crs1026
Superstar
I suspect that St Marys and Stratford would be happy with two or three stopping trains a day, even if the remainder are express trains that don’t stop anywhere along the line. The issue for St Marys is whether VIA will retain any service at all. Stratford has good reason to join forces to seek a commitment to continued if not better service, but that doesn’t have to happen at the expense of the express line.
Be careful comparing Guelph to Kitchener.... VIA is quite happy to reduce service to Kingston if it gets HFR. Kingston will also have to advocate if it wants more than skeleton service.
If the new line sounds impactful, take a look at how the current line cuts through Baden, New Hamburg, and St Marys.... and extrapolate to faster and more frequent service, and population/traffic growth in those locations. The proposed line is a “bypass” of sorts. It will mitigate the impacts of HxR to more people in these communities than it will create new impacts in rural areas.
Lastly, CN’s renewed interest in the Stratford line as part of its freight network is significant. It argues for putting passenger on its own line to remove conflict between freight and passenger.
I agree that HSR is an extravagant overkill, where a midrange quality will do. But a new alignment may be a prudent move, before more development happens that will make it more complicated to plan a route.
- Paul
Be careful comparing Guelph to Kitchener.... VIA is quite happy to reduce service to Kingston if it gets HFR. Kingston will also have to advocate if it wants more than skeleton service.
If the new line sounds impactful, take a look at how the current line cuts through Baden, New Hamburg, and St Marys.... and extrapolate to faster and more frequent service, and population/traffic growth in those locations. The proposed line is a “bypass” of sorts. It will mitigate the impacts of HxR to more people in these communities than it will create new impacts in rural areas.
Lastly, CN’s renewed interest in the Stratford line as part of its freight network is significant. It argues for putting passenger on its own line to remove conflict between freight and passenger.
I agree that HSR is an extravagant overkill, where a midrange quality will do. But a new alignment may be a prudent move, before more development happens that will make it more complicated to plan a route.
- Paul