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VIA Rail

drum118 said:
Big different between Canada and the World, Canada doesn't own or control rail corridors like the EU. We don't even have high speed rail nor is electrify where most places have it as well in the process of electrify lines.

They are also stopping air flights over X hours where there is high speed lines. They are also more density in smaller area while Canada can put most of those counties in the backyard. They been around for over 500 years while Canada is younger than that.

You are talking about a few $100 Billions to put in a rail system that may come close to the EU and everyone will be dead before it haft built, if that.

Train travel in NA is expensive than Europe as well air travel.

Look at the major cities in Canada to see where rail can run with 4-6 hours from it that can support seeing a train every 3-6 hours vs seeing hourly in Europe

I look forward riding the rails in Europe if travel time is max 6 hours, otherwise I will fly for the 1.5-3 hour flight. Overnight trains are not in the pictures after 3 trips on them.
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It's helpful if changing govts don't cancel infrastructure projects when they come into power just because of ideological differences. Just look at the hsr work that was immediately cancelled by Ford. Now to restart it'll be an additional $2B.

Looking at the us most of their rail is owned by the freight lines but they've been expanding and theomir network hasn't been devastated by cuts. Hoping that private companies like brightline can step up and fill the void. Wonder how the Calgary Edmonton line can be done
 
drum118 said:
Big different between Canada and the World, Canada doesn't own or control rail corridors like the EU. We don't even have high speed rail nor is electrify where most places have it as well in the process of electrify lines.

They are also stopping air flights over X hours where there is high speed lines. They are also more density in smaller area while Canada can put most of those counties in the backyard. They been around for over 500 years while Canada is younger than that.

You are talking about a few $100 Billions to put in a rail system that may come close to the EU and everyone will be dead before it haft built, if that.

Train travel in NA is expensive than Europe as well air travel.

Look at the major cities in Canada to see where rail can run with 4-6 hours from it that can support seeing a train every 3-6 hours vs seeing hourly in Europe

I look forward riding the rails in Europe if travel time is max 6 hours, otherwise I will fly for the 1.5-3 hour flight. Overnight trains are not in the pictures after 3 trips on them.
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Have you seen the recent investment into Amtrak?

There is no political reason for the conservatives to eliminate VIA rail. Also considering that their voter base is in non urban areas, good luck getting elected in the next election if you eliminate the rural Quebec trains or Churchill. There are better cuts he could make to eliminate the National dental and prescription drug plan. Less affluent people tent not to vote conservative so social assistance and those services will likely be his first target. Those services that help the poor don't matter to rich people, they have drug plans covered by their employer, as with the dental plan.
 
cplchanb said:
It's helpful if changing govts don't cancel infrastructure projects when they come into power just because of ideological differences. Just look at the hsr work that was immediately cancelled by Ford. Now to restart it'll be an additional $2B.
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The Wynne government’s HSR plan could have hardly been less sincere than the election stunt it was with the only visible signs of action (pulling the idea like a rabit out of the hat, announcing an EA study and publishing a report) always coincided with the final months of provincial election campaigns.

Any provincial government serious about HSR would get the federal government on board. Instead, Wynne’s government lambasted VIA for having the audacity of persuing a similar (though much more modest) project somewhere else in the Q-W Corridor. Conversely, the QC complained publicly about not being included in the HFR project - and that’s the whole story of why HxR includes QM, but excludes SWO, even though the opposite would make now (with the REM’s seizure of the Mont-Royal tunnel a fait accompli) much more sense…
 
Bordercollie said:
Honestly, elimination of the national passenger rail system would make us a disgrace among G7 countries. I doubt that the conservatives would want to be in that position. Every other country in the world is spending money on passenger rail, to eliminate it would make us a laughing stock.
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Name me one portfolio that Canada is better at of the G7 countries? As you go through the list, we are not good at much.

Bordercollie said:
And although they lost this by election, I don't think the liberals are finished just yet. Don't forget that the conservatives have no plan on the environment or housing for that matter.

Perhaps the best thing to happen would be for Mr Trudeau to step down and for the Liberals to choose a new leader (NOT Christa Freeland). Someone outside of the Trudeau circle. Then they may have a chance.
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The problem is, if Trudeau steps down, the most likely ones who will get it are his inner circle. The only hope we have is that vote splitting does not happen. PP's base don't care about how he will fix it, he has catchy slogans that they like.
 
Urban Sky said:
The Wynne government’s HSR could have hardly been less sincere than the election stunt where the only visible signs of action (pulling the idea like a rabit out of the hat, announcing an EA study and publishing a report) always coincided with election campaigns.

Any provincial government serious about HSR would get the federal government on board. Instead, Wynne’s government lambasted VIA for having the audacity of persuing a similar (though much more modest) project somewhere else in the Q-W Corridor. Conversely, the QC complained publicly about not being included in the HFR project - and that’s the whole story of why HxR includes QM, but excludes SWO…
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It was about as serious as John Tory's Smartrack.
 
micheal_can said:
Name me one portfolio that Canada is better at of the G7 countries? As you go through the list, we are not good at much
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Maybe Healthcare and diversity?
Seriously though when "inferior" countries like morroco, Thailand, Indonesia Malaysia and India building or already having hsr or hfr we are already a laughing stock and don't belong to G7
 
cplchanb said:
Maybe Healthcare and diversity?
Seriously though when "inferior" countries like morroco, Thailand, Indonesia Malaysia and India building or already having hsr or hfr we are already a laughing stock and don't belong to G7
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One of the big reasons much of the world has good passenger rail systems is due to the destruction of WW2 and other wars. When you need to rebuild your transportation system and you need to move as many people as you can, rails make sense.

For those other countries, you get more bang for buck with rails than paved roads.
 
micheal_can said:
One of the big reasons much of the world has good passenger rail systems is due to the destruction of WW2 and other wars. When you need to rebuild your transportation system and you need to move as many people as you can, rails make sense.

For those other countries, you get more bang for buck with rails than paved roads.
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Well it's not like we had nothing.... we had a huge rail network. Even our cities had extensive suburban rail for streetcars and inter urban trains.
It's mainly politically driven and also thanks to automobile lobbyists
 
cplchanb said:
Well it's not like we had nothing.... we had a huge rail network. Even our cities had extensive suburban rail for streetcars and inter urban trains.
It's mainly politically driven and also thanks to automobile lobbyists
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We had a heyday and then we raced to the bottom. That race doesn't seem to have happened to Europe.
 
cplchanb said:
Seems like their oil lobbyists over there weren't as strong or they had a more progressive culture. Somewhere in the 1960s onwards it seemed like we just gave up any ambition to expand our infrastructure
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Since we still haven't hit bottom yet, the next government can keep pushing downwards. I'm guessing that when we have an election after a PP term, all that will be left of Via will be the Corridor service. Maybe the Canadian might survive, but with the aging equipment it cannot last much longer. I really hope I am wrong.
 
micheal_can said:
Since we still haven't hit bottom yet, the next government can keep pushing downwards. I'm guessing that when we have an election after a PP term, all that will be left of Via will be the Corridor service. Maybe the Canadian might survive, but with the aging equipment it cannot last much longer. I really hope I am wrong.
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Populism usually leaves the other side reeling and destitute
 
Urban Sky said:
To say something positive about rail in this country, I struggle to name a jurisdiction which invests as massively and continuously into public transit as Ontario does in the GTHA…
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Montreal is doing a good job with their REM as well.

If operating rail across provincial boundaries wasn't so challenging, I would not be lamenting over the loss of Via.
 
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