11-18-2015, 02:10 PM
More GO trains 'not a real solution:' Thalmic CEO Stephen Lake
Quote:"We're talking about this intermediate step to be a big, huge thing to celebrate," he said. "Two-way all-day GO train service, again, is still two-hour train service, which really doesn't help the whole link between Toronto. You might as well hop on the 401 for a two-hour drive."I'm inclined to agree with him. Four hours may be tolerable for occasional visits but it's got to be a great hardship to regular commuters, especially if they need another half hour each to get to the train, then get to their office, then get back to the train, then get home. That's six hours a day.
"We need trains that are going to be a reasonable time to get back and forth. Four hours each day if you're commuting back and forth, that's crazy."
Quote:Lake's comments come after Kitchener Centre Liberal MPP Daiene Vernile said Monday that the two-way, all-day GO train service originally promised by the Liberals by 2019, likely wouldn't be a reality until at least 2026 because of an ongoing dispute between the province and the Canadian National Railway over the use of company-owned track.This is unacceptable. Why can't the province use expropriation, even just the threat of it, to force CN's hand?
Quote:Lake said the province needs a reasonable goal that's what he calls "a real solution."ISTM that once we have "a reasonably high speed link from Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo" the incremental cost of offering all-day vs. rush hours only would be small. The issue is getting priority on the track.
"That goal should be real solution which is not two-way, all-day GO. It's how do we have a reasonably high speed link from Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo, two-way, in a reasonable time frame."