GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[tsm1072]

Could a potential purchase be contingent on these upgrades? I'm not sure how long purchase negotiations would be, but could Metrolinx have offered a certain amount contingent on the track meeting a minimum standard? CN would have to pay whatever small amount they need to make those repairs and in exchange gets a big hunk of cash, saves on taxes, and would still get to use the line.

 

[crs1026]

Could a potential purchase be contingent on these upgrades? I'm not sure how long purchase negotiations would be, but could Metrolinx have offered a certain amount contingent on the track meeting a minimum standard? CN would have to pay whatever small amount they need to make those repairs and in exchange gets a big hunk of cash, saves on taxes, and would still get to use the line.

That would likely be part of the negotiation, but as a general comment - the overall cost to GO or VIA would probably be lower if they bought the line in current state (at lower price) and had the work done themselves after sale.

CN would only be willing to do the work if it were lucrative to them, either in purchase price or as a contracted piece of work. Plus, CN would not want the distraction factor of taking on work for someone else's benefit.... they are focussed on their core business, and any such contracted work is a matter of making them whole for the inconvenience, and not because they are putting themselves out there in the marketplace to do contracted track work.

- Paul

 

[Bordercollie]

That would likely be part of the negotiation, but as a general comment - the overall cost to GO or VIA would probably be lower if they bought the line in current state (at lower price) and had the work done themselves after sale.

CN would only be willing to do the work if it were lucrative to them, either in purchase price or as a contracted piece of work. Plus, CN would not want the distraction factor of taking on work for someone else's benefit.... they are focussed on their core business, and any such contracted work is a matter of making them whole for the inconvenience, and not because they are putting themselves out there in the marketplace to do contracted track work.

- Paul

Selling the corridor might be in their interest. If the conditions were as such to repair the slow orders that they already got paid for to fix them it might be smarter than selling it for less money.

For Metronlinx there is still work to be done even after those slow orders are fixed.

 

[lenaitch]

Short of any 'double-dipping' as mentioned, public funds to improve the line for passenger service seems reasonable. One assumes that the speeds and condition were acceptable for freight service.

 

[Bordercollie]

Short of any 'double-dipping' as mentioned, public funds to improve the line for passenger service seems reasonable. One assumes that the speeds and condition were acceptable for freight service.

But what about track slots? Is that part of the deal?

 

[crs1026]

But what about track slots? Is that part of the deal?

West of Silver…..there are all the track slots that VIA and GO need (although more passing points will help).
That’s of no use, however, until more track is added east of Silver to Halwest. That’s where CN runs the most freight, and that’s the chokepoint for GO expansion on the Kitchener line..

- Paul

 

[Bordercollie]

West of Silver…..there are all the track slots that VIA and GO need (although more passing points will help).
That’s of no use, however, until more track is added east of Silver to Halwest. That’s where CN runs the most freight.

- Paul

It's so sad that today's trains are probably slower than the trains during the steam era on this route.

Is west of Kitchener still OCS territory?

 

[Bordercollie]

West of Silver…..there are all the track slots that VIA and GO need (although more passing points will help).
That’s of no use, however, until more track is added east of Silver to Halwest. That’s where CN runs the most freight, and that’s the chokepoint for GO expansion on the Kitchener line..

- Paul

There is a siding near the St Mary's cement plant.
304 James St S, St. Marys, ON N4X 1B7

Is this siding currently in use?

 

[Krypto98]

There is a siding near the St Mary's cement plant.
304 James St S, St. Marys, ON N4X 1B7

Is this siding currently in use?

I think it's just used as a run around track as it's not in any ctc controlled location

 

[lenaitch]

But what about track slots? Is that part of the deal?

For clarity, I was commenting on public money being spent on private ROWs. Public money gets spent on public needs; corporate money gets spent on corporate needs. CN is unlikely to spend its money improving passenger rail operating conditions.

So tax payer money is being used to fix what private corporations allowed to degrade to line their own pockets. Great.

 

[Bordercollie]

For clarity, I was commenting on public money being spent on private ROWs. Public money gets spent on public needs; corporate money gets spent on corporate needs. CN is unlikely to spend its money improving passenger rail operating conditions.

I understand that, and I mentioned in an earlier post that perhaps CN would gain from doing some of the repairs before the transfer of ownership since it would potentially increase the value of the sale.

Since they already got paid for the repairs, there may have been a condition to bring the line up to a certain standard before selling it.

Since if they sold it without doing the repairs the amount it would sell for would be less. It would depend on how they want it to look on their books.

 

[Allandale25]

Pictures of 4th track work near Bloor GO Station.

Post in thread 'Cycling: West Toronto Railpath (City of Toronto, Phase II Proposed)' https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threa...f-toronto-phase-ii-proposed.2969/post-1875275

 

[reaperexpress]

I think it makes more sense for both parties if Metrolinx first purchases the London-Kitchener line and then upgrades it. I just hope that the purchase price for the line is discounted to account for the backlog of maintenance that CN has accrued over the past 30 years.

Which raises the question: who is paying for the maintenance CN is currently doing to fix up slow zones? Is that coming out of Metrolinx's 160M budget for the line? And if not, why is CN doing it? If we know that Metrolinx is interested in buying the line, then surely CN knows that too. At this point I would expect CN to only do maintenance if they think it can fully recoup its cost by increasing the purchase price.

It's so sad that today's trains are probably slower than the trains during the steam era on this route.

Today's trains are definitely slower than the trains in the steam era. I can't find my earlier post in this thread where I summarized the historical scheduled speeds between London and Kitchener, but here's the table I made for it:

As always I must thank @Urban Sky for sharing his timetable archive with us, facilitating summaries such as the one above.

 

[Richard White]

Today's trains are definitely slower than the trains in the steam era.

Can steam trains get up to 88 Miles an hour?

Asking for a friend..

 

[Bordercollie]

Can steam trains get up to 88 Miles an hour?

Asking for a friend..

Canadian Pacific Railway Royal Hudson 2860 - Railway Museum of British Columbia

The Crown Jewel of our collection, 2860 is one of 65 Hudson type 4-6-4 steam locomotives built for the CPR by Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). This engine was

www.wcra.org