Or we could take the large sums of money that HSR would cost and actually benefit Ontarians through tax breaks, dealing with hydro costs, or actually investing in a Relief Line that would serve more people per week than HSR would a year.
This is a crucial point that affects far more than just Ontario.
London, UK, albeit with no regional governance (provincial in Canada's case) to complicate or exacerbate political decision (albeit it has seriously so in the past until reaching a new rail transit governance model) has made a decision based on the logic Wisla states. Unfortunately, you can't please everyone, hard decisions have to be made, but Crossrail, one of the most successful massive transit projects in the world, is a Company of which both the City of London (TfL) and the national government (Network Rail) are equal shareholders. It has invoked the wrath of other regions in the nation due to the funding from national coffers. However, the *yield* from that investment is *many times greater* for national GDP than if the regions got equal funding.
It's one of the pitfalls of effective governance, choices have to be made, but until Ontario can find a far better way to create *arm's length* transit planning where the municipalities are partners, not incidentals, and that governance be spun-off to a *stand-alone corporation* that makes decisions bases on the most pressing need, not political convenience, then Ontario is doomed to be a laggard compared to other world jurisdictions.
Wisla is absolutely right about the Relief Line, and done the way I propose, as a *Regional Relief Line* (serving Toronto and beyond) $ per $ it makes far more sense than any HSR as proposed ever will. How QP sells that is a very real sticking point, but emphasizing a 'one seat ride to/from the exurbs from Toronto's core' is going to be essential to it.
Segments of the proposed HSR could/should be built to serve as an RER/HFR+ by-pass in lieu of the Missing Link (remember that promise? All of them?) to allow electrification to K/W and perhaps beyond to London, if a business case can be made for HFR to there. *Later* at such time an HSR line can make economic sense, then there's been no waste in establishing a RoW with no interference from CN or CP, and it can also loop into the GTAA if the funding is available (GTAA claims it will be).
This isn't a case of HSR v HFR/RER. It's a case of building solely passenger RoWs where desperately needed first, and then expanded later if/when needed by a fiscal case for HSR
being made.
