https://www.goldstreamgazette.com/news/passenger-rail-plan-loses-1m-commitment-from-nanaimo-regional-district-555823 The Regional District of Nanaimo has pulled its support for passenger rail and the ICF. Honestly, this is a pretty big win for the "Just take the bus" school of thought in...

This is a good point. Really, an organization like VIA should have these numbers on total external economic impact on hand for itself to justify its existence and defend itself from political attacks. I think the fact that we're having this discussion is telling of an important fact. VIA is...

This is something that I was trying to highlight on the non-corridor thread. It really feels like the idea that VIA will survive the Pollievre super-majority outside of the corridor is either naive or a coping mechanism. I think the only comforting thought is that services like the Ocean, and...

I'm not sure what you mean by this, since I am referring to passenger services outside the corridor, as the thread would suggest. In that specific service category, we are doing worse than 20 years ago. But as for VIA as an organization, where is your point of disagreement? In the best case...

A big question mark that I believe is hanging over VIA is whether there will be a new fleet at all. With a coming CPC supermajority, it's unlikely that even HFR will survive, let alone the large capital expenditure on a new fleet for unaffordable, lightly patroned services which don't serve an...

I've been thinking about this a bit, and I came to some conclusions. With Barrie, it was a logical extension of an existing line, had a good station location, and Barrie has far greater potential, to grow, densify and be a regional hub. With Niagara Falls, there was significant tourist demand...

Who cares if we close the door? The case for rail to Cambridge will never be there. Not least on this corridor. The population and travel patterns will never be the right mix to make this a wise investment. Canada's population will start shrinking before then. In that case, if the land can be...

https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/region-says-cambridge-go-train-has-good-chance-of-moving-forward-8463386 After attending the information session, it's hard not to get the impression that this is all but dead. I agree with Paul Langan on this one that a forced transfer will just kill...

There's also something to be said that the idea of ION stage 2 happening at all is laughable. A brutally slow service, as you point out, for $4.5 billion! There is no sense there. No government will ever provide funding for such a poor value project. If I'm not mistaken, the Region is already...

I just want to take this opportunity to once again reiterate how dumb the Cambridge to Guelph GO project is. I'm fairly certain the coming update will just kill off the project. $500 million for a shuttle! Just run a bus! And having a station at Pinebush is so far out of Cambridge where people...

I don't understand why people are so averse to busses. Busses are equally capable of providing a comfortable ride experience to train. I have taken many long distance bus journies before and what ever you get with a train is not worth the massive cost. The north would be better served by a...

2026? Perhaps there is still time to avert this disaster. I feel I'm a voice in the wilderness on this, but busses are more than adequate on this corridor. For the money the government will spend on this, you could have hourly busses between Timmins and Toronto which will make the journey...

https://betterislandtransit.ca/goals I feel like it is worth sharing the page of this new advocacy group here. Better Island Transit is advocating for affordable and frequent bus services for Vancouver Island. From their goals page, there is a very important statement which pertains...

Serious question. Is renewing the long-distance fleet the right move? With the likely billions we will spend, we could probably establish and equip a universal and frequent national bus network. Any equipment order would likely only be sufficient to maintain the existing poor frequency which...

Again, I don't really see what this does that a dedicated bus lane running from Hespeler to Guelph couldn't do. I still feel like it is a bad decision relying on the ION so heavily to draw population to the service. The ION is a slow, glorified streetcar and the fact that Pinebush is so far out...

If the Fergus Spur is the "the only realistic chance", maybe it's time to dismiss the idea of passenger rail to Cambridge. The proposed routing to Pinebush has very poor connectivity, and as noted by others, busses would provide a vastly better service at a much lower cost. The reality is that...

They are down to one customer in Cambridge with service once per week. That's a lot of track miles and several high maintenance bridges and crossing for very little revenue. CN wants out of the Fergus Spur and the only reason it has stuck around this long is because they are speculating on...

https://www.paullangan.com/2023/12/go-trains-to-cambridge-solving-40-year.html?m=1 Great article about GO service to Cambridge. Pours some cold water on the Fergus Spur plan as there are some proposed developments on adjacent properties along the rail corridor which will prevent expanded rail...

https://www.cheknews.ca/planning-meetings-underway-for-island-rail-corridors-future-1179040/ Looks like we're headed for the inevitable. There is zero hope of a rail revival here. Almost every stakeholder, including the First Nations are against it. A railway on Vancouver Island is entirely...

I had been considering this earlier, but this discussion has reignited my interest. I'm considering organising an advocacy campaign to fight the return of the Northlander. It could be politically unpopular, but there might be a chance to get the government to back down on this. Perhaps if other...