Arguing about destroying land for rail vs destroying land for an airport that at this point is still not needed is pointless. Lets say we built true HSR between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Lets say it is also run frequently. If it is priced at the same price as airfare between those cities, HSR would be well used. In fact, it might reduce the plane loads to those cites enough to reduce congestion at Pearson. Now, if we also had Hamilton added to the HSR, and we expanded the terminal and grounds at the Hamilton airport, we could further reduce the congestion at Pearson. I still do not see enough of a case for Pickering with those 2 things still able to be done, for about the same cost. In fact, untill Hamilton's Airport is built out, and HSR is built, Pickering should be shelved.
No offense, but I will take the word of The two independent capacity study’s that tax payers paid millions of $$ for, the 2010 needs assessment and now the KPMG report. The 2010 report, says we need it sometime between 2027- 2037. As we are well above that passenger forecast ( a full 10% above ) that puts us at or before 2027.
It takes 10 years to build Pickering Airport.
The KMPG study has been completed but the Feds are sitting on it as they don’t want it to become an election issue. No Surprise, it is expected to call for an immediate build.
This build can be done with private money using the efficiency of free enterprise because aviation is profitable. The same can not be said for passenger rail in any form in Canada.
Rail, even HSR has a number of big problems,
first, it services only a limited relatively close number of destinations. This is not the international growth fueling Pearson and Toronto.
Second is building and maintenance- it is pricier to build and maintain HSR than an airport. This is due to the larger land foot print. As almost half of southern Ontario is class 1 farmland this is expensive and valuable land.
Third, it is statistically not as safe per passenger mile as air and not as fast.
Fourth, in Canada it is not profitable. Their are only a few HSR lines around the world that are. While the 16 cent per passenger mile subsidy today on the VIA corridor may be reduced by volume, No private investor wants to touch it. It is a massive sinkhole for public funds.
Rails role should be seen as connecting intercity locations. A Go train to Pearson or Hamilton airport would be great. In Hamiltons case they can reopen the old line up the escarpment. Right now there is no rail connection to Hamilton airport.
an hour Train ride is much better than a two hour car ride from the eastern GTA to Hamilton. But it is no substitute for an easily accessible airport in Pickering.
It is my view that aviation is our future, not rail.
