It is quite possible that CP agreed not to compete with CN on this route. I suspect it happened when CN started operating Turbo, though I could be proven wrong. Not quite sure what your point is, but okay. Canadian Rail fans often confuse VIA Rail's and Amtrak's histories. Don't forget CN...

This argument gets tiring. WRT CPKC, the government wanted a railway to BC, but didn't want to build it themself, so they worked out a deal, with the CPR, if you build a railway, we will give you land. Quid pro quo. Later, when VIA took over CP's passenger service, it was VIA who approached CP...

The problem is funding. VIA wrote a Proposal for Elevated Passenger Platforms for Ottawa Train Station in 2016. They got funding for Stage 1A (which they have completed), but never got the additional funding for Stage 1B (or Stage 2). My guess is the government is waiting for HFR to see if...

I suspect that I am one of the few people on this forum who has talked to PP on multiple occasions in the past (I am in his riding and pre-pandemic he would come door-to-door about every 6 months). I once asked him about his opinions on HFR about 6 years ago, and at the time he hadn't even heard...

Presumably FECI made sure contracts were in place to ensure appropriate contracts were in place to ensure Brightline’s priority when FECR was sold. Something it appears as if the Canadian government didn’t ensure when they sold CN (or asked CP if they could take over their passenger rail...

I was in White Rock, BC today and saw an Amtrak Cascades train using Horizon coaches. I didn’t realize that the Talgo Series VI trainsets had been retired in 2020. Two Talgo Series 8 trainsets are still in use though.

That’s good to hear but shouldn’t come as any great surprise. Canadians often underestimate the population of American cities. The populations of the metropolitan areas on the route are as follows; City State(s) Population 2020 Census[2] Chicago-Naperville-Joliet IL 9,618,502...

Isn’t that what I said, just worded differently? Since half the population lives far away from the Quebec-Windsor corridor, they wouldn’t benefit from investment within the corridor.

Ya, it’s probably cheaper to transport refrigerated and frozen goods by train than it would be to fly them in to the northern communities (like Moosonee).

I’ve said this before but a big difference between the Windsor-Quebec corridor and those “ similar sized” European countries is the Windsor-Quebec corridor isn’t an autonomous country, but part of a larger country with double the population. As a result, unlike those countries, half of the...

The “if” in that sentence is key. I don’t think that the federal government (liberal or conservative) wants to reduce the modal share of the airlines. We are a large country that is heavily reliant on a healthy airline industry to allow people to travel long distances quickly and affordably...

Brightline is taking advantage of an under-utilized freight corridor and they used their real estate profits to pay to double track the vast majority of the shared ROW.

Just like the demise of Grehound in Ontario and Quebec was the catalyst for the provincialisation of intercity bus? Tell that to all the communities that lost intercity bus service as a result. Yes private companies started up providing express service to the major cities but a lot of towns in...

I remember riding my bicycle across the boarder when I was in high school with just my student card (which didn't even have my full name on it). That would never be allowed today.

Google Street View is your friend. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ya5tvq2N2EZydwk2A

That's the heritage livery that most people remember.

I was referring to pre-clearance into the USA, not post-travel, arriving into Canada. I can't find an official reference, but according to this post on Quora: EDIT: Here is an article from The Urbanist in Nov. 2019, which says the same thing. It does indicate that Amtrak was hoping to remove...

Even then, the other problem is that even the former CN ROW didn't go downtown. Imagine if all the tracks to Union Station were torn up in the 60's, so all GO trains terminated at the former North Toronto station, forcing most riders to transfer onto the Young subway line at Summerhill. I do...

The Renfrew Subdivision ROW from Nepean Junction to Arnprior is owned by the city of Ottawa and the track on the ROW is owned by the Arnprior and Nepean Railway (ANR), which is fully owned by Nylene (formerly BASF), the one and only customer on the line. The city also purchased the abandoned...

VIA operates the Maple Leaf north of the boarder. If Amtrak wanted to run an express train the 84 miles (135 km) from Niagara Falls, NY to Union, they probably could (with appropriate permission from the host railway and Transport Canada), but I suspect the economics don't make sense to do so.