High-Speed Rail (HSR) - Toronto/Pearson/Kitchener/London

[trainspotter139]

It's not uncommon to have both local and high speed on the same line. Acela and Acela Regional are a good example. We're not going to be getting bullet train speeds, so Acela is probably the best comparison.

I wonder what the odds are of this surviving the election.

That would only be the case if the line has sufficient ridership to support more trips.

I suppose we will see what we get.

Frankly, and via rail has gone this direction, existing via equipment is capable of around 170 km/h.   At those speeds, you make pretty quick work of the trip between London and Toronto.  The problem is, much of the track (even brand new fully grade separated track for some reason) is restricted to ~100 km/h or even ~60 km/h in the case of really bad tracks, and there are often sections in poor repair where they are restricted to 30-50 km/h, you only really hit 170 km/h for extended periods on the corridor between Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa.

If Via was simply to upgrade all their tracks to a level that supports 170 km/h everywhere.  We'd have actually pretty fast service.

There is a branding aspect however, that needs to be addressed.

I say to hell with just 170 km/h we should really try to build the equivalent of the North-East Corridor (Amtrak) here. 150 mph (241 km/h) maximum speed on dedicated 4 wide track would make quite the difference.

[DHLawrence]

Only build it so that it can go 150 for a significant portion of the track, not just a couple segments in Rhode Island.

[NotStan]

There is a branding aspect however, that needs to be addressed.

HST instead of HSR?  (High-Speed Track!)

I'd rather have better rail service than a better brand.

[danbrotherston]

HST instead of HSR?  (High-Speed Track!)

I'd rather have better rail service than a better brand.

So would I, but even with better service, without proper branding, it's unlikely to succeed commercially.

My point was that, Via rail could provide far better service at a pretty low cost just by improving tracks.  But if they did so, I think they still have to do some kind of branding work to capitalize on that investment.

[tomh009]

My point was that, Via rail could provide far better service at a pretty low cost just by improving tracks. 

And that's really it.  Both of VIA's current locomotive types (F40PH and P42DC) are capable of 170+ km/h, and GO's MP40 can reach 150 km/h.  And yet the average speeds between Kitchener and Toronto for the two are only 73 km/h and 60 km/h, respectively.  The trains are not the biggest problem at the moment, the track is.

And better service will bring in more customers -- guaranteed -- for both VIA and GO.

[SammyOES2]

Yeah, the branding problem takes care of itself (or w/ basic marketing) if there are actual substantive changes made.

[tomh009]

I say to hell with just 170 km/h we should really try to build the equivalent of the North-East Corridor (Amtrak) here. 150 mph (241 km/h) maximum speed on dedicated 4 wide track would make quite the difference.

Maximum speed is meaningless except to train geeks.  Average speed (and travel time) is what matters.  VIA's current average speed is only 40% of the maximum so it's not even close to the travel times by car.

[MacBerry]

Another study, yay!

It will probably conclude that the issue should be studied some more. But it seems that could have been determined just by sheer extrapolation, rather than going through a full study.

Back in the mid 1980s and 1990s, I along with many others delivered study data and presentations to support high-speed rail to the Quebec City to Windsor High Speed Rail Corridor study, which was co-chaired by high-speed internet guy Ted Rogers. There were of course other non-supportive presentations. In the end elections prevailed and the money has always dried up.

Thirty years of studies and only the consultants    and lawyers  have made money and still no progress to date in 2017.

[Canard]

I still have a booklet from ABB's "Sprintor" concept for our corridor, the X2000, from my childhood.  I cherished that booklet!  It was neat to finally get to ride the "real" X2000 in Sweden in 2012, like closing out a chapter.

[tomh009]

I still have a booklet from ABB's "Sprintor" concept for our corridor, the X2000, from my childhood.  I cherished that booklet!  It was neat to finally get to ride the "real" X2000 in Sweden in 2012, like closing out a chapter.

... and now X 2000 is part of Bombardier, for full closure!