[CapitalSeven]

I mean there's a dude here who keeps telling us that Alexandria deserves an HSR stop because it's about to become a major suburb of Ottawa....

I do sort of wonder what will happen to that VIA track post-HSR. By 2040 some sort of regional line between Alexandria and Ottawa with more stops could be viable. I'm not saying the word.

 

[Thaboss]

Public consultations have launched for Canada's proposed high-speed rail network


Did anyone manage to go ?

 

[roger1818]

I posted this over on SSP:

I went to the meeting last night and while much of what I saw I already knew, I was able to glean a bit from my discussions:

• I gather the dark purple parts on the map are station locations.
• They are considering a second station in Toronto, but they aren't currently considering a second station in Ottawa.
• Even if they use the southern route to Toronto, they aren't currently considering a station for Kingston.
• The person I was talking to said she personally prefers the southern route to Toronto for environmental reasons, but she is only one vote.
• Regarding Dorval, no decision has been made, but there currently aren't plans for a station there.
• They definitely would not share the tunnel with the REM but would dig a new one instead.
• The current thought would be for trains to/from both Quebec and Ottawa to use the same tunnel in Montreal.

 

[TwoWheelPoli]

Public consultations have launched for Canada's proposed high-speed rail network


Did anyone manage to go ?

That link is not related to Alto, but rather Alberta.

 

[Sauga89]

• The current thought would be for trains to/from both Quebec and Ottawa to use the same tunnel in Montreal.

Won't that create unnecessary capacity constraints? You'd think they'd want EXO to be able to use a tunnel like this, and get the most usage out of such a tunnel.

I wouldn't mind going through Laval, and by-passing Dorval if it meant Alto crossing over to the south shore, perhaps with a stop in Longueuil. They could then follow the old rail line to Sorel-Tracy, where they could cross back to the north shore. This would also make a future extension to Sherbrooke more feasible.

It seems a bit silly to build such an expensive tunnel, only to have it dead-end in a stub-end station.

More broadly, if you're not going over the Ottawa River through Bayview/Gatineau, and you're not crossing to the south shore of Montreal, I don't see the benefit of this Laval routing. I feel like we're repeating California's Bakersfield to Fresno mistake, where the politicians determined the route had to include certain cities.

I think this downtown Montreal tunnel is either likely to be pruned for cost reasons, or something which will be less utilized than it should be.

 

[MisterF]

That's where the original Transitway station was.
View attachment 710070

It sucked because you always needed to cross the crazy pickup/dropoff lanes and bus lanes in front of the station to get between the OC Transpo station and the Via Rail station. The current location is much better since it allows people to connect between the stations without crossing the main roadways.

In the other hand, it was a fully covered, mostly indoors connection to the transitway station. So the new LRT station is a downgrade in that sense.

 

[Thaboss]

My bad

That link is not related to Alto, but rather Alberta.

Link has been updated!

 

[Islington Express Bus]

 

[kEiThZ]

Add Kingston! Add Fallowfield! Add Ottawa Union! Move Peterborough station downtown!

The risk of scope creep is growing. I really hope the project staff have both the gumption and authority to refuse all this. Nothing will kill this faster than adding billions to the build and slowing service.

 

[crs1026]

Add Kingston! Add Fallowfield! Add Ottawa Union! Move Peterborough station downtown!

The risk of scope creep is growing. I really hope the project staff have both the gumption and authority to refuse all this. Nothing will kill this faster than adding billions to the build and slowing service.

Life imitates art.

Alto will no doubt become a real-life enactment of the film The Grand Seduction, with every small town politician along the route hatching flawed and unwise schemes to attract an Alto station.

Unfortunately, the tragedy side of this comedy is, some may succeed.

- Paul

 

[nfitz]

Life imitates art.

Alto will no doubt become a real-life enactment of the film The Grand Seduction, with every small town politician along the route hatching flawed and unwise schemes to attract an Alto station.

Unfortunately, the tragedy side of this comedy is, some may succeed.

And why not? It's not like most trains would ever stop at these places. Though I don't see that downtown Peterborough is on, if they are looking at Greenfield alignments.

I'm not sure why Peterborough is necessarily going to get any service if the fringes of Kingston are on the table. Going back to VIA's 1980s alignments south of Rice Lake would surely be a better choice.

 

[lrt's friend]

I went to the Ottawa Alto consultation. First, the current plan has Alto going into Montreal via Laval and a new Mount Royal tunnel. There will be no stop in Dorval although I expressed a desire for that. This is more important for Ottawa residents who would like easier access to YUL for international flights. I can see the point of current leaning as only one route is needed into downtown Montreal to serve both Ottawa-Montreal and Quebec City-Montreal.

I also expressed the need to have reasonable fares with more opportunity to just go to the station and get on a train or buy a ticket on-line same day. I told the rep that we need to fashion service more like in Europe and Asia. You don't have to buy tickets weeks in advance. If you want to gain ridership as they hope, you shouldn't have to preplan your trip way in advance. Otherwise, the majority will remain in their cars. Who do we want as passengers? Just short-haul flight passengers? Then charge $250 Ottawa to Toronto and require ticket purchase a month in advance. If you want car passengers, charge $75 and have ample seating. High volumes of passengers may generate more revenue and get more out of vehicles, out of planes and off the highways.

Price-point and seat availability are crucial for success.

 

[Towered]

Add Kingston! Add Fallowfield! Add Ottawa Union! Move Peterborough station downtown!

The risk of scope creep is growing. I really hope the project staff have both the gumption and authority to refuse all this. Nothing will kill this faster than adding billions to the build and slowing service.

I really hope this project doesn't devolve into another political tennis ball - "such and such hamlet DESERVES ALTO SERVICE!!!!!!!"

 

[lrt's friend]

We will let the planners chose the best station locations. They need to hear the public though who will express their opinions. I have expressed my opinion.

I will say one thing as an Ottawa resident. Some local residents are poo-poo-ing Fallowfield as an Alto station location. It has been a VIA station since 2002.

This is what the Ottawa Citizen said on March 28, 2002:

"VIA Rail will spend $1.2M on a new station in Barrhaven that will cut travel time to Toronto for west-end residents and make the train more competitive with planes." It further elaborates beyond that.

This station is integrated with a transit hub that has many local bus connections, and Transitway bus rapid transit service. It is slated for eventual LRT service and has a large Park n Ride lot. Seems ideal, doesn't it?

The population of Barrhaven has probably doubled since the station opening to 110,000 with Riverside South (25,000) and Kanata-Stittsville (approaching 150,000) adjacent. This is at least 25% of Ottawa's population.

I get this whole business about project creep, but if Alto goes through this station, it should stop there., If Alto follows another corridor, that is a different story.

Arguing against it is like those who argue against a suburban Alto station somewhere in northeast Toronto. As long as it is a major transit hub, there should be one (and only one)

The other possible Ottawa station locations are the existing Tremblay Station or downtown. Neither are easy to access from west and southwest Ottawa, especially in peak hours when all east-west roads are jammed with traffic. Note the newspaper quote about Fallowfield was designed to get air passengers to switch to rail. If we eliminate Fallowfield, the most direct travel route to Tremblay Station passes Ottawa airport.

Tremblay Station is more convenient for me, so I don't have a vested interest in advocating for Fallowfield as continuing to be a second Ottawa Station..

 

[zang]

Has there been any talk of boarding procedures? Because frankly, if they make this thing work like Via, I'd rather shoot myself in the goolies. There's no need for weighing luggage or long lines before the train. Hell, people start lining up a more than an hour in advance of the corridor trip to Montreal on a train where every seat is reserved. Tickets get checked twice, sometimes three times overall. It feels like a make-work program. A better make work program would be running more frequent trains, but I digress... I've ridden trains elsewhere and I have no idea why we do it this way. Oversized luggage can either require a reserved seat or on-board staff can charge you to store it somewhere else, per Shinkansen. No need for weighing it before it even gets on the train, especially if the line is set to be electrified and fuel isn't a concern.