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VIA Rail

It says in the globe and mail that he is committed to building what is committed and funded. But there is no new money for new projects.

So HFR is not funded and approved so they don't need to commit to building it.

HFR is listed among the projects they are committed to building. You can't on one hand accept they are going to contribute to GO RER and Yonge North, but then dismiss a commitment made in literally the same paragraph, to HFR. Did you read their platform? I did.

I get being partisan. But I take exception when people try and misrepresent what was actually said.

Like with any other projects, such as electrification of the west corridor.

What "west corridor"? There's nothing beyond a commitment to study HFR West from the Liberals. And nothing in that commitment ever said anything about electrification.
 
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I don't see how HFR service is viable north of the Ottawa River between Gatineau and Montreal. The best hope for Argenteuil to get rail service would be for EXO to extend a branch of the Saint-Jérôme line to Lachute, but with a CA population of 12,862 (compared to Saint-Jérôme's population of 77,146), I am not sure that even that is viable. Even if you look at all of Argenteuil, its population is only 32,389. The only reason why Casselman and Alexandria (which admittedly are significantly smaller) will be getting service with HFR is they coincidentally happen to be on the ROW between Ottawa and Montreal that VIA already owns and uses.
 
2035. 2035… 2035……………

I am giving the LPC a shot this election. But if that "start of the procurement process" doesn't evolve to an RFP with a delivery timeline that has me riding an HFR train well before the end of the decade, soon after this election, they'll have lost my vote. I'm sick of this nonsense.
 
I am giving the LPC a shot this election. But if that "start of the procurement process" doesn't evolve to an RFP with a delivery timeline that has me riding an HFR train well before the end of the decade, soon after this election, they'll have lost my vote. I'm sick of this nonsense.

It’s sad that of the three major national parties, the CPC seems to be promoting HFR the most. They still haven’t won my vote (not that it really matters in my riding), but it’s still sad.
 
I am giving the LPC a shot this election. But if that "start of the procurement process" doesn't evolve to an RFP with a delivery timeline that has me riding an HFR train well before the end of the decade, soon after this election, they'll have lost my vote. I'm sick of this nonsense.

You are more forgiving than me…….and I’m a Leafs fan, so I have been applying your exact philosophy for quite a while now ;-)

I didn’t vote according to the transportation file alone, but in general the Liberals lost my support by governing as if they had the next election in the bag, and didn’t see the need to accomplish anything much specific before it came along. They don’t appear to understand that they dodged a bullet last time by virtue of CPC putting forward a very weak leadership candidate. I’m not saying the new guy is all that impressive, but he has certainly closed the race. When considering whether to renew a mandate I place more weight on their past performance than their current platform, I guess. HFR’s slow pace certainly exemplifies that complacency.

If the CPC does form the next government, and moves on HFR, it will certainly serve the LPC a dose of what they sowed.

- Paul
 
You are more forgiving than me…….and I’m a Leafs fan, so I have been applying your exact philosophy for quite a while now ;-)

I didn’t vote according to the transportation file alone, but in general the Liberals lost my support by governing as if they had the next election in the bag, and didn’t see the need to accomplish anything much specific before it came along. They don’t appear to understand that they dodged a bullet last time by virtue of CPC putting forward a very weak leadership candidate. I’m not saying the new guy is all that impressive, but he has certainly closed the race. When considering whether to renew a mandate I place more weight on their past performance than their current platform, I guess. HFR’s slow pace certainly exemplifies that complacency.

If the CPC does form the next government, and moves on HFR, it will certainly serve the LPC a dose of what they sowed.

- Paul

I was really tempted to vote blue this time after the CPC included HFR in their campaign platform. The only thing stopping me was the CPC climate plan which is still somewhat nonsensical. And that's mostly because we're at a pretty critical moment on climate policy with EVs ramping up, ESG rules and possible peak oil pressuring Canadian oil, I wanted a party that actually accepted climate change to be in the driver's seat. Two years from now? It won't matter who is in charge with the market driving change.

Childcare? Well I'm past that stage. But now I get to bid on housing against people who have even more in their pocket thanks to childcare subsidies I'll be paying for with my taxes.

This really is the last straw for me. I am sick of the Liberals using infrastructure, climate and now the pandemic, as an excuse to just keep mailing cheques to buy votes. If they don't deliver, not only will blue get my vote after this, they will be getting a donation too.

I am beyond pissed at Liberal incompetence on this file and just their absolute unwillingness to basically move on a project that actually has broad public support.
 
HFR is listed among the projects they are committed to building. You can't on one hand accept they are going to contribute to GO RER and Yonge North, but then dismiss a commitment made in literally the same paragraph, to HFR. Did you read their platform? I did.

I get being partisan. But I take exception when people try and misrepresent what was actually said.



What "west corridor"? There's nothing beyond a commitment to study HFR West from the Liberals. And nothing in that commitment ever said anything about electrification.

There will likely be a bid to replace the rolling stock with new Superliners, and they could order more Viewliner Sleepers.
When VIA ordered the P42's where F59's not on their radar? Apparently they are capable of 110mph running (never seen this in reality in Canada) and they are body in frame construction making them easier to maintain. Plus GO transit have them with a proven track record in Canada.

What was the reason for going with the GE's? Amtrak also ordered some F59PHI's around the same time as well but what was it about the genesis that made them more successful than the F59?
 
When VIA ordered the P42's where F59's not on their radar? Apparently they are capable of 110mph running (never seen this in reality in Canada) and they are body in frame construction making them easier to maintain. Plus GO transit have them with a proven track record in Canada.

What was the reason for going with the GE's? Amtrak also ordered some F59PHI's around the same time as well but what was it about the genesis that made them more successful than the F59?

There were likely a variety of factors, but probably the biggest one was that VIA purchased their P42s in 2001, the same year that EMD delisted their F59PHI as it didn’t meet the EPA’s tier 1 emission standards.

Here are a couple of interesting videos if you want to know more about their histories.


 
I don't see how HFR service is viable north of the Ottawa River between Gatineau and Montreal. The best hope for Argenteuil to get rail service would be for EXO to extend a branch of the Saint-Jérôme line to Lachute, but with a CA population of 12,862 (compared to Saint-Jérôme's population of 77,146), I am not sure that even that is viable. Even if you look at all of Argenteuil, its population is only 32,389. The only reason why Casselman and Alexandria (which admittedly are significantly smaller) will be getting service with HFR is they coincidentally happen to be on the ROW between Ottawa and Montreal that VIA already owns and uses.
They're not advocating for HFR. They want a study done on relaunching the Montreal-Gatineau line. If anything it could be a regional rail line with 3-4 roundtrips per day.

Gatineau is the third largest urban area in Quebec after all. I truly believe every CMA in Quebec should have rail service to Montreal (Saguenay and Quebec City are already served, Trois-Rivières is part of HFR, Sherbrooke has a study being done. Only Gatineau is left, even though technically it is part of the Ottawa CMA and is already served by Via).
 
⁹They're not advocating for HFR. They want a study done on relaunching the Montreal-Gatineau line. If anything it could be a regional rail line with 3-4 roundtrips per day.

Gatineau is the third largest urban area in Quebec after all. I truly believe every CMA in Quebec should have rail service to Montreal (Saguenay and Quebec City are already served, Trois-Rivières is part of HFR, Sherbrooke has a study being done. Only Gatineau is left).
Gatineau's CMA is already served by VIA and has always been:
20210914_111112.jpg

 
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