09-17-2021, 03:53 PM
(09-17-2021, 03:22 PM)taylortbb Wrote:(09-17-2021, 02:59 PM)ac3r Wrote: It's definitely going to fail. Whoever it was at Metrolinx, sitting around a board meeting table, that said "yeah, this could be a great success, let's try it out" needs to be fired. Metrolinx is not always bad, but they sure as hell make a lot of questionable decisions.
The rationale I can see for this is that it's a precursor to buying the rest of the CN north mainline. The first service to Kitchener was really painfully slow, awkwardly timed, and only 2 trains/day. Current service isn't great, but it's definitely better than it was.
If Metrolinx bought the tracks from Kitchener to London, and brought them up to the standard they're currently doing for Kitchener to Georgetown, it could be a good service. The north mainline isn't any longer, just slower due to poor track quality, but it hits a number of larger population centres the Via service on the south mainline doesn't.
The the south line hits more population, North line hits Stratford (50k), KW (500k), Guelph (100k), Georgetown (50k), Brampton (600k), but the south line hits Woodstock (50k), Brantford (100k), Oakville (200k), Mississauga (800k), Hamilton (600k), Burlington (200k).
The problem with London is not that there isn't an opportunity to improve service, it's that the service proposed is significantly worse than existing options, and doesn't really make sense for anyone--even someone without a car.