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Interesting side note in regards to GO service to Kitchener:
The company is negotiating with CN Rail to build a 30-kilometre freight bypass in order for passenger trains to use the existing rail owned by CN between Georgetown and Bramalea. Waterloo Regional council was updated on the decision in August.

Troughton told CBC News they are currently working on a feasibility study of the freight bypass and will finalize the agreement for early next year.
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The second track to Kitchener won't be put in until negotiations and environmental assessments are finished.

Troughton quoted seven years as the goal to start passenger service on the second track.
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http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/...chener-all-day-two-way-go-metrolinx-1.4424951

This places more Go Kitchener service squarely within the proposed (and unlikely) 2025 date of HSR service. I could understand why wanting to own an entirely separate right-of-way is appealing.
 
Allandale25 said:
Further article on this topic:



And tweets by a local Councillor commenting on the article:

2AqYOQF
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How did we ever build a railway all the way across this huge country??? *facepalm*
 
What about evening/weekend trains as far as Bramalea, or Mount Pleasant in the meantime? Not a peep about that, despite owning the corridor from Union up to about 300 feet short of Bramalea and laying an extra track up to Mount Pleasant.
 
cbrown2009 said:
What about evening/weekend trains as far as Bramalea, or Mount Pleasant in the meantime? Not a peep about that, despite owning the corridor from Union up to about 300 feet short of Bramalea and laying an extra track up to Mount Pleasant.
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The silence on this is deafening...........the "hint" is very clear....evening and weekend trains will not happen prior to 2024 and likely a good length of time after that in reality.

Not really that fussed.....my door to door commute time using 505 to 501 to YUS is not much different than my GO commute times and I will not be hampered by schedules.
 
cbrown2009 said:
What about evening/weekend trains as far as Bramalea, or Mount Pleasant in the meantime? Not a peep about that, despite owning the corridor from Union up to about 300 feet short of Bramalea and laying an extra track up to Mount Pleasant.
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Of course, if you vote for this it might end up being one of the questions they choose to answer.

https://www.metrolinxengage.com/en/comment/432#comment-432

It is a strange process indeed that to get a question answered by a publicly funded agency you have to get votes like American Idol or something.
 
TOareaFan said:
The silence on this is deafening...........the "hint" is very clear....evening and weekend trains will not happen prior to 2024 and likely a good length of time after that in reality.

Not really that fussed.....my door to door commute time using 505 to 501 to YUS is not much different than my GO commute times and I will not be hampered by schedules.
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From the closest 505 stop to my house, Triplinx says my total travel time via the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station is 1 hour and 39 minutes....that stop is about 5 minutes walk from my house....so total door to door travel of about 1:45

Compare to my current trip on BT (7 to 501 to Brampton GO) ...GO to Union...walk 10 minutes to my office (longer sometimes if I remember to include the now 5-7 minutes it takes to get off the train and into the concourse these days) the time difference is not much.

Triplinx has the total time (including the walk from Union to the office) also at 1:39......but they assume that you can start your walk to the office as soon as the train arrives so I am guessing these are pretty competitive trip times.

So stuff your all day GO.....Brampton and TTC will figure out together how to get people to work ;)
 
News Release from the Province today:


News Release
http://bit.ly/2ocLxWO
Ontario Moving Forward with Environmental Assessment for High Speed Rail
December 15, 2017

Project Will Cut Travel Times for Commuters and Families
Ontario is continuing progress to introduce high speed rail to the Toronto-Windsor corridor, which will cut people's travel times and create new opportunities for workers, businesses and families.

Ontario issued a Request for Bids (RFB) today to develop the environmental assessment terms of reference for the Kitchener-Waterloo to London portion of the corridor.

The terms of reference will provide a framework for planning and the environmental assessment, which will look at how all aspects of the project could affect the environment, including how stations are built, track locations, energy requirements, expected ridership, and parking needs. As high speed rail will be a new service for Ontario and Canada, new train and safety standards will be developed with Transport Canada to inform the environmental assessment process.

Investing in high speed rail is part of Ontario's plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

QUICK FACTS
  • The high speed rail line will serve more than seven million people. The proposed stops are Windsor, Chatham, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Toronto Union Station, with a connection to Pearson International Airport.
  • A transportation system that efficiently connects people, places and goods is part of Ontario’s plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) Region. The province is currently seeking input on a draft set of goals and objectives for the GGH Transportation Plan. Take the survey by Dec. 23, 2017.
  • Ontario will engage with Indigenous communities, private and public partners, including municipalities, during the environmental assessment, design work and ridership forecasting process.
  • Ontario launched a website that will be updated as the environmental assessment progresses, including what high speed rail will mean for people in Southwestern Ontario and across the province.
  • Ontario is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, public transit, roads and bridges in the province's history. To learn more about what's happening in your community, go to Ontario.ca/BuildON.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
QUOTES
"I am very happy to announce our progress in bringing high speed rail to southwestern Ontario—connecting communities and investing in a future-ready transportation system. This historic project is the first of its kind in Canada, and will be one of the largest planning and environmental assessments our province has ever completed. We are investing in modern, integrated transit that will make life easier for commuters and families, and get people where they need to go faster."
— Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation
 
raptor said:
So essentially a study on how to do an EA? pathetic
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I see it as more complex than that. They are inviting companies to bid and design the EA components. I'm not surprised given this'll be a pretty unique EA for Ontario. We've had lots on subways, conventional rail, LRT, BRT, highways, etc.

The government has already said that the EA would start in May 2018. Nothing in this news release indicates that timeline is changing so I think it's a little premature to assume something has changed for the timeline. Someone could check MERX (where I assume the RFB) is listed, to see when this closes.
 
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