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VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
Xav
Active Member
That's why the Argenteuil MRC wants a study done I guess. See if it's viable. The provincial government is planning on improving Highway 50 because traffic has increased significantly since it was completed in 2012. It's not realistic, but one can dream
Urban Sky
Senior Member
What is the problem such semi-rural intercity lines are trying to fix and why can't it be fixed just as well (if not: even better) but with dramatically less operating and capital subsidies though a coach rather than rail service?That's why the Argenteuil MRC wants a study done I guess. See if it's viable. The provincial government is planning on improving Highway 50 because traffic has increased significantly since it was completed in 2012. It's not realistic, but one can dream
Xav
Active Member
What is the problem with being a railfan and dreaming of rail service? Plus there's no coach service along the north shore of the Ottawa river... Maybe Via should offer that, same as Thruway
crs1026
Superstar
Nothing wrong with dreaming, but if you want buyin from folks in this thread you may have to limit your scope to dreams that might actually attract serious interest and study from government, operators, or communities, and that might actually be capable of attract funding and commitment from same at some point in the future.
Not that we don’t ever offer our own wonky theories and ideas now and then, mind you….
- Paul
roger1818
Senior Member
Feasibility studies cost money. Unless there is evidence that it might be feasible, it would be a waste of money. We can't even get funding for intercity rail plans that have passed their feasibility studies. We should spend our money on building those before studying pipe dreams.
Prior to COVID, Greyhound offered north shore bus service between Ottawa/Gatineau and Montreal. It was temporarily suspended during COVID, which became permanent when Greyhound pulled out of Canada. There is a chance that one of the other bus operators will take over this route once things return to normal (whatever new normal that might look like).
Urban Sky
Senior Member
Xav
Active Member
This is the reason why we need a public option for coach service.
Xav
Active Member
I'm sorry, did I offend you or something? I didn't know comments need to be perfectly realistic in order to be worthy of this thread.
Urban Sky
Senior Member
My apologies, I really didn't intend to come across as abrasive. This is just what I do here whenever I want to proof my point or to proof someone else wrong: I sketch down how a thing might look in reality.
And this is the problem I have with your idea: I struggle to imagine how it could be practical and would allow for door-to-door travel times which are remotely competitive with driving. However, I am genuinely curious about what you might come up with, so why don't you give it a "quick and dirty" try? I promise nobody will laugh...
Xav
Active Member
No need to apologize.My apologies, I really didn't intend to come across as abrasive. This is just what I do here whenever I want to proof my point or to proof someone else wrong: I sketch down how a thing might look in reality.
And this is the problem I have with your idea: I struggle to imagine how it could be practical and would allow for door-to-door travel times which are remotely competitive with driving. However, I am genuinely curious about what you might come up with, so why don't you give it a "quick and dirty" try? I promise nobody will laugh...
I didn't say anything about being competitive with driving. What I'm talking about is providing something basic, whether it's a coach line or a train service. By pure coincidence, I have family in the Lachute area, and I did take the Greyhound a couple of times when I was younger. It was a shitty experience, but at least there was a way to get there without a car. If the pandemic illustrates anything when it comes to public transportation, it is that we definitely need more government mandated service, in order to avoid transportation "deserts" like this one. I'm saying this for Argenteuil and Outaouais, it could be the same for most of Québec or Ontario.
There is no need to connect with Via the way Amtrak Thruway does... there's nothing to connect to anyway.
crs1026
Superstar
I’m not advancing this rumour, but I will comment on it from the perspective of our discussion about the election.
Trainorders.com, a rail enthusiast forum, is reporting that the first VIA Siemens trainset will be released from the factory on Friday.
This exact timing may or may not be true, but (given that the first trainset is known to be nearing completion) in a more Del Ducaish world, the LPC would have moved heaven and earth to have that trainset arrive in time for a pre-election photo op…. even if it was only a car or two, and even if the trainset wasn’t truly ready and it had to be returned to the factory afterwards for actual completion or setup.
Ottawa’s silence on celebrating this milestone is somewhere between puzzling and astounding….it’s just too much money spent to not take credit for. In what universe does a political entity spend $1B on something and not brag about it?
It says something that they don’t consider this election friendly…. perhaps they understand how any mention of VIA would inevitably draw attention to their non-stellar pace on HFR.
Or perhaps the rumour is unfounded…. even so, we’ve seen photos of the locos in their pre delivery state…. one wonders why there isn’t a single photo of any smiling Liberal candidate or Minister standing next to the pretty new engine.
- Paul
Trainorders.com, a rail enthusiast forum, is reporting that the first VIA Siemens trainset will be released from the factory on Friday.
This exact timing may or may not be true, but (given that the first trainset is known to be nearing completion) in a more Del Ducaish world, the LPC would have moved heaven and earth to have that trainset arrive in time for a pre-election photo op…. even if it was only a car or two, and even if the trainset wasn’t truly ready and it had to be returned to the factory afterwards for actual completion or setup.
Ottawa’s silence on celebrating this milestone is somewhere between puzzling and astounding….it’s just too much money spent to not take credit for. In what universe does a political entity spend $1B on something and not brag about it?
It says something that they don’t consider this election friendly…. perhaps they understand how any mention of VIA would inevitably draw attention to their non-stellar pace on HFR.
Or perhaps the rumour is unfounded…. even so, we’ve seen photos of the locos in their pre delivery state…. one wonders why there isn’t a single photo of any smiling Liberal candidate or Minister standing next to the pretty new engine.
- Paul
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kEiThZ
Superstar
It's very hard to guarantee that a locomotive would be delivered on time for any announcement. Beyond that, a minister posing with a locomotive isn't going to win many votes. Might even remind some Bombardier supporters about how Siemens won this contract and isn't building this in Canada. Really not worth all the risk for literally 2-3 days before the election.
crs1026
Superstar
That’s my point, really. Photos of a superficially complete loco have been floating around for months. Boeing doesn’t wait until it delivers an order to start showing off a new plane model. Tunnelling milestones for Toronto subway and similar projects had carefully staged breakthrough photo ops using fake but specially constructed end walls. Lots of ribbon cuttings happen to “open” a new facility while workers continue to build in the background. The timing of the true delivery is irrelevant.
If nobody saw this coming, and nobody saw a way to manufacture a (contrived) photo op to create a talking point around having spent $1B on VIa, they are either disengaged on the topic or made a conscious decision not to.
- Paul