09-17-2021, 04:17 PM
(09-17-2021, 02:27 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: And now we have a schedule.
As I feared, the schedule is no good for KW commuters, and is targeted at Toronto commuters, none of whom will be seduced to leave hours earlier to save all of 12 dollars (fares are 30 dollars, compared with Via's 42).
So yeah, I really struggle to believe that this isn't intended to fail.
It will never be good for London→Kitchener commuters unless they address the track condition problems that make this take twice as long as driving during rush hour.
Kitchener→Union Station is finally competitive time-wise after the recent minimal upgrade work (1:41 station to station, vs ~1:50 driving), it's just not convenient in terms of scheduling. However, track work can still be done K→U as the best possible time for an all-stops run with Class 3 tracks and 2 minute dwells is ~1:27. Inwards past Mount Pleasant the stations are too close together for trains to go any faster, but Class 5 tracks would shorten up K→MP times and the complete all-stops run would be ~1:16, making it competitive with cars outside of rush hour as well.
A K→U express (skipping everything between Mount Pleasant and Union), at Class 6 speeds would take roughly 59 minutes.
If there's interest, I could produce similar stats for L→K.