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The big issue with moving the VIA rail north of downtown is that it forces another transfer to public transit or a longer uber ride for many trips into Montreal. While I don't have access to data to back this up, I do understand that the majority of people choosing to take the train from Ottawa to Montreal instead of driving do so because it is more convenient than driving if your destination is in downtown Montreal. If HFR is going to attract more riders it will need to compete with driving to gain additional ridership from people who would have otherwise drove. This would require playing towards the strength of the train, easy access to a downtown that is accessible without a car. Addition an additional transfer to a crowded metro train or a need for a moderately long uber ride makes the entire process less appealing and makes it less likely that drivers choose to buy tickets instead of just driving to Montreal. This gets worse when you consider how many people could be going to destinations off the REM route and would therefore need to make two transfers in Montreal to get to their destination. Transit gains ridership when it is made more convenient. While adding frequencies and improving speed does improve convenience, relocating stations and splitting services risks negating these benefits.
To be fair, the same can be said with Ottawa where you have to transfer to the O-Train to reach downtown. Sometimes you just have to take your Ls.
 
To be fair, the same can be said with Ottawa where you have to transfer to the O-Train to reach downtown. Sometimes you just have to take your Ls.
There are many cities around the world require you to transfer from Rail to Transit to get downtown or the city centre. Cities were built first to the point they prevent rail reaching the city centre/downtown. To do so would require tearing down buildings and roads.

Toronto have the waterfront fill in to allow trains from one side of the city and then across the whole waterfront. Front St was the water edge before Grand Trunk built their Weston Subdivision. This started the infilling of the water edge to where it is today.
 
To be fair, the same can be said with Ottawa where you have to transfer to the O-Train to reach downtown. Sometimes you just have to take your Ls.

Very true. The Ottawa station's connection to transit after the new LRT construction is disappointing to say the least. It's certainly passable but the Ottawa station isn't close to as convenient as Montreal's Gare Centrale. Especially once the REM opens making the Gare Centrale accessible by transit from the north and south in addition to the Orange line and taxis/walking.

In my ideal scenario that doesn't involve boring a connection from Gare Centrale to Ave du Parc station T-O-M trains would still go into Gare Centrale while trains from Quebec all stop at a new northern Montreal station that connects to the REM before either continuing to Gare Centrale or Ottawa. Maintaining trips to Gare Centrale ensures that trains are able to easily access the Montreal maintenance center in addition to enabling one seat rides to downtown Montreal.
 
[...]
EDIT: I realize that I'm assuming that you're talking about a scenario where TOM trains terminate at Centrale, and MQ trains operate out of C-d-L. Re-reading your post, you might also be talking about running TOMQ trains via C-d-L, in which case a lot of my post wouldn't apply. Although I still have some reservations about the second scenario. Let me know whether I got it wrong.
Yeah that's what I was talking about: Having the northbound trains operate from Côte-de-Liesse (Exo St-Jérôme, Exo Mascouche, VIA Mtl-TR-QC, VIA Senneterre/Jonquière) and the south/west bound trains operate from Gare Centrale or Lucien-L'Allier (Adirondack, Océan, HFR TOM, Exo Hudson, Exo Candiac, Exo Saint-Hilaire, Mtl-QC trains via the South Shore).

The HFR trains that go through from Toronto and Ottawa to Québec City via Montréal (I doubt there would be that many) could simply go through the CN yard. However, there is currently no connection between the eastbound CN line and the Côte-de-Liesse REM stop, so people who would want to stop in Montréal on those trains would have to transfer at Dorval.

Obivously it would be nice to have every line reach Gare Centrale quickly and easily, but I doubt we have the capital required for such a project. I think this solution is the most effective way of splitting services between two terminals without too much impact to the travelling public.

Also, while a lot of people who originate in Ottawa and Toronto would want to reach downtown Montréal, people from Québec City probably have much more diverse destinations on the Island (or around it).
 
Seems mostly generic.

On the question of where it would stop, it dodges it with "With stations proposed between Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City—some new, some relocated, some rehabilitated and some existing—".... though it later name checks Peterborough and Trois-Rivières.

The map we've seen before is much higher resolution. You can click on the image below.
https://tgf-hfr.ca/wp-content/uploa...ite-2022-02-10_HFR-Central-Map-English-TC.png
 
Seems mostly generic.

On the question of where it would stop, it dodges it with "With stations proposed between Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City—some new, some relocated, some rehabilitated and some existing—".... though it later name checks Peterborough and Trois-Rivières.

The map we've seen before is much higher resolution. You can click on the image below.
https://tgf-hfr.ca/wp-content/uploa...ite-2022-02-10_HFR-Central-Map-English-TC.png
No Havelock or Sharbort Lake Stations?
 
No Havelock or Sharbort Lake Stations?
Who knows ... they go on to say:

To identify the optimal location and number of stations along the proposed HFR route, the HFR Project Team will consider how best to achieve shortest journey times while still meeting other key objectives of HFR (e.g., improved connections and connectivity to other modes of transit).
 
Seems mostly generic.

On the question of where it would stop, it dodges it with "With stations proposed between Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City—some new, some relocated, some rehabilitated and some existing—".... though it later name checks Peterborough and Trois-Rivières.

The map we've seen before is much higher resolution. You can click on the image below.
https://tgf-hfr.ca/wp-content/uploa...ite-2022-02-10_HFR-Central-Map-English-TC.png

Look forward to the scaled civil engineering version of this one day.
 
Interesting article about the upcoming privatisation of VIA Rail with HFR (in French).

 

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