Automation Gallery
Superstar
Isnt poor planning a bit better than no planning at all.
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Rail: Ontario-Quebec High Speed Rail Study
- Thread starter isittimetomoveyet
- Start date
Dan416
Senior Member
China's at one end of the spectrum, with no public consultation, and the government just does whatever the bloody hell it wants, whereas Canada is at the other end of the spectrum, and just does study after study after study without anything getting done. Why can't we reach a happy medium where we study enough, and then just dig our heels in and get it done?
kettal
Banned
We have these weird things called "elections" which sometimes brings a change in government, and new mayors, premiers, and prime ministers like to cancel any progress the predecessor made. It also scares any government from doing anything that could raise taxes. Chinese don't have to worry so much about that.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Yeah... so does Japan, Germany, and France, and they dont seem to have much problem ruling the world when it comes to fast rail systems.
allabootmatt
Senior Member
I wouldn't put Germany in the same league--the ICE is a true high-speed service on only a few routes, and getting across the country by rail--even on important routes--can take a very long time indeed, complete with atrocious, unexplained, very un-German delays.
As for France, while it is a democracy the government is famously insensitive to citizen complaints and NIMBYism of all sorts--which is one of the reasons that the TGV network is almost entirely nuclear-powered.
As for France, while it is a democracy the government is famously insensitive to citizen complaints and NIMBYism of all sorts--which is one of the reasons that the TGV network is almost entirely nuclear-powered.
ladyscraper
man alive
simply Dan
Active Member
Toronto would link up with either Detroit or Buffalo, or both... I think Detroit first.
UD2
Active Member
And Japan just recently had its first change of ruling party in the past 50 or so years.
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UD2
Active Member
From West ---> East
Detroit ---> Windsor ---> London/Essex ---> Brampton ---> Toronto
Buffalo ---> Niagara Falls/St. Catherines ---> Hamilton/Burlington ---> Toronto
Toronto ---> Kingston ---> Ottawa ---> Montreal
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Automation Gallery
Superstar
golodhendil
Active Member
Clearly it was spoken by someone who has little knowledge of Japanese politics.Yeah... so what.
And re: the eXpress Rail Link (XRL) in HK: While I am generally no fan of the PRC or its puppet government in HK, and the way it dealt with the fallout of this controversy was hardly pretty, I would have to caution that the "public outrage", perception of lack of consultation or criticisms of the plan are hardly as clear cut as wylie portrayed it. Many of the criticisms, such as the project having a low ROI and noise problems (from tunnel vents, not the trains themselves since it's underground), would have long been derided by many people on this board as NIMBYism. The planning and consultation have also begun (and I have read plenty of discussions of plans and published materials on railfan boards from HK) since at least fall '06, but large scale opposition did not catch on, especially among the most vocal "After 80s" teens and tweens, until spring '09. Ultimately, opposition was not so much for the XRL project itself per se, but that the issue has been heavily conflated with general dissatisfaction with the government and political system in general.
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Second_in_pie
Senior Member
The idea behind the Toronto connection is essentially an extra piece of HSR from Buffalo to Toronto. I don't believe it's a part of the state's official plan, but it would make a tremendous amount of sense, especially since the Golden Horseshoe is approaching the entire population of upstate New York, and a 3-4 hour link from Toronto to NYC would be used by millions of people as both cities continue to grow. It'd also have tremendous positive implications for Go service if the entire Lakeshore corridor is upgraded, allowing Lakeshore Go trains to reach US-grade HSR speeds of 240 km/h (and that could go up to 320 km/h, true HSR speeds, depending on what the state wants.) The only problem is that part would have to be funded by Ontario, and the Feds wouldn't be too happy to give us money to spend on stupid things like train systems that'd save hundreds of thousands of tonnes of GHGs and road and air congestion. So I believe until funding's up, the US/NY State will just stop it at Buffalo. Kind of stupid to stop it at a shrinking population centre of 2 million when a very quickly growing population centre of over 8 million is less than 200 km away.
Of course, if Ontario and Quebec strike a deal for a dual province-funded Quebec-Windsor HSR, the Ontario government would probably also solely sponsor a link to Buffalo, like Quebec's doing with the Northern New England corridor. That is, without any Federal help whatsoever.
RedRocket191
Senior Member
Someone might of said this before, but it's worth repeating. The reason that a Vancouver and Montreal link was included but a Toronto link was not included was because Amtrak crews operate trains to Montreal and Vancouver. The train to Toronto changes to VIA Rail at Niagara Falls, so it is not an Amtrak train while in Canada. Since they are not going to fund an entirely Canadian operation, that technicality means no funding.
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
^How does this work?
When I lived in Parkdale at 22 Close Avenue, which is the big white building above the tracks and highway, I saw many an Amtrak train (or was it just Amtrak cars?) on the tracks, going to and from Union. Mind, this was three years ago.
When I lived in Parkdale at 22 Close Avenue, which is the big white building above the tracks and highway, I saw many an Amtrak train (or was it just Amtrak cars?) on the tracks, going to and from Union. Mind, this was three years ago.
Darwinkgo
Active Member
Amtrak rolling stock is used.