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News Roundup for June 26, 2024
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GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

ssiguy2 said:
Although Toronto is getting all these massive GO/RER investments paid for by QP and not having to fork over a nickel, it doesn't change the fact that NOTHING in this world is free. As with all matter, with rights come responsibilities and due to Toronto not taking responsibility for any of the costs of the GO/RER expansions they have simultaneously forfeited their to have any say in how it is developed. The reality is that Toronto has no more right to be telling QP what to do with their own rail assets than it does telling Londoners what kind of new rapid transit system they should be building.
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Apart from the provincial tax base that Toronto provides in GST, income tax, PLTT etc., and the SmartTrack contribution, and the contributions demanded for infrastructure changes which occurred during Georgetown South, yeah Toronto doesn't pay anything... :rolleyes:
 
dowlingm said:
Apart from the provincial tax base that Toronto provides in GST, income tax, PLTT etc., and the SmartTrack contribution, and the contributions demanded for infrastructure changes which occurred during Georgetown South, yeah Toronto doesn't pay anything... :rolleyes:
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Like no one else in Ontario pays income and sales taxes. Ya, Toronto may pay more doing to being wealthier than most but conversely enjoys all the well paying provincial civil service jobs. Tory hasn't spent a nickel on ST as it was suppose to be paid by land transfer taxes and the Georgetown corridor contributions were Mickey Mouse when compared to the RER budget.
 
ssiguy2 said:
Like no one else in Ontario pays income and sales taxes. Ya, Toronto may pay more doing to being wealthier than most but conversely enjoys all the well paying provincial civil service jobs. Tory hasn't spent a nickel on ST as it was suppose to be paid by land transfer taxes and the Georgetown corridor contributions were Mickey Mouse when compared to the RER budget.
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Sure, Toronto pays more. But the province doesn't even spend as much per capita in Toronto as elsewhere - let alone per tax $ received.

Hopefully that changes with a Premier from Toronto well versed at taking money from the public purse for his own benefit.
 
Neutrino said:
$30 billion? Private enterprise? With the government pitching in $5 billion and leveraging the CIB with a five to one ratio. Sounds like they're considering through running RER in tunnel.
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And it might not even be QP pitching in funding anchor share. Ratio is more typically 4:1, but that's quibbling. A lot depends on how steep the risk curve is or not. Even at 4:1, it's $7.5B. And the Feds have already 'primed' the CIB to the tune of $35B, (with more available if need proven) with next to none of that being invested anywhere yet, maybe the $1.2B loan to REM:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/infrastructure-bank-funding-1.4830772

There's something very odd about seeing Ford jumping up and down with glee about spending money: It won't be 'his' (the Province's).

The Libs' polling is starting to tank, and they really can't afford to lose the GTHA.
Neutrino said:
Sounds like they're considering through running RER in tunnel.
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That's my inclination, except even more than RER. HFR too. Even though it isn't, it can be touted as Ontario High Speed. "For the People". And needless to say, VIA will also be seen to do well by Federal largess too.

The election train is about to arrive.
 
ssiguy2 said:
Like no one else in Ontario pays income and sales taxes. Ya, Toronto may pay more doing to being wealthier than most but conversely enjoys all the well paying provincial civil service jobs. Tory hasn't spent a nickel on ST as it was suppose to be paid by land transfer taxes and the Georgetown corridor contributions were Mickey Mouse when compared to the RER budget.
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SmartTrack was supposed by paid for by TIF, not MLTT (and built by 2021...). The "free surface subway" plan is dead and now it is simply City funds being passed to Metrolinx. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/smarttrack-council-vote-1.4635634
 
One good thing about Ford's dictatorial style is that he won't tolerate endless consultation, assessments and reviews only to find at the end of the day that Metrolinx decides to do nothing and send it back to committee. He sure as hell won't let Metrolinx take even longer to figure out what a 5 year old could in 2 minutes...…..platform height.

Sort of reminds me of another right-wing politician, Ralph Klein. There was huge opposition to the NW line from downtown Calgary to U of C and the project was almost going to die despite it's urgency. When Klein was mayor he basically told the locals and inertia driven council where to go and how to get there basically threatening any new city iniitiatives and just built the damn thing. Sometimes a bully is exactly what a city needs to get things done.
 
Lakeshore West passengers: For four weekends this spring, Lakeshore West trains will run hourly while we replace a section of track at Exhibition GO Station, which will be good for another 30 years.

The scheduled weekends are:
  • April 12-14
  • May 3-5
  • May 31-June 2
  • June 21-23

Hourly service begins on Friday night with the 9:43 p.m. train from Union and the 9:01 p.m. train from Aldershot. Please expect delays of 10 minutes both ways as trains slow down near Exhibition station.

This work can only be completed when trains aren't running, so we're doing the work over the weekends to minimize the disruption to you.

Please use our See Schedules tool closer to your date of travel, as not all schedules are available yet.

Thank you for your patience as we work to help keep service consistent and comfortable for you.
 
KevinR said:
One bad thing about Ford’s dictatorial style is that many of his new ideas require new environmental assessments, new plans and new money. So, in spite of his rhetoric about getting things done, this is going to slow things down again
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EA's can take 180 days (and at the same time they can move forward with design). For transit developments. And of course it's provincial law so they can even legislate this to remove more time if needed.

If you introduce a lower-cost model of transit development (minimal changes to a standard station design, etc) changes to current plans will not change the timing (and realistically the current plans are way too costly and need to be changed regardless.

What you will see is a lot less making everyone happy and just transit building (subway or LRT). If a city at a later date wants to pretty up the street they can do so but not at the provinces dime nor by taking money away from other transit projects. The BIA can do this or something similar.
 
muller877 said:
What you will see is a lot less making everyone happy and just transit building (subway or LRT). If a city at a later date wants to pretty up the street they can do so but not at the provinces dime nor by taking money away from other transit projects. The BIA can do this or something similar.
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I don't know what we will see. What we have seen doesn't inspire confidence.

The idea that building anything is better than building the right thing is exactly how we got the $4 billion one-stop subway extension in the first place. I'm not sure that encouraging more of this type of thinking makes transit planning better.
 
^The next ML Board is April 10, the budget is April 11. It will be interesting to see what is or isn’t said by ML on the 10th. They aren’t foolish enough (I hope) to spill any beans, but one can watch for absences of mention of projects, and/or repositioning of stuff. No way the GO Expansion budget will remain as is while all those subway projects get funded.

- Paul
 
I'm gonna have to see a doctor due to something lasting more than 4 hours after reading this announcement...Train tracks to be doubled from Georgetown to Kitchener to increase service: Metrolinx
I'm all for double tracking and double platforms at Guelph but I help metrolinx will have the foresight to future proof Guelph Central (like a passing track) and Kitcheners Central (more than 2 platforms) in case HSR comes back. Not to mention rebuilding the bridges over the Speed and Grand River.

Train tracks to be doubled from Georgetown to Kitchener to increase service: Metrolinx

There's a plan to double the track from Georgetown to Kitchener to allow more trains to pass the stations, Metrolinx CEO and president Phil Verster says.

"Our plan currently is to ... create platforms on both sides of the track that allows us to therefore pass trains in the stations and also pass trains outside of the station," Verster told people who gathered for a public town hall meeting Monday night at Communitech.

"What you get then are trains that can pass each other and run at higher frequency service," he said.

Verster says the company has started on a plan, costing $75 million, to install passing loops at Georgetown, for more trains to run to Kitchener.

He said Metrolinx will be placing a contract by the end of this year and have the project completed next year, so that residents no longer have to wait till 2024 for two-way, all-day GO trains.

"I know everyone in Kitchener wants services quicker, I made it one of my three higher objectives to get Kitchener services sooner," Verster said.

"We intend in the next year to have further increases in the service, which is therefore, step by step increases," he said. "The big bottleneck for us remains, Georgetown."

Leslie Woo, the chief planning and development office said there are also plans to address the number of level crossings along the corridor to get the trains running at higher speeds.
 
^There has been a “plan” to double the whole line from Georgetown to Kitchener for over a decade. You will notice how much action it has produced.

There is now at long last a budget for $75M. Verster said as much in his last town hall. That won’t produce much double tracking, but it will produce a reasonable number of passing sidings.

When Lesley Woo referred to “addressing” level crossings, she likely meant two things. One is closing some of them. Good luck getting municipalities to agree to much of that. The second is fixing them....some are in really poor condition, and this is one impediment to raising track speeds. The $75M will also cover plenty of that. As to grade separation, a single overpass can be $20M or more. $75M won’t buy many of those.

I’m going from memory, but I seem to recall that the budget ML put out for full Kitchener RER was something like $1.5B. That ought to tell us how far the approved budget of $75M will stretch. It will fund some badly needed remediation, but nowhere near full double tracking..... it’s just a lick and a polish.

- Paul
 
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