ec_traindriver
New Member
It's not HSR. Has never been pitched as such. [...omissis...] It's a shorter path than the Lakeshore route. It's a corridor that connects major cities, yet doesn't run through expensive populated areas. And it should habitualize intercity train travel a bit more, helping build the social, political and economic case.
[...omissis...]
How dare they prioritize connecting the first largest, second largest and sixth largest metros in the country with a combined catchment population of at least 6 million (conservative estimate) or 15% of the country's population, and the country's financial and political centres.
You can't reasonably be talking about "habitualizing" intercity train travel, and then pretend that they mostly connect Toronto, Ottawa, and Montréal only. I'm sorry, that's not intercity travel: it's a poor man's HSR.
You must have missed the part of the HFR proposal that includes a new hub in Kingston and train service better tailored to those Lakeshore communities. They most certainly aren't going down to 1-2 trains a day.
Oh, I would actually love to see such a proposal. I couldn't find it anywhere. According to the last pre-Covid VIA timetable in my hands, there were only 10 services/day between Toronto and Ottawa, with most intermediate stations already getting as little as 2 services only. If services like #40, #42, and #646 were to be re-routed on the new line, would their place be taken by newer services?
Yes the goal of HFR is to improve connectivity between those centres because VIA has done a sub-par job of this to date. It's why so many people drive and fly between these cities. For a guy who loves to talk about Europe and Asia, you seem clueless to the value of connecting large metros.
VIA has done a sub-par job to date? Let's throw the baby out with the bathwater, then!
You also seem to ignoring that there will be plenty of trains left on Lakeshore. They'll just be originating in Kingston.
Bound for Toronto only, I suppose? So no more through trains to Ottawa or Montréal on the Kingston Sub, right?
I imagine if I told a European they were morons for moving so much freight be road and that they should just nationalize their railroads to make it easier to move freight, they'd think I was nuts.
On the contrary. I perfectly know we are morons.