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+--- Thread: GO Transit (/showthread.php?tid=12)
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RE: GO Transit - kalis0490 - 05-09-2021
I feel that the go Cambridge line is misunderstood:
Ive talked to many Cambridge people over the years and even the hardcore nimbyies (who hate buildings and trains) really want this service . Yes, I understand why some may remark 'why spent $100M to get a line that carries 300 ppl/day'. I agree that a bus line should be implement to see demand first .
However, you could have used the same argument against the Kitchener go train . Extending the go train in to Kitchener cost 100M dollars and only carries 300 or so passengers / day in 2019 out of kitchener, does that mean that the line extension is very unwarranted? In my opinion, no .
I think same thing applies here. This could be the test of tram - train technology in southwest Ontario and could open the door to a Collingwood go train, Welland go train, or st Thomas passenger train. That is why I support this project.
RE: GO Transit - ac3r - 05-09-2021
(05-09-2021, 07:30 PM)Acitta Wrote:(05-09-2021, 07:04 PM)ac3r Wrote: Why does Cambridge need a GO Train connection? They barely want the LRT. They try to shoot down every new development in the city. With such little development, it doesn't seem like there'd be a lot of riders...I mean, how many people from Cambridge are regularly travelling to anywhere in the GTA on a daily basis (maybe they go to Guelph, but to build an entire train for that...?) It seems like the last place to consider a separate GO Train line...especially when the one to Kitchener sucks and we are planning on spending 100 million on a new train station already. It makes more sense to me to just get the Kitchener GO line that offers two way all day service, then have the LRT be the link for people going from Cambridge to the train station (and to whatever destination they have on the GO Train).It would be a long commute to take the ION from Downtown Cambridge to Kitchener and then catch a 2-hour train to Toronto. You aren't going to get anybody out of their cars that way.
True...but two GO Trains coming into Waterloo Region? Seems like a dream when we can barely get them to offer us 1 consistent service in Kitchener that can get us to Toronto 7 days a week all throughout the day.
It's great their planning this but I would imagine the costs would mean this would not happen for a loooong time. I wonder how much of this has been actual long term planning, or if it's just because there is an upcoming election that the OPC desperately needs to win?
RE: GO Transit - ac3r - 05-09-2021
(05-09-2021, 07:47 PM)kalis0490 Wrote: I think same thing applies here. This could be the test of tram - train technology in southwest Ontario and could open the door to a Collingwood go train, Welland go train, or st Thomas passenger train. That is why I support this project.
In terms of this project being somewhat of a potential catalyst for better regional train service throughout Southern Ontario, I absolutely agree. We destroyed our train services in the 20th century thanks to cars and freeways. If we could return to an era of reliable train service throughout Southern Ontario I think that would be amazing. They have it all over Europe - they have trains that run even if they only carry small numbers of passengers each day. Why not rebuild this here? Think of the jobs it could create in construction, rail operation. How many economic benefits would open up if you could reach smaller cities or towns with good train service.
It would be incredible if they could electrify everything too, but even diesel would be fine. I could imagine a small trains like this able to serve nearby towns...Stratford, Woodstock, Elmira or whatever;
![[Image: RurtalbahnD%C3%BCren.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/RurtalbahnD%C3%BCren.jpg)
![[Image: Stadler_Regio-Shuttle_RS1_(Erfurter_Bahn).JPG]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Stadler_Regio-Shuttle_RS1_(Erfurter_Bahn).JPG)
RE: GO Transit - kps - 05-10-2021
(05-09-2021, 08:22 PM)ac3r Wrote: It would be incredible if they could electrify everything too, but even diesel would be fine. I could imagine a small trains like this able to serve nearby towns...Stratford, Woodstock, Elmira or whatever;
WCRX just got some lovely new RDCs. One of them even runs.
RE: GO Transit - danbrotherston - 05-10-2021
(05-10-2021, 12:03 PM)kps Wrote:(05-09-2021, 08:22 PM)ac3r Wrote: It would be incredible if they could electrify everything too, but even diesel would be fine. I could imagine a small trains like this able to serve nearby towns...Stratford, Woodstock, Elmira or whatever;
WCRX just got some lovely new RDCs. One of them even runs.
WCRX?
When I search it all I get is a college radio station in Chicago and Warner Chilcott stock symbol.
Edit: Oh, I see from the video, Waterloo Central Railway then.
RE: GO Transit - KevinT - 05-10-2021
In high school back in the 80s I always imagined that an RDC service could run from Fairway to Waterloo Town Square using what's now the Iron Horse Trail as a short circuit of the slow #7 bus. The overlap of the two rail lines between Victoria Park and Mill street would be exploited to provide a passing section/station connection to the 1 Queen bus. Of course that was long before I understood CN and CP's great hatred of all things passenger rail on their track.
I love cycling on the Iron Horse Trail, but I still close my eyes and dream of our own little S-Bahn sometimes.
RE: GO Transit - ac3r - 05-10-2021
(05-10-2021, 03:58 PM)KevinT Wrote: Of course that was long before I understood CN and CP's great hatred of all things passenger rail on their track.
Haha...it's true, yet they were the original passenger operators themselves. Not sure why they have such animosity to passenger services using their track these days, though. On the contrary, for example, Union Pacific happily allows Amtrak to run on their track as do most other Class I rail operators in the USA.
RE: GO Transit - danbrotherston - 05-10-2021
(05-10-2021, 04:13 PM)ac3r Wrote:(05-10-2021, 03:58 PM)KevinT Wrote: Of course that was long before I understood CN and CP's great hatred of all things passenger rail on their track.
Haha...it's true, yet they were the original passenger operators themselves. Not sure why they have such animosity to passenger services using their track these days, though. On the contrary, for example, Union Pacific happily allows Amtrak to run on their track as do most other Class I rail operators in the USA.
Do they have an animosity? Beyond the simply preference to running their freight service as a top priority?
RE: GO Transit - KevinT - 05-10-2021
Passenger trains run at higher speeds than freight but make more stops, making them an absolute pain in the _._ to schedule freight around, especially when they need to merge onto and off a portion of a freight line as between Georgetown and the 407. The lions share of the profits for CN and CP will always come from freight, so of course it will get the priority. We really need dedicated passenger tracks in this country, but the moment a new line is suggested the public gets up in arms about government waste in way that they just don't when new or wider roads are proposed. It's a chicken and egg thing, people see rail as a waste of money because the service they've seen in their lifetime has sucked, but until more money is properly invested it will continue to suck. The missing link was visionary, the latest "See? We don't need no stinking missing link" announcements from Metrolinx are merely half assed stop gaps. They mostly address current needs with no scale for future ones. I hope at least that VIA gets their HFR plan funded.
RE: GO Transit - nms - 05-10-2021
Given that the Fergus subdivision (ie the from Guelph to Cambridge) has a heavy level of freight traffic, I doubt that any kind of LRT vehicles would be able to run the route. The report did mention a potential to double track the line if traffic warranted it. Other than the O-Train vehicles, which had a special arrangement to run on tracks that were also occupied by freight traffic, is there any equipment that would easily be able to get approval in Canada (or North America)? A couple car trainset would do nicely. I too would like to see smaller trains make it to the other outlying areas of the province. (A Collingwood Ski Train would definitely be welcome I'm sure!)
RE: GO Transit - tomh009 - 05-11-2021
The original O-Train sets (Bombardier Talent) haven't been scrapped ... quite yet. An opportunity for someone, to buy cheap trains -- and then enjoy the negotiations for freight line access!
RE: GO Transit - neonjoe - 06-15-2021
Some ramblings by a bitter has-been politician.
https://outline.com/gJcRCJ
Based on what he is complaining about I didn’t know which thread to add this to. Also don’t know why Greyhound is something our region should be embarrassed about.
RE: GO Transit - danbrotherston - 06-15-2021
(06-15-2021, 06:37 AM)neonjoe Wrote: Some ramblings by a bitter has-been politician.
https://outline.com/gJcRCJ
Based on what he is complaining about I didn’t know which thread to add this to. Also don’t know why Greyhound is something our region should be embarrassed about.
He's also probably just wrong. I mean, it depends on how you count a "city" and "population" but Thunder Bay has ~100,000 inhabitants and no passenger rail. There are probably other examples too.
And he complains that the region did not support Milton to Cambridge GO Transit, but I definitely recall that being a project that was advocated for. It's Metrolinx which refused.
RE: GO Transit - Bytor - 06-15-2021
(06-15-2021, 06:37 AM)neonjoe Wrote: Some ramblings by a bitter has-been politician.
https://outline.com/gJcRCJ
Based on what he is complaining about I didn’t know which thread to add this to. Also don’t know why Greyhound is something our region should be embarrassed about.
Craig's position on train service to Cambridge is so laughable considering how he worked to deliberately underfund Cambridge Transit in the 1990s, and then was one of the reasons why GRT originally had that crappy split-funding model.
Cambridge's lower transit uptake compared to K-W today falls on his shoulders.
RE: GO Transit - KevinL - 06-15-2021
I think he oversells how willing CP was to open their tracks. Every other source I've heard from indicates they were the largest obstacle.