Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY)

[Northern Light]

Irrelevant, really,

Have to disagree PE; if one can't have an optimal choice in a given circumstance, you still want to identify the next best choice and try to obtain that. If, in doing so, you future proof for your preferred outcome, so much the better.

as the right thing to do (two way electrified passenger service) isn't something that's even within the realm of possibility in this part of the world...

On the majority of this route, I'm not sure that option is actually the most sensible. I'm a huge proponent of commuter and inter-city train service, but this is a very twisty/turny route to get anywhere that has people in it.

That's not to suggest it was my preference to shut down the line, it was not. Just that that having been done.......

I think there is probably a case to be made using the portion between north Brampton and central Mississauga for that purpose.

Though w/an entire LRT being under construction, it might be a challenge to argue that this is the next important GTA investment of that type.

 

[dowlingm]

Irrelevant, really, as the right thing to do (two way electrified passenger service) isn't something that's even within the realm of possibility in this part of the world...

Difficult when CP are retaining the last stretch of track into Streetsville - if they abandoned that, it would be an interesting potential cross transfer for Milton folks working in central Brampton, but not really compelling without Milton 2WAD. Expensive to go under the CN *and* the new parkland being done immediately south. Catchment north of the CN bears a similarity to the SRT - lots of industrial rear ends.

 

[ProjectEnd]

To be clear, I'm not saying it would be easy or cheap or anything, but if properly implemented, it would be well-used. In the current reality, there are too many hurdles, I get that, I'm just depressed that that's the state of affairs in 2024 Ontario.

 

[Sunnyside]

To be clear, I'm not saying it would be easy or cheap or anything, but if properly implemented, it would be well-used. In the current reality, there are too many hurdles, I get that, I'm just depressed that that's the state of affairs in 2024 Ontario.

I think if we want to address the pseudo-policy failure that is trails to rails, the only argument is to build the case for trails-to-rails. Obviously we have been saying this in this very thread, but I moreso mean at large, as a legitimate solution for our transportation needs across Ontario.

…The inexperienced me thought it was a good idea, then the real world smacked me over the head. But now, I’ve come around again as a pragmatic policy solution.

In light of our cost crisis, these opportunities might now outweigh the headache to pursue them. The railways and highways that exist today fulfill a narrow list of mobility patterns because we prefer upgrading to new greenfield infra, but those have limits. Abandoned ROWs have done the heavy lifting to get where we want to go, often in a better way because they were “first”. Let’s have a framework to leverage that—so we don’t overbuild elsewhere at greater cost, just to deliver worse access by comparison. The need is increasingly apparent in not all, but many cases today.