The last proposal was pretty flawed and lacked a lot of creativity. Not to mention it would have been drawn up in the early to mid 90's and in that time a lot has changed. Not just in terms of how cities have grown, but also transportation patterns. If you start to examine possible routes in...

I thought the DOTT for the N-S lrt line was set for around 2016 but with all the changes to the project it may well have changed at some point. Either way, in terms of its affect on HSR or regional rail it wouldn't make any difference in terms of timelines. I don't expect regional rail for a...

I want to say that most of the grade separations on the current VIA line could be twinned (save the Rideau River bridge) but I could be mistaken. Right now the three major at grade crossings that remain are the diamond crossing across the O-Train line, and Woodroffe and Fallowfield. The...

Walkley yards is not far from the station itself really and would provide very little time savings in the end. A Toronto to Montreal route that goes through Ottawa instead of along the Lakeshore is going to be about 100 km longer and add about 30 minutes to the overall travel time (between...

Though the greenbelt is not super developed, it still has enough development that it would be an expropriation nightmare. Not to mention the NCC would never let it happen. Politically it would be a mess, even by Ottawa standards. Pushing it a bit further south would likely work well. Its...

Im not sure if that bridge could be twinned or not. Im not sure if that would much help anyways, depending on what speeds the bridge could allow even with upgrades (right now trains slow down to about 60 km/h when they cross it). One of the problems, or unique aspects, with Ottawa is that it...

The existing station is not perfect, but its not terrible either. With the LRT network U of O, The Byward Market and the CBD/Parliment zone will be a 4-7 minute trip. And yes the Queensway can be busy, but the airport is not much better in terms of access. Barrhaven did a lot to improve...

One last post for the night (probably). Pricing and services are perfect examples of how to make the idea more attractive, and how good network design can play a role. Serving local stops means overall trip times between major cities are slower (though they would still offer large time...

The problem is you cant avoid the costs. If you start cutting the budget you end up with something vastly inferior. What you can do is find a way to maximize the value of the network. Really i think that point we agree on. When the 401 was built they didnt try to build off of highway 2. They...

Except it would be 22 minutes if trains could run through most of Ottawa at top speed. Right now it takes 20 minutes to go from Barrhaven to the main station. God luck sending trains through that section at high speed. You could build a station at the airport as someone suggested but do you...

Except it isnt that cheap too just fix up the tracks and electrify a line. Electrification is roughly $2 million per kilometer per track (dropping a little bit per track with each additional track). Depending on how bad the existing tracks are you could be looking at another $1 or 2 million per...

The big thing about just upgrading existing corridors (and by that I mean electrifying and adding tracks right next to the existing lines) i that you will spend a lot of money for relatively little improvment. At best some section might hit 200 km/h but since many can support 160 km/h as it is...

Not only would a northern bypass be quite expensive but Ottawa's gain would Montreals lose. Given Montreal is 3 or 4 times the size of Ottawa 20 minutes extra on a Toronto-Ottawa trip to have service to the lakeshore and St Lawrence communities and the fatest travel time between Montreal and...

My own thoughts on how it should be phased. 1. Ensure that any work required to run HS trains on Toronto and Montreal inner city networks is started. I would also include an upgraded line from Hamilton to Niagara Falls that could support speed of 200 km/h (the maximum for classic lines)...

For better or worse the current O-Train line is going to become part of the future LRT network. This means it will be grade separated from heavy rail crossings thus allowing LRV's to run on it. Considering FRA compliant DMU's is a non starter. Personally, I think this line should have been left...

Really freight will make gains by simply having VIA off their tracks. And from a technical point having containers on flatbeds speeding along at 300km/h seems a little dodgy. I'm sure there would be ways to secure it down tightly, but then you would probably lose time doing so (not to mention...

So the emails I sent off to GO and AMT really didn't provide much insight. Questions about the Lakeshore and Vaudreuil-Hudson lines were not answered because there was not enough information about them at this time. Overall, these projects are being developed independently of VIA or future...

Don't forget that HSR lines are grade separated where as current rail lines through rural areas more often than not have level crossings. You still have to build bridges/viaducts/tunnels over or under roads anyways. And there are still going to be issues with rail dependent businesses next to...

I was thinking more along the lines that the HSR route would parallel either the CN or CP line. If they could be consolidated then yes, that would eliminate the problem. But could that realistically happen? And I say that not actually knowing the answer. When it comes to planning out the exact...

True. There are some sections, much of what is west of London, as you've said, where the existing rail right of ways could potentially be used. Of course it isn't completely straightforward since there has to be a buffer between CN/CP/freight lines (the high speed of the trains can cause...