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VIA Rail

nfitz said:
Many inside the industry see it as a white elephant waiting to happen.

Perhaps they can add the long-awaited Via Rail stop at Mirabel airport!
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To be honest, I've heard the same thing from middle/senior management at the airlines when I brought it up during networking events. You can see the obvious conflict though...
 
nfitz said:
As there are others than him who think it's going to cost more and under-deliver, then you are incorrect about the rest of us.
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I didn't say everybody had to agree with the project. And heck, quite a few of us (me included) expect some combination of budget busting and under performance. Unfortunately, that is par for the course with a lot of infrastructure these days. And VIA's lack of experience with something this big, all but guarantees. But that doesn't in any way justify the stance that HSR is the only acceptable solution, which is what the FUDsters are pushing.

nfitz said:
Please remain civil even if others here disagree with what you've said.
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I've been perfectly civil. You posted something unsubstantiated and don't like being called out here.
 
kEiThZ said:
But that doesn't in any way justify the stance that HSR is the only acceptable solution, which is what the FUDsters are pushing.
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I'm not pushing HST. I'm simply saying that HFR is not going to be anywhere close to the price tag that's being put out there by VIA, and that travel times are optimistic, and there are better options to spend that (relatively low amount) of money.

kEiThZ said:
I've been perfectly civil. You posted something unsubstantiated and don't like being called out here.
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You really expect me to name names? That would be unprofessional. To be honest, I've not heard one positive word about the Peterborough alignment.

Things have all gone very quiet since CIB announced that Arup and Aecom had been hired to explore VIA's proposal. I can only assume that the proposal is deeply troubled., if not spiked already. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't imagine we are going to be seeing an announcement before the next election.
 
^ the project has not gone all quiet since the JPO was announced naming Arup and AECOM. Maybe these seem like small things, but in November 2020 the VIA Rail CEO publicly said the final report would be submitted to the government by the end of the year, and then recently in February 24, 2021 interview VIA's CEO said the report was submitted. So those two public confirmations happened after the announcement. So two public news references rather than zero.
 
kEiThZ said:
It's not just him. Like I said, Reece Martin is like this too. And they've convinced themselves that the only reason we haven't built HSR is because nobody in Canada is advocating enough. They handwave away all political minutiae involved. That helps them monetize their schtick. But it's ignorant public policy. And on this front, it sucks because Paul Lanagan gets invited on mainstream media for interviews on any rail proposal.
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While I agree that it is unfortunate that the likes of Paul Lanagan and Reece Martin are getting media attention, what scares me even more are the quiet lobbyists who are whispering in the ears of politicians, promoting their clients' agenda in secret, so as to avoid public debate.
 
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roger1818 said:
While I agree that it is unfortunate that the likes of Paul Lanagan and Reece Martin are getting media attention, what scares me even more are the quiet lobbyists who are whispering in the ears of politicians, promoting their clients' agenda in secret, so as to avoid public debate.
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The lobbyist registry is public - so who are these people and we can see who they are meeting with.
 
nfitz said:
there are better options to spend that (relatively low amount) of money.
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An opinion without any real evidence to back it up. But sure...

nfitz said:
You really expect me to name names? That would be unprofessional.
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I expect more than, "I know a guy...."

Saying you have friends in "industry" without further context is what makes them imaginary.

Also, professionalism is irrelevant when you weren't discussing a project you are involved in. One could argue that the FUD being thrown around is far less professional than the zeal to protect imaginary friends.
nfitz said:
Things have all gone very quiet since CIB announced that Arup and Aecom had been hired to explore VIA's proposal.
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They are quiet because they are actually doing work. It's a crazy concept. I know. I'd be more worried if they were promoting a project before they had completed the analysis they paid for.
 
roger1818 said:
While I agree that it is unfortunate that the likes of Paul Lanagan and Reece Martin are getting media attention, what scares me even more are the quiet lobbyists who are whispering in the ears of politicians, promoting their clients' agenda in secret, so as to avoid public debate.
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Mostly airline lobbyists. Which is exactly why HSR was never going to happened in one shot.
 
kEiThZ said:
Mostly airline lobbyists. Which is exactly why HSR was never going to happened in one shot.
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The freight railway lobbyists will also oppose any proposal that might negatively affect their operations. That is why Air Canada teamed up with CP Rail to commission both the "High Speed Rail Market Assessment" in 1991 and the "Joint Study of High Speed Rail Ridership and Revenues" in 1995 ref.
 
kEiThZ said:
An opinion without any real evidence to back it up. But sure...
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Do we have any real evidence on the details of the HFR proposal? VIA has chosen to ignore FOI requests in order to keep it secret. Which is all very odd at this stage.

kEiThZ said:
Also, professionalism is irrelevant when you weren't discussing a project you are involved in.
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That's not true. I could be professionally disciplined - and more likely those that have told me stuff could be professionally disciplined. Though I haven't directly worked on any aspect of this for over 30 years.

kEiThZ said:
One could argue that the FUD being thrown around is far less professional than the zeal to protect imaginary friends.
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One could, but that would be uncivil.

kEiThZ said:
They are quiet because they are actually doing work. It's a crazy concept. I know. I'd be more worried if they were promoting a project before they had completed the analysis they paid for.
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My point was I don't see this project get a go ahead before the election. Do you see it getting a go ahead before the election?
 
nfitz said:
That's not true. I could be professionally disciplined - and more likely those that have told me stuff could be professionally disciplined. Though I haven't directly worked on any aspect of this for over 30 years.

One could, but that would be uncivil.
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OK, but unless you give something about them, don't expect us to believe you. It makes it all the more believable.
My point was I don't see this project get a go ahead before the election. Do you see it getting a go ahead before the election?
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That's the sad reality. Projects (not only transport infrastructure, but anything involving money in general) are greatly politicized. I can see the federal government passing it in the budget. We can hope. 😁
 
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