[crs1026]

Paul Lanagan unfortunately jumped the shark and went from advocate to troll a long time ago. And he is particularly bugged by HFR because he sees it as killing his HSR dreams. The rest of us see HFR as a start.

I'm on record as saying HFR isn't perfect....but despite my reservations I'm more worried that his brand of advocacy will leave us with nothing.

- Paul

 

[roger1818]

I'm on record as saying HFR isn't perfect....but despite my reservations I'm more worried that his brand of advocacy will leave us with nothing.

- Paul

Agreed. His brand of advocacy is if we can't have HSR we should cancel passenger trains in Canada.

 

[MisterF]

Many inside the industry see it as a white elephant waiting to happen.

Perhaps they can add the long-awaited Via Rail stop at Mirabel airport!

Who specifically are these "many"? Sources please.

 

[kEiThZ]

Many inside the industry see it as a white elephant waiting to happen.

What else do your imaginary friends say?

I get that you don't think it's a good project. But why the need to make up imaginary support for your position?

We don't even really have much of a passenger rail industry in Canada. So what industry insiders are commenting on this?

 

[kEiThZ]

Agreed. His brand of advocacy is if we can't have HSR we should cancel passenger trains in Canada.

It's not just him. Like I said, Reece Martin is like this too. And they've convinced themselves that the only reason we haven't built HSR is because nobody in Canada is advocating enough. They handwave away all political minutiae involved. That helps them monetize their schtick. But it's ignorant public policy. And on this front, it sucks because Paul Lanagan gets invited on mainstream media for interviews on any rail proposal.

 

[Allandale25]

 

[lenaitch]

Perhaps re-positioning equipment back out west?

 

[nfitz]

What else do your imaginary friends say?

I get that you don't think it's a good project. But why the need to make up imaginary support for your position?

You said that the rest of us see the HFR proposal as a start. As there are others than him who think it's going to cost more and under-deliver, then you are incorrect about the rest of us.

Please remain civil even if others here disagree with what you've said.

 

[EnviroTO]

We don't even really have much of a passenger rail industry in Canada. So what industry insiders are commenting on this?

All the top executives at all the long distance passenger rail companies in Canada, except for VIA who supports HFR.

Wait, are you suggesting that investing massive amounts of federal money on true high-speed rail in a place that doesn't really have a proven existing "train oriented culture", like Europe and Japan prior to them building HSR, on a route that will primarily serve a single province might not get political support? How are we going to prove a pent up demand? I guess maybe we might create schedule and frequency competitive to other modes and see what happens. Did VIA think of anything that might help to show a pent up demand? They should think of something like that so we have a chance of getting HSR some day.

 

[crs1026]

Perhaps re-positioning equipment back out west?

The consist was mostly coaches and sleepers, no domes. Presumably to enable larger consists out west as summer arrives and COVID (hopefully) recedes.

- Paul

 

[littlewill1166]

Many inside the industry see it as a white elephant waiting to happen.

Perhaps they can add the long-awaited Via Rail stop at Mirabel airport!

To be honest, I've heard the same thing from middle/senior management at the airlines when I brought it up during networking events. You can see the obvious conflict though...

 

[kEiThZ]

As there are others than him who think it's going to cost more and under-deliver, then you are incorrect about the rest of us.

I didn't say everybody had to agree with the project. And heck, quite a few of us (me included) expect some combination of budget busting and under performance. Unfortunately, that is par for the course with a lot of infrastructure these days. And VIA's lack of experience with something this big, all but guarantees. But that doesn't in any way justify the stance that HSR is the only acceptable solution, which is what the FUDsters are pushing.

Please remain civil even if others here disagree with what you've said.

I've been perfectly civil. You posted something unsubstantiated and don't like being called out here.

 

[nfitz]

But that doesn't in any way justify the stance that HSR is the only acceptable solution, which is what the FUDsters are pushing.

I'm not pushing HST. I'm simply saying that HFR is not going to be anywhere close to the price tag that's being put out there by VIA, and that travel times are optimistic, and there are better options to spend that (relatively low amount) of money.

I've been perfectly civil. You posted something unsubstantiated and don't like being called out here.

You really expect me to name names? That would be unprofessional. To be honest, I've not heard one positive word about the Peterborough alignment.

Things have all gone very quiet since CIB announced that Arup and Aecom had been hired to explore VIA's proposal. I can only assume that the proposal is deeply troubled., if not spiked already. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't imagine we are going to be seeing an announcement before the next election.

 

[Allandale25]

^ the project has not gone all quiet since the JPO was announced naming Arup and AECOM. Maybe these seem like small things, but in November 2020 the VIA Rail CEO publicly said the final report would be submitted to the government by the end of the year, and then recently in February 24, 2021 interview VIA's CEO said the report was submitted. So those two public confirmations happened after the announcement. So two public news references rather than zero.

 

[roger1818]

It's not just him. Like I said, Reece Martin is like this too. And they've convinced themselves that the only reason we haven't built HSR is because nobody in Canada is advocating enough. They handwave away all political minutiae involved. That helps them monetize their schtick. But it's ignorant public policy. And on this front, it sucks because Paul Lanagan gets invited on mainstream media for interviews on any rail proposal.

While I agree that it is unfortunate that the likes of Paul Lanagan and Reece Martin are getting media attention, what scares me even more are the quiet lobbyists who are whispering in the ears of politicians, promoting their clients' agenda in secret, so as to avoid public debate.