I read it differently - what is being called a “pocket track” is actually the platform trackage. The graphic appears to indicate a turnout immediately east of the platform, narrowing the two platform tracks to a single new track (a “connecting track” in other terms) which then joins the existing...

That per separation price may be a bit high - certainly some approach that number, but that’s because they involve major highways in fairly tight and urban locations. For high end HSR, the number of separations is high because of the number of low volume minor crossings out in the countryside...

VIA can say only what the government directs them to say. I’m sure they would love to say more. -Paul

Here is Parliament back in session, and the Transport Committee has released some interesting reading about HxR https://www.ourcommons.ca/documentviewer/en/44-1/TRAN/report-18 For those wondering what the Conservatives' position is - they say they need more info before taking a position. But...

I agree that there is not much backlash potential in axing VIA in the east or west, because those voters are already not getting any value from VIA, and it does fit (cosmetically, but appearances matter as much as substance) with an "axe the tax" stance. However I do think the cost and impact of...

Well, it's a fair question - but the list of things unfinished and still unpaid for is still fairly long, so cash flow for more transit is some ways away - GO Expansion and electrification - OL itself - The other signature Ford projects - Richmond Hill, Scarborough Line 2, Crosstown West...

Between Crosstown, Finch, and now this stretch, I hope the message sinks in..... Ontario is getting darn good at building above-ground transit infrastructure. And at reasonable cost. I am really impressed with how well this stretch of the project is coming along. As for underground transit...

Sure, but your definition of "possible" diverges from what's worth discussing. No once-daily train route is economically reasonable except for remote services. A single daily train doesn't generate enough revenue to cover its overhead costs. If there is no corridor, there is no economic basis...

If you want a serious answer, please read the most recent VIA Rail business plan (on their website) as well as the vision statement from the HxR RFQ, and tell us how your suggestion aligns or differs from that. There was also discussion here on UT back when VIA HFR was set up as a separate...

Yeah, kinda peaceful, isn’t it ? - Paul

This is the thing..... when you need a car, you need it badly. A sample of one -but - I commute once or twice weekly from Humber Bay to north Waterloo. The activity in Waterloo begins at 07:30 and ends at about 16:30. There is no venue for such activity in central Toronto, and no non-auto means...

Sounds like a dozen or so headwalls are needed at various points along this tunnelling drive. This one may or may not have been planned all along...

The restoration on the Kodak building is a really well done project, but nobody has seen the end product in operation... the problem being, until the LRT opens, it cannot be properly offered to the pubic. So it sits unused..... but when it eventuallly opens, it's a lovely public venue that will...

Internal studies, yes. If you can find a Hatch report titled "Hamilton Junction Feasibility Study", which was produced back around 2017, you may see what the thinking was at that time. ML has (of course) removed this document from its original link...

In all my years of taking the subway I rarely found the wifi to work. Maybe if there was a service delay and I was on a platform. But on train? Useless. Why are we obsessed with perfection in the wifi/5G/whatever comms when the subway's PA system is so terrible? And the next train displays so...

The fourth track has been planned on paper. The challenge is, it is better placed on the north side, and that would mean additional impacts and cost (moving the heritage station is one, but not the biggest from a technical perspective). I suspect it would sink the price tag if done at the same...

I agree, I don't understand why Mount Dennis GO is in an unfinished state. By now, it ought to be ready for use. But Caledonia GO doesn't exist - hasn't been built yet. The Crosstown station has no connection to the tracks yet, and there is no platform at all. - Paul

Stop-and-go traffic on 401 from Tremaine to Town Line is now a 2-way, all-day, 7/week reality. That line could fill 30 minute trains today, 15 at peak. Ridiculous that ML isn't moving faster. - Paul

Even better -they will extend the subway to Cloverdale and none of the Miway/GO bus routes will need to come that far east. I keep saying, Kipling Terminal is the best Farmers' Market venue that 2035 will ever need.. - PUl

One needs to differentiate between capital investment and operating subsidy. Capital investment is the big ticket part of the public investment in passenger rail, not operating subsidies. So far, we have a very poor model for infusing public capital into a private system. The railways do not...