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MisterF said:
Arguably. But it's also true that most of the transit projects under Ford have been continuations or variations of those started before he was elected, such as GO expansion, the Ontario Line, and the Crosstown for example. While I'll give credit to Ford for not cancelling them, I also give credit to Wynne and McGuinty for starting them. In the post-Harris years were were at a baseline of zero mass transit investment and these are long term projects that can't be credited to just one premier.
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Maybe from the perspective from one of these hated consultants, Toronto is the one place which binds not just the overwhelming majority of resources and capabilities in the domestic architecture, engineering, construction and systems industries, but also monopolizes a sizeable chunk of those provided by firms south the border. As I noted previously in the VIA Rail thread:
Urban Sky said:
The striking thing about the GTHA is how these expansions almost dwarf the existing network:
  • Extending 2 of the existing 3 Subway Lines: SSE and YNSE
  • Building the first Light Metro line: Ontario Line
  • Building the first three (!) LRT lines: Eglinton (incl. Western Extension), Finch, Hurontario
  • More than doubling the train volume of the Commuter Rail network while electrifying most of it: RER/ONxpress
All of that is already funded and happening simultaneously…
Click to expand...

This is kind of the golden age to be in this industry (if you are on the building things rather than needing to get things built side) and I believe that Ford deserves at least as much credit for that than Wynne with her insincere HSR election stunt…
 
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MisterF said:
Arguably. But it's also true that most of the transit projects under Ford have been continuations or variations of those started before he was elected, such as GO expansion, the Ontario Line, and the Crosstown for example. While I'll give credit to Ford for not cancelling them, I also give credit to Wynne and McGuinty for starting them. In the post-Harris years were were at a baseline of zero mass transit investment and these are long term projects that can't be credited to just one premier.
Click to expand...
The Downtown Relief Line wasn't funded - and had been undergoing various studies and plans, since the 1940s, when it was first approved in an earlier variation; before being deferred shortly after approval.

Sure Phase 2 of the Eglinton Line had been discussed seriously, along with a Scarborough subway extension, and the Yonge subway extension - for decades. But actually accelerating them along is commendable. And continuing with Finch and Hurontario, which hadn't started significant construction. GO expansion has also been promised for years, and the commitment for this could very easily have been (yet again) dialled back - if anything it's been dialled forward.

Urgency seems to have slipped with the latest tranche of projects (Phase 3 of Eglinton, Line 4 extension and the BRTs), but if they make it to tender, then I think that any future government will be hard-pressed to ever achieve as much. Though only other challenger really is the successive Conservative governments under Frost/Robarts/Davis.

(don't get me wrong - I'll still never vote for him, but it's not what I expected)
 
MisterF said:
While I'll give credit to Ford for not cancelling them, I also give credit to Wynne and McGuinty for starting them
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More accurately, they boasted that they had started them - but released no money and formed no project organizations. They lied. And that set the stage for today’s culture where ML offers fiction and under delivers.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
More accurately, they boasted that they had started them - but released no money and formed no project organizations. They lied. And that set the stage for today’s culture where ML offers fiction and under delivers.
- Paul
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Under the Liberals there was funding and/or construction for a lot of major projects, including Eglinton, Vaughan extension, Scarborough extension, GO expansion early work, Sheppard LRT, etc. The DRL may not have been funded but it had a lot of momentum and detailed planning work, including for a second phase. The Liberals did a lot to get mass transit expansion happening in the GTA for the first time in decades. Giving Doug Ford all the credit is revisionist history at best.
 
MisterF said:
Under the Liberals there was funding and/or construction for a lot of major projects, including Eglinton, Vaughan extension, Scarborough extension, GO expansion early work, Sheppard LRT, etc. The DRL may not have been funded but it had a lot of momentum and detailed planning work, including for a second phase. The Liberals did a lot to get mass transit expansion happening in the GTA for the first time in decades. Giving Doug Ford all the credit is revisionist history at best.
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I don't see where anyone has given Ford more credit. Just that "Ford's regime from a Transportation and Infrastructure perspective has ended up being better than Wynne, McGuinty, Harris, Rae or Peterson". We are way off-topic though.
 
Here is Parliament back in session, and the Transport Committee has released some interesting reading about HxR

Committee Report No. 18 - TRAN (44-1) - House of Commons of Canada

Committee Report No. 18 - TRAN (44-1) - House of Commons of Canada
www.ourcommons.ca

For those wondering what the Conservatives' position is - they say they need more info before taking a position. But is sounds like they want one in Alberta, too.

The Globe's report here

- Paul
 
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quite interesting writeup.

Funny the minister says "yea those costs arent realistic anymore"
25$ billion hfr only anyone?

They make a note that a blended HSR/HFR is probable on different sections of the route
HFR canada says that it may actually not be all-electric and battery or diesel engines might be needed.

Whats curious to me is that HFR guys are saying theyre not set on downtown city stations like union station and gare centrale.

pearson airport and the city of montreal suggest HFR "connections" at their respective airports.

Is it possible to go to pearson instead of Union? Unless im reading that completely wrong
this is sounding like a frankenstein project
 
generalcanada said:
quite interesting writeup.

Funny the minister says "yea those costs arent realistic anymore"
25$ billion hfr only anyone?

They make a note that a blended HSR/HFR is probable on different sections of the route
HFR canada says that it may actually not be all-electric and battery or diesel engines might be needed.

Whats curious to me is that HFR guys are saying theyre not set on downtown city stations like union station and gare centrale.

pearson airport and the city of montreal suggest HFR "connections" at their respective airports.

Is it possible to go to pearson instead of Union? Unless im reading that completely wrong
this is sounding like a frankenstein project
Click to expand...
It could use the Mid town Corridor.

It sounds like they want to do this as cheaply as possible, cutting things that probably should not be cut, like the downtown stations.
 
crs1026 said:
Here is Parliament back in session, and the Transport Committee has released some interesting reading about HxR

Committee Report No. 18 - TRAN (44-1) - House of Commons of Canada

Committee Report No. 18 - TRAN (44-1) - House of Commons of Canada
www.ourcommons.ca

For those wondering what the Conservatives' position is - they say they need more info before taking a position. But is sounds like they want one in Alberta, too.

The Globe's report here

- Paul
Click to expand...

I've followed Yonah Freemark for a while: Transport Politic is a great resource. Their statement that this project is 10 to 15 years from a construction start is probably accurate, and disappointing. It'll need to survive a few different governments.
 
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Grandstanding politicians who want to politicize the process is the last thing this project needs. But with the lack of transparency of this project so far, VIA Rail has only themselves to blame.
 
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