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VIA Rail

Up at the TorStar, apologies if already linked and referenced, just got in:
Federal government weighing Via’s high-frequency rail proposal
By JASON MILLERStaff Reporter
Wed., Jan. 2, 2019

Supporters of Via Rail’s bid to revive passenger service in communities like Peterborough, Ont., which saw its last Via train in the early 1990s, await its potentially transformative impact, but experts say advocates shouldn’t hold their breath on the chances of a dedicated high-frequency rail corridor becoming reality anytime soon.
Via’s past failed attempts to expand service in order to boost revenue don’t bode well for the rail operator’s existing pitch, said Matti Siemiatycki, University of Toronto associate professor of geography and planning.

[...]
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https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...ighing-vias-high-frequency-rail-proposal.html

Story is poorly researched and nothing new to readers of this string. Hopefully better stories will be appearing soon...
 
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Urban Sky said:
View attachment 169342
Source: Post #1022 of the "VIA Rail network developments" thread on Skyscraperpage
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Via cannot build anything themselves in the Lakeshore corridor. Thats owned by CN and thus what happens is that VIA must pay CN to build infrastructure for them. This has proven to be a contentious thing; the triple track project in the 2000's saw CN overcharge VIA for sidings that were intended for freight, only to have CN go and purposely make their freight trains too long to fit the sidings, so that VIA would be the one to have to wait in them.

CN and CP cannot be trusted to build passenger infrastructure, full stop.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ontario...-rail-of-overcharging-transit-agency-1.620439
 
robmausser said:
Via cannot build anything themselves in the Lakeshore corridor. Thats owned by CN and thus what happens is that VIA must pay CN to build infrastructure for them. This has proven to be a contentious thing; the triple track project in the 2000's saw CN overcharge VIA for sidings that were intended for freight, only to have CN go and purposely make their freight trains too long to fit the sidings, so that VIA would be the one to have to wait in them.

CN and CP cannot be trusted to build passenger infrastructure, full stop.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ontario...-rail-of-overcharging-transit-agency-1.620439
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What sidings were built too short??? The new triple track that VIA built has segments of track that are several miles long. Yes, the cost got out of control, but that need not be the case next time. The unknown will be what CN will allow under a better managed, more transparently structured contract.
The sidings that are too short are the legacy passing tracks that were installed around 1970 when the route was resignalled to facilitate the Turbo introduction. Many of those have been removed because freight can no longer clear the main. However, much of the underlying signals circuitry is still there, and relaying these (a cheap thing to do) might actually benefit VIA by allowing two opposing passenger trains to meet on one track while freight is occupying the other.
- Paul
 
robmausser said:
This has proven to be a contentious thing; the triple track project in the 2000's saw CN overcharge VIA for sidings that were intended for freight, only to have CN go and purposely make their freight trains too long to fit the sidings, so that VIA would be the one to have to wait in them.
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crs1026 said:
What sidings were built too short??? The new triple track that VIA built has segments of track that are several miles long.
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The sidings which got outgrown by CN's freight train lengths are in Western Canada, not the Kingston Subdivision! Letting their train lengths outgrow the sidings is certainly not a deliberate feature of any strategic move, it's a bug which is currently rectified by a multi-billion investment program which extends or merges adjacent sidings, in an attempt to cut back the horrible delays which dwarf even those of the Canadian. Unlike the triple-tracking of the Kingston Subdivision, this program will deliver tangible results to the passenger services using these lines at no cost to the taxpayer...
 
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crs1026 said:
Infrastructure Minister “Laser-focused” on construction projects for 2019

Not encouraging that VIA is not on the tip of his tongue.

- Paul
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kEiThZ said:
Yep. The Liberals are now focused on re-election. So we’ll get a promise to fund an EA in 2019. And then rushed money to lots of local ribbon cuttings. Uggh, this government is making it really hard for me to support their re-election.
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My personal appreciation is that the government tries to depolitize infrastructure funding decisions, in order to avoid them being branded as "liberal pet projects". A consequence of that strategy is that funding decisions are made slowly and by the CIB itself rather than by the government, which tries to avoid any impression that it influences the decisions of the CIB. The first project funded by the CIB was obviously an exception from this practice, but it was an exception from almost every practice which normally applies to how to scrutinize an infrastructure project...
 
alexanderglista said:
New VIA tender up on MERX, closing January 24th. It is just an invitation to tender, so I'd assume construction would follow pretty soon after. VIA wants to extend a siding on the Brockville Sub. Does anyone here have any insights on where exactly this might be?

Brockville Siding Project
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This is on the VIA owned track between Smiths Falls and Brockville (formerly CP owned). Perhaps, to speed up the passing of trains on the Ottawa-Toronto route.

The following link may be the location

https://churcher.crcml.org/circle/Findings_Brockville_sub_signals.html
 
Urban Sky said:
My personal appreciation is that the government tries to depolitize infrastructure funding decisions, in order to avoid them being branded as "liberal pet projects". A consequence of that strategy is that funding decisions are made slowly and by the CIB itself rather than by the government, which tries to avoid any impression that it influences the decisions of the CIB. The first project funded by the CIB was obviously an exception from this practice, but it was an exception from almost every practice which normally applies to how to scrutinize an infrastructure project...
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I think you're being generous to them.

They are playing politics with this. It's obvious. They didn't give a damn about HFR till now or that study would have had a shorter timeline and more resources.

I will say that I think there's a good chance they were naive on how long it would take to make the CIB effective. And they're learning now. The question for me is what happens if the CIB can't find a private sector partner for HFR. What do the Liberals do then?
 
JasonParis said:
Trudeau needs a legacy project. This would be a good one.
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It's a tricky one though, as with the GTAA (Pearson, 'Union West') one. The InfraBank has to be arm's distance (groan...REM, albeit that was mostly a loan) but it doesn't preclude the Feds 'sweetening the pot' with a chunk of cash from other funding streams.

There are still dissenting voices as per "business case" though.
 
steveintoronto said:
It's a tricky one though, as with the GTAA (Pearson, 'Union West') one. The InfraBank has to be arm's distance (groan...REM, albeit that was mostly a loan) but it doesn't preclude the Feds 'sweetening the pot' with a chunk of cash from other funding streams.

There are still dissenting voices as per "business case" though.
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The problem is we haven't seen a business case yet. Also, one of the biggest dissenting voices is Paul Langan from HSR Canada, who really wants HSR or nothing. Even though the route is changing for HFR, it still hits the big passenger hubs of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City so it shouldn't get worse.
 
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