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Hoverlink - Toronto to Niagara Hovercraft service starting 2023

Marine ferries are a pretty proven thing and used just about every where there is water. So I don’t dismiss the idea out of hand. It’s just that on this particular lake, nobody has put together a sustainable service design….yet.

There is a risk that some elements of the design are chosen for sexiness rather than prudence - the high speed and hydrowhatever bits make the thing sound more marketable but may be technically harder to manage.

So I’m happy to see somebody try, but lots of make or break details are yet to be explained.

- Paul
 
The only commercially available hovercraft with a 180-passenger capacity I can see on the "Interwebs", is the Gryphon Hoverwork BHT 150.
https://www.griffonhoverwork.com/products/hovercraft/bht-hovercraft/

Coast Guards of Canada & South Korea operate them.

Are there other manufacturers of large hovercraft?

When the 400-seat SR.N4 operated across the English Channel, I "flew" in one from Boulogne to Kent. Ride was about as noisy as a commercial aircraft but not as bumpy.
 
That sounds like the vehicle they are contemplating, but I almost wonder if they think they have a lead on getting units off the Isle of Wight operation?

Aside from commercial viability I suspect noise is an even bigger problem than speed if they have to enter the harbour, but Ontario Place would probably accommodate it alright, as would closure of runway 06/24 and creation of a ramp and infield terminal at the west end of it.

TBH I if this goes anywhere Ontario Place IS a good pilot project, and creation of some kind of outer harbour marine terminal at the island alongside closure of 06/24 is a decent idea
 
lenaitch said:
Nothing says spa or relaxing day with waterfront nature like the sound of a hovercraft launching. I'm surprised they haven't considered Tommy Thompson Park.
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Shh maybe this project will make Therme decide to build their spa elsewhere. Or, if they do build it, the noise will drive away guests and they will go under. Then, 2 years later this project will go out of business as we all expect it to. Then Ontario Place will be ours.
 
robmausser said:
Shh maybe this project will make Therme decide to build their spa elsewhere. Or, if they do build it, the noise will drive away guests and they will go under. Then, 2 years later this project will go out of business as we all expect it to. Then Ontario Place will be ours.
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With a decommissioned hovercraft donated to the Ontario Science Center and preserved as a “stuffed and mounted” exhibit, somewhere near the Ontario Line station at Don Mills and Eglinton ;-)

- Paul
 
This idea is just dumb. For the service to be truly viable, it needs to attract commuters (and tourists), and for that it needs to dock downtown. These people will take a hovercraft to Ontario Place on a weekday morning, and then what? What about a crush of people going to the Skydome, or concerts?

A cross lake ferry service itself I think is a good idea. There are a lot more people looking at transit options to Niagara region than in the past.
 
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Agreed, a ferry to Niagara should be as easy to catch as a ferry to the Toronto Islands.

A ferry will probably always have trouble making a profit but it would still be a useful service, especially in the summer when the QEW is jammed all the way to Niagara Falls. There's a case to be made that it should be run by the government and subsidized the same way we subsidize roads and transit. It doesn't have to be profitable to be beneficial.
 
Ferries typically cruise around 30 kph, and the distance from Toronto harbourfront to St Catharines is about 50 km. That leads to a travel time of 1:40 minimum. Frankly, rail service seems like a better bet. You can move more people, in more comfort faster.
 
afransen said:
Ferries typically cruise around 30 kph, and the distance from Toronto harbourfront to St Catharines is about 50 km. That leads to a travel time of 1:40 minimum. Frankly, rail service seems like a better bet. You can move more people, in more comfort faster.
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the idea is to use hovercraft, which move much quicker than a typical ferry like what goes to the Toronto Islands.

Whether that happens... I don't give it high hopes.
 
afransen said:
Ferries typically cruise around 30 kph, and the distance from Toronto harbourfront to St Catharines is about 50 km. That leads to a travel time of 1:40 minimum. Frankly, rail service seems like a better bet. You can move more people, in more comfort faster.
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While I still think the merits of this project are questionable, the proposed technology for this ferry will go 100 kmh.
 
IMO the main issue is the geography of St. Catherines. Downtown is halfway accross town and Brock University is on the other side of town. If St Catherines was built more like Toronto and downtown/Brock U was right by the ferry terminal (or a short walk/bus ride away), a ferry service would be far more viable.
 
afransen said:
Ferries typically cruise around 30 kph, and the distance from Toronto harbourfront to St Catharines is about 50 km. That leads to a travel time of 1:40 minimum. Frankly, rail service seems like a better bet. You can move more people, in more comfort faster.
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Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean that a ferry should be implemented instead of rail improvements. I'm thinking something like the Amalfi Coast. From Naples you can take a frequent but sketchy train, road based options, or high speed ferry. It actually has a lot in common with the Golden Horseshoe - both are densely populated regions with a big city on one end and a major tourist destination on the other. I'd argue that there's plenty of demand for multiple transportation options.

Sandpit said:
IMO the main issue is the geography of St. Catherines. Downtown is halfway accross town and Brock University is on the other side of town. If St Catherines was built more like Toronto and downtown/Brock U was right by the ferry terminal (or a short walk/bus ride away), a ferry service would be far more viable.
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A successful ferry would need regional bus connections to other parts of Niagara Region coordinated with the ferry schedule.
 
Mods may want to change the thread title now to end with 202x? LOL
 
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