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VIA Rail

SamStar said:
CN will double the track between the Deux-Montagnes-Mascouche Line junction and the Taschereau yard as part of a temporary measure to allow 3 departures per day of the Mascouche Line to reach Gare Centrale. About 6 km of new track + 1 bridge for $30 million.

Not directly related, but clearly will be handy for HFR.
Click to expand...

Has there been an announcement of this? I haven't been able to find anything that has been publicly released.

Dan
 
SamStar said:
CN will double the track between the Deux-Montagnes-Mascouche Line junction and the Taschereau yard as part of a temporary measure to allow 3 departures per day of the Mascouche Line to reach Gare Centrale. About 6 km of new track + 1 bridge for $30 million.

Not directly related, but clearly will be handy for HFR.
Click to expand...

Once the precedent of that new 6km of double track is added, I see little hope that VIA would be able to secure passage through the tunnel, even if it is shown to be technically feasible. They will be told to take the long way round. And once the new transit line is opened, with a faster direct route to downtown, one might see most riders transferring anyways rather than ride around.

I wonder how much that segment could be upgraded in terms of track speeds to reduce the transit time. Perhaps this is a good place to try out some very high speed turnouts. I also wonder what this does to the need to add capacity on the line between Taschereau and Central.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
Once the precedent of that new 6km of double track is added, I see little hope that VIA would be able to secure passage through the tunnel, even if it is shown to be technically feasible. They will be told to take the long way round. And once the new transit line is opened, with a faster direct route to downtown, one might see most riders transferring anyways rather than ride around.

I wonder how much that segment could be upgraded in terms of track speeds to reduce the transit time. Perhaps this is a good place to try out some very high speed turnouts. I also wonder what this does to the need to add capacity on the line between Taschereau and Central.

- Paul
Click to expand...

Honestly Montreal to Quebec should be a Phase 2 of HFR.

The focus should be Toronto -> Ottawa -> Montreal.

Phase 1: Toronto to Montreal via Ottawa.
Phase 2: Montreal to Quebec
Phase 3: Toronto to London via Kitchener.
Phase 4: London to Windsor.

Then, electrification and conversion to HSR in the same order of those phases.
 
robmausser said:
Honestly Montreal to Quebec should be a Phase 2 of HFR.

The focus should be Toronto -> Ottawa -> Montreal.

Phase 1: Toronto to Montreal via Ottawa.
Phase 2: Montreal to Quebec
Phase 3: Toronto to London via Kitchener.
Phase 4: London to Windsor.

Then, electrification and conversion to HSR in the same order of those phases.
Click to expand...
The construction of HFR will be staged in whatever order the segments get funded. Whoever pays, decides on what gets built first...
 
I expect that Montreal - Quebec will be part of Phase 1 to help with Liberal support in Quebec and to get Bloc support for the proposal

I expect all party support except the Conservatives who want to chain us to the oil industry and don't really believe in climate change anyways
 
raptor said:
what's climate change?
Click to expand...
The change in climate parameters (ie mainly temperatures), largely attributed to the rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
raptor said:
Climate change is those drivers' parents??
Click to expand...
Climate change leads to adverse weather effects. When water and air temperatures are in the flux like they are now, they affect the weather in ways that are not generally typical.

This has led to the really bad weather we've seen recently, which has played a role in exposing all the insanely bad drivers in the GTHA.
 
Streety McCarface said:
The change in climate parameters (ie mainly temperatures), largely attributed to the rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Climate change leads to adverse weather effects. When water and air temperatures are in the flux like they are now, they affect the weather in ways that are not generally typical.

This has led to the really bad weather we've seen recently, which has played a role in exposing all the insanely bad drivers in the GTHA.
Click to expand...
I won't bite as it's completely off topic. But just a general advice - do your own research and pay less attention to "news" on your TV/computer.
 
I look at the timeline for the HFR joint team and fleet replacement. It's so disheartening.

2022 before they even start operating the new set in service. 2024 before all the trainsets are delivered. And no real timeline on HFR, but a study that runs into 2021. No timeline for an RFP, construction, etc. So the best case scenario here is that we're 6+ years away from train service that would still take ~3 hrs from Union to Ottawa and 4.5 hrs to Montreal. Realistically, closer to a decade away from that and possibly worse performance.

I really despise the Harper and Trudeau for not being serious about intercity rail in the most populated corridor in the country.
 
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