High Speed Train Coming?-split from boosting Canada’s military spending"
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I don't think it's a reach at all. Indeed, this very thread is mostly filled with discussions about services in the past. I think nostalgia and an aversion to change drives way too many things in this country. I don't blame them for thinking that way. I think it's understandable. However, I don't think it's tenable for a country with our population to keep pretending we're a bunch of villages in the 21st century. A country of 40M can't keep operating like the country of say 25M that most 60+ yr olds grew up in.
Every time I plan a trip in Europe or Asia. For work or personal, I notice how much more flexibility there is. There's more flights. There's more trains. There's buses. And there's rentals if I want to drive.
And in our case, it's absolutely brutal that our airline sector is basically an oligopoly of three players operating in the Corridor mostly from three slot controlled airports. It really limits how much people can travel. And this is so normalized that a lot of people in this thread can't even imagine more people traveling. Hence why they think this train is for elites. Getting more Canadians interacting with each other can only be good for this country.
Exactly. I know if the PQ shared my view on something, it would cause me to think twice about my position.
Nothing could kill separation more than Ontario and Quebec economies getting even more intertwined.
I don't think most of these people leave their basements.....maybe because many of them can't imagine wanting to go to Ottawa
Not you. But an observation in general.
When I travel, I come home saying I want this at home. I notice quite a few Canucks treat things they see in Europe and Asia as tourist novelties. The idea that people living in that country actually use this infrastructure or these services regularly seems like a (pardon the pun) foreign idea. The amount of people who land in Europe and talk as though it's some Disney themepark as opposed to cities where actual people live and work and where that built environment is the sum of a lot of past investment and decisions.
PrairieFella
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I wish we could have Euro infrastructure. I cant even get a BRT in Winnipeg because dummies thought property tax freezes for a decade was a good idea, nevermind a functional and integrated local-commuter-regional transit system. Its a question of priorities and the priority in North America is often suburbanites who are a net-drain on municipal finances.
Only silver lining is we might be getting a commuter train to the beach at Gimli though.
Which is why I get frustrated when I see things like Ottawa's LRT. Here's a system where there was basically an opportunity to design it from scratch, within perhaps the confines of using pre-existing corridors and the fact that the existing short OTrain was already using one technology. So fine, adopt that same technology for the entire system, or switch out the old system and build a system with trains that can switch from one line to the other so the passengers themselves don't have to. Instead we have built a system where getting from the airport to the train station requires not one but two changes.
Perhaps my biggest hope for Alto is that they are working on a system that integrates the major airports like Pearson and Dorval and the rapid transit systems of all the cities along the route.
On that note though, for all the discussion about the island airport I also wonder about the impact on Ottawa's airport. Assuming Alto connects to Dorval, how many more passengers will choose to begin their journey on the train rather than fly out of Ottawa to connect to Montreal. Some already do, even with VIA service, and many more use the various bus services.
On another note, can anyone tell me why, from the beginning, the route for Alto has included a stop in Laval? Seems an odd requirement and one that makes me think maybe they're not planning on connecting to Dorval.
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This thread is giving me train withdrawals.
Next trip is Ottawa. But, that's not till September.
Right now I'd like nothing better than to ride the UP to Union and say, "Give me a Sleeper ticket to anywhere." 12070
Next trip is Ottawa. But, that's not till September.
Right now I'd like nothing better than to ride the UP to Union and say, "Give me a Sleeper ticket to anywhere." 12070
I attended the consultations in the late 2000s. Was my first posting to Ottawa. Was my first time participating in any civic engagement. Was a young twentysomething trying to be a good citizen. The politics of that era were wild. Politicians and public got fixated on LRT. I remember they held a panel of train vendors and a Japanese vendor (Kinkisharyo) pointed out that Ottawa's plans didn't make sense. He said a city of a million and a metro of 1.5M normally use medium or heavy metros. Boy was he right on what would happen...... But again, another example of Canadians thinking they have nothing to learn from the rest of the world.
This is my biggest gripe. But when asked at consultations, their biggest driver seems to be a strong aversion to relying on CN or CP, which they would have to do at Dorval. There's no plan for West of Union yet. And that's largely because at the time HFR first started, Ontario had Kathleen Wynne in power who was talking about building HSR to KWC and London via Pearson. Pretty clear getting to Pearson will be Phase 2. And like you, I hope we see slick integration at Pearson like what's there in Paris and Amsterdam.
I think the need for a tunnel into downtown largely means there's no point not building a suburban stop for a decent catchment. It's sensible. The real question is why they don't have one in the GTA. Forcing a million people to backtrack in GTA East is dumb.
Alto isn't connecting to Dorval as planned. Their argument at the last consultation I attended was that the REM will provide a 25 min connection to the airport anyway. Obviously a throwaway answer.
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