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VIA Rail

ssiguy2 said:
^^ I agree. I don't think Canada will see any true HSR in any of our life times. The political will simply isn't there and CN & CP have huge political sway in Ottawa. Service in The Corridor will certainly improve but again that says precious little as it couldn't get much worse.
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Your lack of motivation to follow this thread in-between your infrequent posts is quite apparent at this point, but looking at these diagrams I posted a mere 20 days ago, I would argue that the Corridor (at least East of Toronto) has seen a service which was for pretty much the entire period between January 1990 and at least December 2012 "much worse" than today:

Urban Sky said:
Just to quantify where the Corridor stands in a historical comparison with the last 70 years, the scheduled timetable volume has caught up to the April 1989 timetable (i.e. the last timetable before the January 1990 cuts) in November 2017 (166,871 vs. 166,661 km per week) and remained (until CoVid-19 hit) higher than most of the 1960s and 1970s:
1607651838033-png.288086

Compiled from: official CN, CP and VIA timetables

If we look only at the "Corridor East" (i.e. east of Toronto), then the 136,627 km scheduled per week between November 2017 (when the 10th frequency was introduced between Toronto and Ottawa) and December 2019 (when train 69 was terminated already in Toronto instead of Aldershot) was only ever exceeded in April 1955 (137,660 km), April 1956 (137,120 km) and April 1958 (138,824 km):
1607651857061-png.288087

Compiled from: official CN, CP and VIA timetables
Click to expand...
 
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ssiguy2 said:
^^ I agree. I don't think Canada will see any true HSR in any of our life times. The political will simply isn't there and CN & CP have huge political sway in Ottawa. Service in The Corridor will certainly improve but again that says precious little as it couldn't get much worse.
Click to expand...

Who cares? Seriously

I don't care whether something is "true HSR" or whatever other dick measuring stat/threshold/bar is to be employed by internet railfans who want to compare countries like baseball players. What I want is for Canada to set a trajectory where infrastructure is constantly improving. This is how all those great HSR networks you see in Japan or France or Germany were built.

We get way too wrapped up in random self-imposed expectations in this country and then don't build a thing when the task looks daunting. We need to learn to eat the elephant one bite at a time. Build that first stretch of HFR. Add to it in the East and West. Do a few straightenings and grade separations every year. Etc. The ideal outcome would be that the line gets a little bit longer and faster every year. Nobody should even notice as HFR transitions to full Quebec-Windsor HSR over the next 20 years.
 
robmausser said:
No electrification? Just diesel service using an add-on procurement of the new fleet already being built (so just build 5 more trains of the already planned)? Possible.
Click to expand...

While installing the catenary would slow things down a bit, the option to extend the fleet order can be diesel-electric, hybrid, or fully electric. Apparently Siemens claims to have locomotives they could substitute for the Chargers if needed, so VIA wouldn’t need a new RFQ.
 
kEiThZ said:
We get way too wrapped up in random self-imposed expectations in this country and then don't build a thing when the task looks daunting. We need to learn to eat the elephant one bite at a time. Build that first stretch of HFR. Add to it in the East and West. Do a few straightenings and grade separations every year. Etc. The ideal outcome would be that the line gets a little bit longer and faster every year. Nobody should even notice as HFR transitions to full Quebec-Windsor HSR over the next 20 years.
Click to expand...

Totally agree...get started asap, work incrementally, walk before we run.... and yet.....

There has to be a “game plan” for the whole corridor, that extends beyond a particular government and beyond a particular phase of construction.and a particular route segment.

This is why I hold my nose and praise Metrolinx for its RER strategy. The execution is flawed, and parts get rewritten, and it’s taking forever, but the underlying plan is sound and they have begun with the end in mind.

VIA has no comparable strategy, so the “what’s next” phases could be decades away.

VIA may have such a plan, and is forbidden to make it public. If so, that’s the problem.

- Paul
 
kEiThZ said:
We get way too wrapped up in random self-imposed expectations in this country and then don't build a thing when the task looks daunting. We need to learn to eat the elephant one bite at a time. Build that first stretch of HFR. Add to it in the East and West. Do a few straightenings and grade separations every year. Etc. The ideal outcome would be that the line gets a little bit longer and faster every year. Nobody should even notice as HFR transitions to full Quebec-Windsor HSR over the next 20 years.
Click to expand...

Totally agree...get started asap, work incrementally, walk before we run.... and yet.....

There has to be a “game plan” for the whole corridor, that extends beyond a particular government and beyond a particular phase of construction.and a particular route segment.

This is why I hold my nose and praise Metrolinx for its RER strategy. The execution is flawed, and parts get rewritten, and it’s taking forever, but the underlying plan is sound and they have begun with the end in mind. Parts are getting done.

VIA has no comparable strategy, so with Ottawa’s lethargy, the “what’s next” phases could be decades away.

VIA may have such a plan, and is forbidden to make it public. If so, that’s the problem.

- Paul
 
kEiThZ said:
Given the inconsistent funding over the years, it's hard to strategize. I strongly suspect HFR would change that once it starts service, as communities further down start pressuring the Feds for service.
Click to expand...

I’m sure they will.

I’m criticising Ottawa, not VIA.

It must be hard for folks at VIA to stay positive with all the delay.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
I’m sure they will.

I’m criticising Ottawa, not VIA.

It must be hard for folks at VIA to stay positive with all the delay.

- Paul
Click to expand...
I have of course no idea what signals (if any) our Execs are receiving out of Ottawa, but the mood seems to be rather positive in all meetings I’ve witnessed, as if the question was no longer an “if”, but an “what is going to be the project scope and who pays how much of the bill”...
 
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crs1026 said:
I’m sure they will.

I’m criticising Ottawa, not VIA.

It must be hard for folks at VIA to stay positive with all the delay.

- Paul
Click to expand...
Here you go again, criticizing the City of Ottawa for the actions of people who are mostly from other parts of the country. 😜

When Ontario’s provincial government does things, we don’t blame the city of Toronto, we blame Queens Park.
 
kEiThZ said:
For better or worse, "Ottawa" is short hand for the feds.
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I agree it is in common use but there are a lot of words that were previously in common use but are now no longer considered appropriate. I’m not saying Ottawa is in the same caliber as most of those, but it does show that people can change.
 
roger1818 said:
I agree it is in common use but there are a lot of words that were previously in common use but are now no longer considered appropriate. I’m not saying Ottawa is in the same caliber as most of those, but it does show that people can change.
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I hate to say "Parliament Hill", given that Parliament doesn't even get to say much about VIA.

Would "East Block" be appropriate?

- Paul
 
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