VIA Rail

[crs1026]

^Michigan-Toronto is a huge tourism draw. Not necessarily Detroit, but the burbs and places beyond. Lots of people already park at Windsor and take the train to downtown Toronto...preferable to paying parking rates in Toronto downtown hotels.
And then there is Jays vs Tigers, Maple Leafs vs Red Wings....don’t count Detroit out as a business destination, either.
And then there’s the gateway to Chicago and other destinations in the Midwest US. Certainly enough to justify morning, mid day, and afternoon services between the cities.

- Paul

 

[innsertnamehere]

Detroit is on a Renaissance right now too which is making it a better destination.

 

[kEiThZ]

I honestly haven't seen the word bi-hourly before, but if bi-weekly can mean twice a week, I'm not sure why bi-hourly can't mean twice an hour. But does it really matter?

View attachment 311911

Where do you get that bi-weekly means twice a week in Canada?

When mortgage payments are bi-weekly, do you think they are paid out twice a week?

In any event, I meant every two hours. Presumably, every second train goes past London. And if it's going to Windsor, might as well cross over.

 

[jamincan]

Where do you get that bi-weekly means twice a week in Canada?

When mortgage payments are bi-weekly, do you think they are paid out twice a week?

In any event, I meant every two hours. Presumably, every second train goes past London. And if it's going to Windsor, might as well cross over.

There's no clear pattern in English. It's ambiguous. To provide a contradicting example, biannually is twice a year.

 

[nfitz]

Where do you get that bi-weekly means twice a week in Canada?

In a Canadian dictionary.

This is why such words are often avoided, because of the ambiguity of the meaning. Though, I really don't see why we need an inquisition here - it didn't even change the meaning of the comment!

I'd be happy if the trains were twice-a-day.

 

[Towered]

Detroit is on a Renaissance right now too which is making it a better destination.

How so?

 

[henrydm]

How so?

the downtown and surrounding areas have seen decent development, and high occupancy rates with lots of new apartments, boutiques, hotels, and new offices opening up. Its now spreading to the neighbourhoods, its been happening for the past 5, 6 years. its impressive.

 

[Northern Light]

How so?

A few years back, you had the redevelopment of the pro-sports facilities.

Subsequently, there's been some restoration of some vacant heritage properties, some residential infill in terms of condos/rental apartments.

The big move was Quicken Loans/Dan Gilbert's corporate interests shifting all their offices to downtown Detroit.

There's been some additional blight removal, some public realm improvements, particularly their 'River Walk' (a streetscape/park corridor along the Detroit River) as well as construction of their downtown streetcar, 'The Q Line'.

On the Qucken HQ:

Quicken Loans to Move Headquarters, 1,700 Employees to Downtown Detroit by Mid-2010

Learn more about Detroit-based Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest home mortgage lender.

www.quickenloans.com

On a new Beach/park area near DT Detroit:

David Adjaye and Michael Van Valkenburgh selected to transform Detroit's West Riverfront Park

Michael Van Valkenburgh and David Adjaye have won a competition to transform a riverside parcel in Downtown Detroit into a thriving public park.

www.dezeen.com

From same:

On the Q Line

A Sign of Rebound: QLine Begins Testing Streetcars

www.deadlinedetroit.com

And now Ford Motor Company has bought the former Michigan Central Train Station and begun restoring perhaps the most overt symbol of that City's neglect for 2+ generations.

https://corporate.ford.com/operations/locations/corktown.html

****

It needs to be said though, for all the good news, Detroit's population is barely stable'ish.....and much neglect/blight remain just beyond the core area.

Though there is certainly a positive trendline...

 

[innsertnamehere]

yup. It's still early, but there is actually something there to "see" today compared to 10 years ago.

I've never actually been - I had planned to go last year before the Pandemic hit. It'll be one of my first spots to visit once the border is open again.

 

[SFO-YYZ]

Le ministre Champagne assure que le projet sur le TGF est toujours le seul sur les rails

« Il y a juste un projet de train et c’est le TGF », assure François-Philippe Champagne.

ici.radio-canada.ca

I think it's clear from this article that HFR is still on track (at the very least it's not being upended by some phantom HSR/TGV proposal as some would have us believe). Champagne is the de facto No. 3 minister on the Liberal Cabinet line up, after Trudeau and Deputy PM Freeland, and his voice carries a lot of weight in the government and in the LPC establishment.

« Il y a juste un projet de train et c’est le train à grande fréquence (TGF) », assure le ministre de l’Innovation, des Sciences et de l'Industrie du Canada, François-Philippe Champagne. En entrevue à l’émission Toujours le matin, l’ancien ministre de l’Industrie et député de Saint-Maurice–Champlain, a toutefois assuré que seul le projet de train à grande fréquence (TGF) entre Québec et Toronto est toujours dans les plans du gouvernement fédéral.

"There is just one train project and it is the HFR", said Champagne. If that isn't clear enough of a confirmation, I don't know what is. Champagne specifically said that in response to Journal de Montreal's article calling HFR into question.

 

[DSCToronto]

yup. It's still early, but there is actually something there to "see" today compared to 10 years ago.

I've never actually been - I had planned to go last year before the Pandemic hit. It'll be one of my first spots to visit once the border is open again.

We went to Windsor and Detroit 2 years ago for a long-weekend (on VIA of course) and enjoyed both cities. Detroit is certainly getting reborn (and Windsor too) but there are still HUGE areas of abandoned or leveled buildings in and near downtown Detroit. The Detroit architectural tours are great - though I doubt they are offered now, if one could even get there. If there were a Toronto-Chicago train, a stop-over in either or both Windsor or Detroit would be good but so would a stop-over in Kingston on a Toronto-Montreal trip - and how many of us actually do that?.

 

[Allandale25]

Good news.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1381680329270890498

 

[dowlingm]

Good news.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1381680329270890498

Canadian was suspended in March 2020 when the number of new daily cases was about 40 - for the entire country. The pandemic is raging, notable in BC, Alta, ON. How does restarting Canadian make sense now?

 

[p_xavier]

Canadian was suspended in March 2020 when the number of new daily cases was about 40 - for the entire country. The pandemic is raging, notable in BC, Alta, ON. How does restarting Canadian make sense now?

Canadian is used by an older population and would be vaccinated. My guess.

 

[Darwinkgo]

Plus, the third wave is going collapse even faster than past ones, as vaccines keep marching. It is going to happen so fast that it will feel like whiplash. The result is companies that foresee this will look like they are moving too early now, and those that don't will look like laggards by June.