dunkalunk
Senior Member
I cannot see taking the Electrification to KW as the ridership is not there to support it in the first place other than it a line. Milton out weights KW hands down.
Obviously, the ARL and Lakeshore electrification (From Hamiton to Oshawa) need to come first. However, with the number of greyhounds and GO buses that run between KW and the GTA on a daily basis, and the crowding on the 401, and a population area (Waterloo Region and Guelph) similar in size to Hamilton, there is definitely the pent-up demand for frequent, better quality regional train service.
Electrification of the Kitchener/Georgetown corridor, and the Lakeshore from Hamilton to Oshawa are important first steps to creating a reliable regional rail system, and could be the preliminary groundwork for high speed rail links. We could do this instead of building a new GTA west expressway and widening the 401 to 10 lanes. The Guelph subdivision has a few bends, but is generally straight enough to run high(er)-speed service along the existing corridor. (between Kitchener and Toronto in under an hour easily, 100km/h average speed).
Milton is also a good candidate, but is heavily used by freight and is mostly a commuter line with less dense population areas outside of Mississauga. Electrification to Milton would not be as good a candidate, as it is mostly a commuter line. However, I would argue that electrification and all-day GO service to Mississauga is of equal importance as electrifying to Kitchener due to heavy cross-travel on the existing bus routes.