[crs1026]

Considering that the Federal money is deficit spending, and the Ontario money is deficit spending, I'm not sure I'm delighted that Wynne is so quick to say there is new money available. Kind of like when I offer to pay for some of my adult kids' necessities, and they respond "great - now I can afford to go drinking".

But yeah, if this led to advancing work on the DRL, I would be good with that.

- Paul

 

[TOareaFan]

so essentially the feds are giving $1.9 billion, then letting the province take that extra cash and spend it on more things?

I'm hoping we see more grade separations.

What I'm betting is that the capital funding will be accelerated now.

The province likes to stretch its funding timelines as much as possible, so The 1.8 billion from the feds (which seems more willing to spend quickly) will allow for accelerated work, even if only slightly.

the fed money really will be spent quickly.....it is coming from an infrastructure fund set up, and funded, by the previous government.....but the provinces never came forward with projects.....this is part of a push by the current government to get this money out and spent and I read one report that noted that provinces (including Ontario) were told to come up with projects that were ready to go or they would start dealing directly with cities.

So not only is this not new money in terms of ReR....but it is not even new money by federal standards......I doubt that Mr. Harper's government will get any credit for this...but they did set this money aside and it seems awfully political that Ontario did not accept it until now.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ottawa-trudeau-go-transit-1.4049370?cmp=rss

 

[steveintoronto]

There are obviously legitimate questions as to how the infusion of this money is allocated, and the knock-on effect, and subsidiary to Northern's concerns, this allocation is a political decision, not a fact based business case one, albeit that could probably (and should probably) be made and available for review and adjustment with other factors being considered.

This is crucial:
[This investment – provided through the New Building Canada Fund – will create good, well-paying middle class jobs, and support a modern, efficient transit system, which will result in a faster commute, less time in traffic, and more money in Ontarians’ pockets as they trade their cars for public transit.

Along with the province’s contribution to the GO Transit Regional Express rail project, this investment will be the single largest transit project in which the federal government has ever invested‎.]

My unease isn't over the investment, it has to happen, and should have happened prior, but the framework for multiplying this investment (The Investment/Infrastructure Bank, and second/third party co-funding and *oversight*) is needed to maximize Northern's gist on 'dribs and drabs'.

The sooner The Bank is up and running, the sooner we can ostensibly enter an era of greater focused and leveraged government (taxpayer) investment and return.

 

[steveintoronto]

So not only is this not new money in terms of ReR....but it is not even new money by federal standards......I doubt that Mr. Harper's government will get any credit for this...but they did set this money aside and it seems awfully political that Ontario did not accept it until now.

"Previous government's money?" This was itemized in the previous Budget Statement of this sitting regime.

Edit to Add: Here's the misleading reference from the Cdn Press:
[The federal dollars will come from the marquee infrastructure program set up by the previous Conservative government that the Liberals are now pushing provinces to start allocating to projects — or else watch the money flow directly to cities.]
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...frastructure-cash-for-go-transit-project.html

The delivery shell was established by the Harper regime:
http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/nbcf-nfcc-eng.html
http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/apply-application-eng.html

Note!
[National Infrastructure Component
At this time, Infrastructure Canada is no longer accepting additional applications under the 2014 NBCF –National Infrastructure Component (NIC).

Please note that the Provincial Territorial Infrastructure Component remains an available source of funds for project as part of the New Building Canada Fund until March 31, 2018.

The Government is currently engaging provinces, territories, municipal and Indigenous leaders, as well as global institutional investors and other stakeholders to identify the right mix of infrastructure funding programs to meet Canadians' needs and to position Canada's economy for the future.]

The actual money was allocated in the Budget six months ago as an unitemized bloc. It's only the Budget Update of a few weeks back that started to itemize (it's still far from complete) as to how and where this bloc of money was to be spent. There will be more announcements as the Guv is on tour to do it. It is a bit like Christmas...

Forget the sweets, bring on the Investment Bank, and this will get far more serious in terms of the heavy lifting.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

After today's announcement, it is interesting to see electrification all the way to Kitchener reflected in Infrastructure Canada's GO RER Map.

 

[raptor]

After today's announcement, it is interesting to see electrification all the way to Kitchener reflected in Infrastructure Canada's GO RER Map.

RER does not equal Electrification. RER = two way all day (frequent) service.

 

[TOareaFan]

RER does not equal Electrification. RER = two way all day (frequent) service.

yes...but it was never intended (on the KW line) to go all the way to KW

 

[raptor]

yes...but it was never intended (on the KW line) to go all the way to KW

Same be said about Barrie?
I wouldn't read into that graphic too much.

 

[steveintoronto]

After today's announcement, it is interesting to see electrification all the way to Kitchener reflected in Infrastructure Canada's GO RER Map.

What's more interesting to me about that Tweet is the *political slant* of this. It's beyond odd (albeit in a good way) that the Feds are now grabbing the limelight as they put themselves in the driver's seat on this. This may portend a very different policy on transportation, especially rail from the Feds, even *within provincial borders*! Methinks they're preparing a steroid injection for VIA, fingers crossed.

Edit to Add: Could this also be the good news before the bad (depending on how you view this)? Are they also going to say "NO" as much as 'yes' to some projects, like the SSE and REM? I hope they do! This budget must be spent wisely on proven and reviewed studies, both engineering and financial cases made. McCuaig's appointment as "Advisor" was no coincidence to the nascent Investment Bank.

 

[Kitsune]

Well Paris RER does have a 100km and 190km line, so I dont think its that far fetched to run RER all the way to Kitchener and Barrie.

 

[andrewpmk]

The Stouffville line is missing from the map.

Also I notice that the map shows electrification all the way to both stations in Hamilton.

 

[Allandale25]

Fully agree with the comment by TOareaFan that operational/service improvements are key so we'll have to wait and see how this impacts that. It looks like the Province/GO won't be providing an update on discussions with CN Rail as that was the caveat to the off-peak promise. If there's a different government in 2018 we'll have to see if they handle the rail companies differently or expectations/communications on service.

Also, I had to remind myself of the overall GO RER budget. See below from the recent 2017 Metrolinx Board meeting. So, the federal money is 14% of the overall GO RER budget and as Alex has just shown, it appears that it's directed to three lines: Barrie, Kitchener, Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East. Interestingly, the infographic says "$1.898B" but if you add up the allotments for the those lines below it's $4.176B. I wonder if the Kitchener and LSE lines included the bypass and Bowmanville extension.

1. Barrie 1,506,000,000.00
2. Kitchener 1,534,000,000.00
3. LSE 735,000,000.00
4. LSW 401,000,000.00
   
   Total 4,176,000,000.00

In terms of electrification west of Bramalea post the June 2016 Announcement, guess we'll have to wait and see if that'll enable electrification to extend all the way to Kitchener. It's not clear at the moment as far as I can tell, but if there has been a definitive statement don't hesitate to correct me.

February 2017 report (page 2):

 

[nhui06]

What happened to the Stouffville line? I thought that was going to get electrification before Barrie (especially if Tory's 'SmartTrack' is still in play)?

 

[SaugeenJunction]

RER does not equal Electrification. RER = two way all day (frequent) service.

Yes obviously. Green Lines = RER Lines, the yellow surrounding them represents electrification.

Same be said about Barrie?
I wouldn't read into that graphic too much.

Barrie was intended to be electrified since the launch of RER, but the Kitchener Line was only to be electrified to Bramalea.

The Stouffville line is missing from the map.

Also I notice that the map shows electrification all the way to both stations in Hamilton.

It actually doesn't! It just shows electrification to Burlington, with diesel to Hamilton.

 

[amnesiajune]

Well Paris RER does have a 100km and 190km line, so I dont think its that far fetched to run RER all the way to Kitchener and Barrie.

They're not individual lines, they're clusters of lines. The Paris RER extends about 50 km north and 60 km south, which is practically the same distance as Hamilton and Oshawa from Union Station. Barrie and Kitchener are significantly farther, at 85 km and 90 km respectively.