[crs1026]

The amount of electricity a fleet of trains uses is minuscule compared to the total electricity produced. I am not sure about other regions, but the Total Annual Ontario Electrical Energy Demand in 2019 (I'll ignore 2020 because of COVID) of 135.1 TW was 14% below the peak demand of 157 TW in 2005.

To carry this a bit further, the granular data on where power comes from hour-by-hour can be found at http://reports.ieso.ca/public/GenOutputCapability/PUB_GenOutputCapability.xml.

A single VIA locomotive, with HEP, represents about 4 Mw at full power. A single freight locomotive is similar.

So yeah, on any given day, even at peak there is already enough electricity in reserve on the Ontario grid to power many hundred locomotives at full power, without anybody's lights blinking. With regenerative braking, that demand can be mitigated.

I do think that some sort of storage technology will factor into railways' electrification, so that power can be stored at low demand times and drawn down during peak periods, so that railway propulsion doesn't strain Ontario's electricity supply.

And this assumes that power will come from the grid. There is so much room for freestanding supply these days.

- Paul

 

[Allandale25]

Who here on behalf of this UT thread wants to submit questions HFR/JPO/next steps from Budget 2021 HFR references?

Note: there might be a question word limit!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1387070175619567627

 

[crs1026]

^ Wasn't too hard to come up with a first question

What specific projects and work will the funding of $491.2M in the recent federal budget be used for? How will the procurement for this work be pursued? What is the overall timeline and major milestones projected for this work?

- Paul

 

[Northern Light]

Who here on behalf of this UT thread wants to submit questions HFR/JPO/next steps from Budget 2021 HFR references?

Note: there might be a question word limit!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1387070175619567627

Form to submit is only available for another 3 days (til April 30th)

Then again from May 14th-May 17th.

*****

Direct Link to the Question Submission form is below:

AMP Page - Question submission | VIA Rail

corpo.viarail.ca

*****

Suggested Questions (from me)

1a) What specific capital projects will the money announced in the Federal budget go towards?

1b) What will that achieve in terms of greater reliability, frequency or shorter travel times?

2) Can the company provide any indication as to when further announcements will be made concerning the High Frequency Rail proposal.

3) In light of the government of Quebec's recent announcement concerning rail in the Gaspe region of Quebec; what are VIA's plans, if any, in respect of restoring service in this region?

4) Does VIA have any concerns about Corridor Capacity in Toronto, in respect of the Ontario Line/LSE project of Metrolinx/GO Transit. Has VIA discussed its operational needs with Metrolinx?

 

[crs1026]

^ Call me earnest. I asked a second.

VIA's HFR proposal contemplates moving through Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto services off the present rail line, bypassing several major communities (Cobourg, Belleville, Kingston). What is VIA's plan to serve these communities once HFR is in place? How many trains per day will this service offer? Is the funding for this service assured within HFR, or will a separate funding be required? Is the need for a subsidy for this service anticipated?

 

[crs1026]

^And a third. I will stop now.

While the HFR proposal reduces VIA's dependence on other railroads, some shared use of other railroads' corridors will continue, particularly in the approaches to Toronto and Montreal. What steps has VIA taken to ensure that its trains will receive appropriate priority and expediting as a tenant, to ensure reliability and best possible trip times? Does VIA have sufficient legal and contractual protection to assure satisfactory performance?

 

[SFO-YYZ]

Please use the link to submit your questions instead of just posting on here. It takes less than 1 minute. The more questions they receive on HFR, the more pressure they'll be under to respond.

AMP Page - Question submission | VIA Rail

corpo.viarail.ca

 

[Northern Light]

Please use the link to submit your questions instead of just posting on here. It takes less than 1 minute. The more questions they receive on HFR, the more pressure they'll be under to respond.

AMP Page - Question submission | VIA Rail

corpo.viarail.ca

I believe @crs1026 has indicated that he has submitted the above questions. He can correct me if I have misinterpreted.

***

Placing the questions here (as well as; not in lieu of submitting them) is a way to encourage others to ask questions on these topics.

 

[Allandale25]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1387122918568648707

 

[crs1026]

I believe @crs1026 has indicated that he has submitted the above questions. He can correct me if I have misinterpreted.

***

Placing the questions here (as well as; not in lieu of submitting them) is a way to encourage others to ask questions on these topics.

I did submit them. Wanted those here to see in hopes that it might generate other questions as well as supporting/similar questions.

- Paul

 

[Allandale25]

Hmmm re HFR

https://twitter.com/x/status/1387464397597986816

Report is here: https://distribution-a6172746566616...704724e52cf231bd8a8c510982a3131988ab35d1d3f9a

Note 6 mentions HFR

 

[Darwinkgo]

Hmmm re HFR

https://twitter.com/x/status/1387464397597986816

The PBO is getting weirder and weirder. Their leader is more political (even appearing on political chat shows alongside politicians to opine on the news of the day!). Anyways, from the article:

"The independent spending watchdog reached his conclusion by reviewing the bank’s latest announcements and comparing its track record with those of similar bodies, such as Infrastructure Ontario and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec."

So if tomorrow the announced $4 billion for HFR, this would be all thrown off!

 

[Mcurtis]

Correct me if I am wrong but was the Canadian Infrastructure Bank not designed (or hoped) to take a set amount of public money and then leverage that money with the private sphere to fund public projects. I.e. $1 public dollar hoping for $1+ private dollars.

I have a hard time seeing how some of these projects would be lucrative to the private sector in order to get them to invest. VIA ownership is going to stay with VIA so there isn't any real ownership opportunities. HFR goes through relatively rural areas for a large portion of its land so unless your offering development opportunities along the ROW again limited return on investment. While the corridor has tended to make VIA rail money I don't see how they would get a suitable return on investment for their initial offering. With a project like HFR (which may be a write off) where does the private dollars come in? Would this not be better off being funded by the Government of Canada/Ontario and leave more potentially lucrative (Hydro, toll roads, etc) to the investment bank?

 

[Allandale25]

The PBO is getting weirder and weirder. Their leader is more political (even appearing on political chat shows alongside politicians to opine on the news of the day!). Anyways, from the article:

"The independent spending watchdog reached his conclusion by reviewing the bank’s latest announcements and comparing its track record with those of similar bodies, such as Infrastructure Ontario and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec."

So if tomorrow the announced $4 billion for HFR, this would be all thrown off!

This person appears to agree with you.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1387551393263898625

And...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1387554616972353541

 

[crs1026]

^I would be quite disturbed if Ottawa were able to circumvent the PBO or similar oversight just by funding a “Bank” instrad of being directly accountable for its spending.

The report does not reflect well on the Bank in terms of getting on with business. But unless the money earmarked for VIA is committed to some other investment, we don’t have to worry about HFR.

Certain of those 17 potential investments do strike me as flimsy investment opportunities, which sure leaves the impression that the Bank is a charade rather than a useful instrument of economic development.

- Paul