It helps that the line through Kitchener isn't CN's mainline. The piece between Georgetown and Silver Junction is CN's however, and a part of their mainline. Westbound CN trains enter from the north at Silver and depart south after Georgetown, and crossing them over is a problem for GO. I've heard there was talk in the town hall about a fly-over/fly-under there, that would help a lot.
For Cambridge/Milton, CP is a mainline, and there's nowhere for them to park a 2 km long freight train between Milton and Ayr without blocking a level crossing. That means in order to let a GO train through, they have to park the train very very far away for a considerable length of time. That's an obvious non-starter for them. I think they _may_ be able to sneak a lengthy passing track under the Hwy 6 bridge, but that's purely based on staring at Google's satellite view which is hardly conclusive.
You can argue that there used to be GO storage on the Milton line west of Milton at Campbellville, and long before that there were CP passenger trains through Cambridge, but freight trains were a lot shorter and more frequent back then. Now that CP has slashed their costs by running extra long trains less frequently with fewer crews, there's no going back to 'the good old days'.
Edit to add: Well, crush their palm with silver, but if that didn't happen under the Liberals it surely won't happen under Doug Ford.
Second edit: Okay, Google maps shows that they have a passing track just west of the Hwy 6 bridge that's almost exactly 2 km long. Clearly I've mis-remembered something I read elsewhere. Maybe it's just that CP feels they need even more passing capacity beyond that.
For Cambridge/Milton, CP is a mainline, and there's nowhere for them to park a 2 km long freight train between Milton and Ayr without blocking a level crossing. That means in order to let a GO train through, they have to park the train very very far away for a considerable length of time. That's an obvious non-starter for them. I think they _may_ be able to sneak a lengthy passing track under the Hwy 6 bridge, but that's purely based on staring at Google's satellite view which is hardly conclusive.
You can argue that there used to be GO storage on the Milton line west of Milton at Campbellville, and long before that there were CP passenger trains through Cambridge, but freight trains were a lot shorter and more frequent back then. Now that CP has slashed their costs by running extra long trains less frequently with fewer crews, there's no going back to 'the good old days'.
Edit to add: Well, crush their palm with silver, but if that didn't happen under the Liberals it surely won't happen under Doug Ford.
Second edit: Okay, Google maps shows that they have a passing track just west of the Hwy 6 bridge that's almost exactly 2 km long. Clearly I've mis-remembered something I read elsewhere. Maybe it's just that CP feels they need even more passing capacity beyond that.
...K