[Bojaxs]

If you use only a highway as a reference point

Who says I am? And even if I were, so what? Everyone is talking about improving transit in order to take more cars off the 401. It's not just me. Politicians are talking about it as well.

Does improving the Kitchener line not serve a purpose? I think it does. Easy access to DT Kitchener without a car.

Does improving the Kitchener line take cars off the 401? Yes.
Does it make it easier for people, who don't own a car, to move across the GTA and allow them to sustain a "car free" lifestyle? Yes.

Does Lakeshore West take cars off the QEW? Yes.
Should that be used as a barometer for the LSW success? I would think so. You disagree?

 

[jje1000]

Given that Doug Ford was the one who cancelled the Missing Link in the first place, this is presumably pre-election empty promises, similarly to how he promised to upgrade the tracks between Kitchener and London during the last election.

I'm concerned that this announcement will put the brakes on the current plans for all-day two-way service to Kitchener. Reading between the lines of the Kitchener expansion business case, CN's approval for that service is dependent on upgrades to the CN Halton sub between Georgetown and Bramalea, including expensive items such as triple tracking Brampton station, quad-tracking Mt Pleasant and building a rail-to-rail grade separation west of Mount Pleasant. If a Missing Link were going to be built, all those upgrades would become redundant and would presumably be cancelled.

Yes, put me in the skeptic column, but on the other hand, Doug Ford is one to spin on a dime depending on the direction the political winds are blowing.

Still, I think any new rail bypasses will be far off into the future.

 

[crs1026]

Sorry, when I was thinking GO in the Hydro corridor, I was thinking heavy rail GO as we currently know it.

I'm not smart enough to know the interplay between electric rail running in close proximity to six 230Kv circuits. I would imagine linear induction, which was the 'tech du jour' back then, would have been 'interesting'.

I grew up in a house that backed on to the corridor; over our backyard fence was the corridor. The ROW varies in width, but at that stretch, the distance between the private property boundaries and the nearest circuit is about 12-15 metres; in a couple of spots it is around five.

There are already plenty of places where high voltage lines and rail lines run very close to each other. I don't think there is a technical reason why the two are incompatible.

As I understand it, Hydro wants control of what goes on in their space.... all it takes is one construction crane or dump truck with its bed raised to contact a sagging conductor, and bad things will happen. Or a work vehicle snagging a pylon. And the added complexity of coordinating work between agencies, ensuring and trusting the other agency is applying the necessary training and safe work practices, policing sub contractors, etc....their concern is well placed. And their own protection of future capacity is material

All the same, before taking on the land acquisition costs and burden of squeezing a new transit line alongside a freight rail line, I wouldn't dismiss the idea out of hand. It's worth a look.

- Paul

 

[Metroscapes]

A couple things to note about hydro corridors:

• The corridor along the 407 is mostly 500kV lines. This is the backbone of Ontario's whole transmission system. As difficult as Hydro One are to work with, some of their stubbornness in this corridor is warranted. This is the highest voltages and the most critical to the whole grid.
• Pipelines often share the corridor as well. I don't have a good grasp of what, if any, are in the 407 corridor but would not be surprised if there were some.

 

[catcher_of_cats]

A couple things to note about hydro corridors:

• The corridor along the 407 is mostly 500kV lines. This is the backbone of Ontario's whole transmission system. As difficult as Hydro One are to work with, some of their stubbornness in this corridor is warranted. This is the highest voltages and the most critical to the whole grid.
• Pipelines often share the corridor as well. I don't have a good grasp of what, if any, are in the 407 corridor but would not be surprised if there were some.

There is at least one pipeline buried on the south side of the 407 near the Credit River

 

[guavadelic]

Constructing the 407 freight bypass and allowing more frequent and better service on the Kitchener line would do a lot to take cars off the 401.

I would like to think that once the other lines get up to the same service levels as the Lakeshore line, then Union station will be used more as a transfer point to get from one side of the GTA to the other.

I'm certain there's a lot of people who live west of Toronto who ride the Kitchener, Milton, LSW lines into Union, and then transfer onto the Lakeshore East to go into Durham.

The bypass would also facilitate building the much talked about multi-modal transit hub at Pearson, with intercity connections to points in Southern Ontario. While freight is constricting capacity on that line, "Union Station West" wouldn't really make sense.

That would provide further congestion relief, especially around that busy 401/427 interchange.

 

[guavadelic]

Yes, put me in the skeptic column, but on the other hand, Doug Ford is one to spin on a dime depending on the direction the political winds are blowing.

Still, I think any new rail bypasses will be far off into the future.

If Bonnie makes the Missing Link a big part of her transit platform, I could see Ford making a stronger commitment in order to box her out.