The grade separation has less to do with the line's speed and the disruption caused by the frequency of the line. There could easily 6 trains per direction per hour on this stretch of track that would cause a lot of noise and vibration and delays. The rail corridor on Kent Street is also very narrow and can barely fit the two tracks (one disused) that are currently on it. The section of track would benefit from being placed in a trench to not only mitigate local impact, but to also duck under the low-speed switches at the junction with the Galt spur. The line itself would also benefit from a wider sweeping curve if properties on the south side of Kent St are acquired
I envision three classes of service on the line: Express, Intercity, and Local. While intercity and local trains would almost certainly serve Gulelph station, I would hope that express services blow through the station without stopping, and be able to maintain a reasonable (100km/h) speed while doing so.
Ah, I see what you're saying. I think you're right, it is worthwhile to lower the railway west of the station, and at that point we might as well up the speed too. Especially since the down grade will help trains accelerate out of the station.
I think part of the issue here is terminology. I think what you're referring to as "Intercity" is what I'm referring to as "Regional", what I'm referring to as "Intercity" you're referring to as "Express" and what I'm referring to as "Express" you're referring to as "Local".
To be clear, in my mind it was:
Intercity: Detroit (Customs-controlled platform in
Michigan Central), Windsor (new station in Detroit-Windsor tunnel), Chatham, London, Kitchener, Guelph, Pearson, Union (2 tph peak / 1 tph off-peak)
Regional: London, St. Marys, Stratford, Kitchener, Guelph, Georgetown, Brampton, Pearson, Mount Dennis, Union (2 / 1)
Express: Kitchener Central, Kitchener East, Guelph Central, Acton, Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Brampton, Dundas West, Union (2 / 0)
Local: Mount Pleasant, Brampton Central, Bramalea, Pearson, Etobicoke North, Weston, Mount Dennis, Dundas West, Union (6 / 4)
If we had two major centres which were being linked, then I would see the justification for an almost non-stop high-speed service. But as of yet I've not heard any talk of connecting to Detroit or Chicago. As it stands, we're connecting one major centre with a couple medium-sized centres, skipping two slightly smaller medium-sized centres along the way. I expect that more people will be travelling between Kitchener and Guelph than between Kitchener and Toronto, so I don't think it makes sense to have twice as many trains serving the latter. The difference between Brampton and Guelph is that people from Brampton are mostly travelling within the GTA, where they are served by the intra-GTA local service as well as the regional service that would likely be the only all-day service serving Guelph.
Of course I agree that this is unreasonably nit-picky at this point, though our intended stopping patterns does affect the way in which we design the railways. My main question is whether we can really support a frequent premium high-speed service with ridership solely from Kitchener and London. If we can, then I retract all of my previous statements.