No question - this motion won't move the dial on getting anything going. It is a "noise motion", nothing more.

But it's interesting political context, especially in terms of begging the question of support for the Corridor project.....which Toronto City Council may have implicitly endorsed.

- Paul

The only portion of the existing route (the only one on the table) that would be subject to Canadian investment is really the Grimsby Sub and associated new crossing of the Welland Canal. A project we should be pursuing anyway.

True high speed, on the U.S. side is barely plausible on the current routing (shared with CSX freight between Albany and Buffalo).

NYS even Biden hasn't proposed a new corridor on their side, so far as I'm aware, and any efficient routing for NYC to Toronto means a new under-Lake tunnel that would be stratospherically expensive. Buffalo to Toronto HFR/HSR has some resonance. NYC is a long way off. File under time wasting.

 

[micheal_can]

Railways are federally regulated. Having the city 's support is useless.

No government operates within a vacuum. If the entire Toronto council voted for it, that would send a strong message to whomever is in change when it comes up federally that it is something that is wanted.

 

[Bordercollie]

No government operates within a vacuum. If the entire Toronto council voted for it, that would send a strong message to whomever is in change when it comes up federally that it is something that is wanted.

I think that some federal governments care what municipalities think. It's more the chamber of commerce or business associations that get the bulk of the attention because of the lobbyists.

 

[Mind_the_gap]

Capstan station was "quietly" opened:

 

[Bojaxs]

CPKC completed construction on the double tracking of their international railway bridge connecting Mexico with the U.S.

CPKC completes new international rail bridge over Rio Grande - Inside Logisitics

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) has completed construction of a new international railway bridge spanning the Rio Grande between Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

www.insidelogistics.ca

CPKC has also put in a large order with Wabtec for more locomotives. 170 units. Most of which will replace their aging fleet.

CPKC orders new power from Wabtec - Trains

CPKC will receive some much-needed motive power help starting next year in the form of a 170-unit order of new General Electric locomotives from Wabtec.

www.trains.com

 

[micheal_can]

CPKC completed construction on the double tracking of their international railway bridge connecting Mexico with the U.S.

CPKC completes new international rail bridge over Rio Grande - Inside Logisitics

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) has completed construction of a new international railway bridge spanning the Rio Grande between Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

www.insidelogistics.ca

CPKC has also put in a large order with Wabtec for more locomotives. 170 units. Most of which will replace their aging fleet.

CPKC orders new power from Wabtec - Trains

CPKC will receive some much-needed motive power help starting next year in the form of a 170-unit order of new General Electric locomotives from Wabtec.

www.trains.com

Something that surprises me, Amtrak has several routes into Canada, but they have nothing into Mexico. Is it just due to la lack of demand or is there something else that makes a train into Canada easier than into Mexico? Originally,I just figured there were no connections between the 2 countries. But there is. So, once I learned that, I now wonder why. From the border to Mexico City, it is about 1200km, so is that it?
(Feel free to just scroll on by if you do not know and want to make silly comments.)

 

[roger1818]

Something that surprises me, Amtrak has several routes into Canada, but they have nothing into Mexico. Is it just due to la lack of demand or is there something else that makes a train into Canada easier than into Mexico? Originally,I just figured there were no connections between the 2 countries. But there is. So, once I learned that, I now wonder why. From the border to Mexico City, it is about 1200km, so is that it?
(Feel free to just scroll on by if you do not know and want to make silly comments.)

I suspect it comes down to a combination of politics, economics, language and racism. The main passenger rail connection between the United States and Mexico was the Águila Azteca (Aztec Eagle) on the Missouri Pacific; however, the closest thing Amtrak had was the Inter-American, which ran to Laredo, TX, where it was possible to cross the border to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and catch a connecting train there. It was later replaced with Amtrak's Texas Eagle.

 

[lenaitch]

It could be all sorts of reasons. Like VIA, AMTRAK gets to what the government funds it to do. I suspect the subsidy would be huge and few governments - certainly the incoming one, would be willing to backstop it.

The security issues would be huge. We don't have thousands of people per day trying to get into the US.

I don't know the route, but Mexico City is a long way and would be at least one crew change unless Mexican crews took it over at the border. If it came to that, why not just have the passengers disembark, walk across the border and get on a Mexican train. The Canadian-bound AMTRAK trains are US trains with a comparatively small portion in Canada; service to Mexico City would be anything but. Would Mexico even be willing to be a funding partner? Why should US taxpayer carry the entire ball?

 

[Urban Sky]

If it came to that, why not just have the passengers disembark, walk across the border and get on a Mexican train.

Which leads us to the biggest problem here: Mexico discontinued its intercity passenger rail network in 1997. The Tren Maya will hopefully eventually reverse this, but as of now, there is no potential partner railroad remotely close to the US border…

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[micheal_can]

I suspect it comes down to a combination of politics, economics, language and racism. The main passenger rail connection between the United States and Mexico was the Águila Azteca (Aztec Eagle) on the Missouri Pacific; however, the closest thing Amtrak had was the Inter-American, which ran to Laredo, TX, where it was possible to cross the border to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and catch a connecting train there. It was later replaced with Amtrak's Texas Eagle.

So, they did, sort of. It's unfortunate that in those articles, they don't cite reasons why. I am wondering if part of that reason would be air travel got popular then.

Which leads us to the biggest problem here: Mexico discontinued its intercity passenger rail network in 1997. The Tren Maya will hopefully eventually reverse this, but as of now, there is no potential partner railroad remotely close to the US border…

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Tren Maya - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That does seem interesting, but is far from either the USA border and Mexico City. I can see why they would build it there first though, so, hopefully it is a success and it can spread.