ML, if it makes the logical choice of using battery trains on RER, could have the entire system electrified by the end of the THIS year. Hell it could have been done years ago if they put near as much effort into it as the did building mega parking garages that only a Texan could love.
Uh no? Regardless of the types of trains, they will only get new trains when A) The OnCorr bidder is selected, B) The trains are selected and ordered, C) Those trains are built and manufactured, and D) Those trains are delivered. Don't forget that we still need to build infrastructure for those trains like recharging stations, and creating a service plan for how we recharge the trains, how do we move the trains around, where do we store them, etc. By the time all of that happens, we're probably going to be hanging up wires.
Next, There is no need for "electric trains by the end of the year". LSW and LSE already had 15-20 minute headways precovid, Kitchener has the UP Express in its multi track sections (and even then the 4th platform at Weston isn't built yet, and the 401/409 tunnel project isn't finished so you can't run frequent GO trains on that line either), Barrie has basically no double tracking, and while Stouffville has some double tracked sections, all of the stations are still single track single platform. In other words, what exactly are you going to do with new battery trains?
As I stated before, this is not incompetence but rather done by design. Even one electrified frequent route being introduced will require the implementation of fare integration which ML has been avoiding like the plague. Spending money is the easy part but actually figuring out how to run it with the potential political battle is quite another.
While Fare Integration is required for GO RER to be successful, it is not required for them to start running electrified service, nor is this a limitation they placed on themselves.
ML wants to delay any discussion about fare integration until the system is electrified with all day 15 minutes each way service on every single route. If they were to bring in this service they would have to explain why it's not being used for the $12 billion they are spending on it and would have to explain why, after years of construction and billions spent that in the end all they have produced is a two-tiered transit system.........................better service for those who can afford it and squat for those who can't.
Citation Needed
Yes its a lot easier to throw around money then coordinate with a dozen transit agencies and municipalities about how to integrate fares, which is why Fare Integration is taking so long. That being said you're trying to paint a narrative that absolutely nothing is being done which can't be further from the truth. Today MiWay just announced a fare integration plan with the TTC where Miway will be able to use TTC corridors unrestricted and collect the fares that are needed. As an example, If you take a Miway bus from East Mall to Kipling, that will cost you a TTC fare, so even using Mississauga busses, as long as you're still in Toronto, you only have to pay the Toronto fare. Very similar initiatives are currently being discussed between YRT and TTC. As it turns out these discussions occur behind closed doors, so just because nothing is visibly happening, doesn't mean nothing is happening.
Why the local media has not pounced on this is anyone's guess.
A) The media is too busy pandering to NIMBYs, trying to find the smallest issue with the current subway plans so that they can use it to rip into Doug Ford, and pretending that LRT is the 2nd coming of christ.
B) There is a lot that can be said about the way Metrolinx is handling GO Expansion, and unfortunately a lot of it is negative. However none of what you wrote here is really valid criticism, with the exception that Metrolinx should be doing a lot more work in parallel rather than having everything being done in distinct phases. With the exception of the gap in the Kitchener Line corridor, there is no reason for us to rush out and buy Battery trains while most of the infrastructure isn't built, all to provide electrified service during a 4 year gap. Electrification is the least important part of GO RER. The work that is happening right now with grade separations and station expansions is significantly more important and vital to the future of the GO Network than electrified trains, electrification is just the cream of the crop in making GO RER into something great, but we have absolutely no reason to rush it this hard.
