News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
A Message to Our Readers
 11K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
EarthCam Time-Lapse Documents Rafael Viñoly-Designed New Stanford Hospital Construction
 43K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
Resort Town
 6.4K     0 

crs1026 said:
We do need more of this first mile/last mile integration..... but the Northlander is not the place to put a priority. Chatham, Ingersoll, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford, St Catherines, Cobourg, Belleville and Smiths Falls might be better places to work these things out. Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville and North Bay would then have more data to copy.

- Paul
Click to expand...
Also, the size of the Muskoka communities, the population distribution, the seasonality of the potential business, and the fact that it is one train per day, do not compare with most of the communities you cite.
 
Personally if our "target" is upper/upper middle class people with cottages the fact that porter couldn't make it work with a 15 min trip time, I doubt the same folks would sit on a train in economy class for however many hours.

1767805218341.png
 
turbanplanner said:
Personally if our "target" is upper/upper middle class people with cottages the fact that porter couldn't make it work with a 15 min trip time, I doubt the same folks would sit on a train in economy class for however many hours.
Click to expand...

It's not that simple. There was a fare differential. Not everyone in cottage country, even the well off, is able to commute regularly at that airfare. It was very much a niche market. The train's market segment is a bit broader than that.

There is also the reality of Highway 400/69 traffic, especially on weekends. Sitting in economy class "for hours" (and working or sipping a drink) is not so bad compared to sitting in traffic for just as long - or longer.

I would not discount the basic idea of people commuting from cottage country on the Northlander. Actually, the service is structured such that even if the overnight service to points further north proves unpopular, the stage is set for retaining a daily round trip service from North Bay to Toronto on a very convenient commutable schedule.

The point is to not run away with that idea faster than the business can actually be grown, or to imagine that the necessary first/last mile connectivity will magically appear on Day 1. To repeat, the immediate priority is to deliver to the farther North communities and attempt to regain the modal share that was lost when the Northlander was cancelled. The short term goal is to fill the train before it even leaves North Bay coming south. Adding the conditions and infra to grow the commuter market is a bit down the road.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
It's not that simple. There was a fare differential. Not everyone in cottage country, even the well off, is able to commute regularly at that airfare. It was very much a niche market. The train's market segment is a bit broader than that.

There is also the reality of Highway 400/69 traffic, especially on weekends. Sitting in economy class "for hours" (and working or sipping a drink) is not so bad compared to sitting in traffic for just as long - or longer.

I would not discount the basic idea of people commuting from cottage country on the Northlander. Actually, the service is structured such that even if the overnight service to points further north proves unpopular, the stage is set for retaining a daily round trip service from North Bay to Toronto on a very convenient commutable schedule.

The point is to not run away with that idea faster than the business can actually be grown, or to imagine that the necessary first/last mile connectivity will magically appear on Day 1. To repeat, the immediate priority is to deliver to the farther North communities and attempt to regain the modal share that was lost when the Northlander was cancelled. The short term goal is to fill the train before it even leaves North Bay coming south. Adding the conditions and infra to grow the commuter market is a bit down the road.

- Paul
Click to expand...
You make a good point, and that's why I mentioned upper class people. I don't know what ONTC will charge but the closest price I can see today to Washago on the Canadian with VIA is $26 and Northland to Bracebridge is $50.
I never booked a ticket with porter google ai says $100-150 starting which lines up with what I remember when browsing. Personally I think the premium travel would happily pay an extra $100 to save several hours.

But yeah as someone with family near Cochrane it's "their train" as someone mentioned
 
Bordercollie said:
For cottage go'ers the train leaves at 6:10 from Toronto and gets to Huntsville for around 9.
Click to expand...
I had a colleague who's cottage was near Smiths Falls and he would take the VIA from Union and have a family member pick him up. Rail or floatplane is the only way I'd want to frequently go to a cottage.
 
micheal_can said:
I have a friend who has a cottage on Oxbow Lake.The cost of taxi to it would be prohibitive. Ford has a cottage in Port Carling. Someone like him would not use it as it also would be cost prohibitive. Maybe some sort of micro transit will happen, but certainly not the first summer.
Click to expand...
Do they have Uber up there? I am sure it will attract rides if the money is right?
 
hw621 said:
Do they have Uber up there? I am sure it will attract rides if the money is right?
Click to expand...
Admiral Beez said:
I had a colleague who's cottage was near Smiths Falls and he would take the VIA from Union and have a family member pick him up. Rail or floatplane is the only way I'd want to frequently go to a cottage.
Click to expand...
The issue with Uber in smaller places is that if there isn’t demand all day you’d have issues finding drivers.

How do you manage food if you aren’t driving in unless you’re somewhere like grand Bend. everywhere I’ve seen you’re gonna need a car to get around for errands etc
 
Bordercollie said:
Taxi from the train station? I'm sure that this will result in more micro transit opportunities in cottage county.
Click to expand...
The cost of taxis up there is insane. Paid 80 dollars to get from gravenhurst to bala about 20 minutes down the road in the winter. Not sure if prices are more competitive in the summer
 
Bordercollie said:
He's saying that the charger is an adaptation of a European rolling stock model that they converted to NA standards.
Click to expand...
My point was that we should be using a better quality manufacture, preferably built in Canada. Unless I'm mistaken, the Charger is built by Siemens, and not in Canada.
 
nfitz said:
My point was that we should be using a better quality manufacture, preferably built in Canada. Unless I'm mistaken, the Charger is built by Siemens, and not in Canada.
Click to expand...
The Turbo FP4 and LRC were all developed in Canada. None of them were ever reliable.

What they could have done is cold weather testing on the prototype locomotive. Amtrak still has problems with their chargers in cold weather.

The F40 and the F59ph are very similar to their freight locomotive cousins and so they had more service time to work out problems. Plus if wasn't anything revolutionary.

The problem is not about where is built. It's about designing specifications to fit the climate.
 
Bordercollie said:
nfitz said:
My point was that we should be using a better quality manufacture, preferably built in Canada. Unless I'm mistaken, the Charger is built by Siemens, and not in Canada.
Click to expand...
The Turbo FP4 and LRC were all developed in Canada. None of them were ever reliable.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct. Which is why I started this by saying:
nfitz said:
Get a European design built by Alstom or something.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top