diminutive
Active Member
Hmm. The EcoTrain report released in 2010 put 300km/h HSR between London and Toronto at $1.65B and includes intermediate stops at Kitchener and Pearson. See page 7. Note that the MTO report assumes it would be a new ROW. If you can use large chunks of a pre-existing corridor then it is bound to eliminate a chunk of the cost.
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/pu... Review of representative routing options.pdf
I'm not sure where you get that. I was citing from Table S-4 in the Final Report. These numbers are repeated throughout the Ecotrain report.
Most of the costs with HSR is expropriating the corridor then grade separating it.
Laying the tracks, doing electrical, buying train sets, and installing fencing is actually relatively cheap.
That's not totally true, at least in Ontario.
The cost of track alone is significantly larger than ROW aquisition. Even if Ontairo managed to buy a corridor of land for dirt cheap, it would still have huge costs for rolling stock, electrification, track works, earth works, signalling and maintenance depots.
Basically, regardless of whichever corridor used and how dirt cheaply it could be expropriated, you'd still face the bulk of HSR costs.
P.S. The alternative of sticking with the existing corridor and somehow convincing the people of Guelph, Stratford, Georgetown ect... not to sue the government for the next decade for splitting their community in half for a train service which doesn't even stop there isn't exactly appealing either.
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