04-16-2018, 02:15 PM
(04-16-2018, 01:39 PM)panamaniac Wrote:(04-16-2018, 10:17 AM)KevinL Wrote: No, but one could pull into the transit hub we're already planning to build.
Isn't that already the plan, or is the new platform only intended for GO trains?
I believe it is the plan, to the extent that an HSR plan actually exists at this point.
But the GO train comment is on point. A 2- or 3-platform station can handle GO, Via, and HSR, unless we start running way more trains than anybody is discussing — 3 platforms should be able to handle at least 18 trains an hour (10 minutes is more than enough time for a train to arrive, unload, load, and depart).
If we replace the HSR by maglev, the main station stays exactly the same, but we have to find space for maglev platforms elsewhere. Now, they could be above or below, not necessarily somewhere else geographically, but suddenly it is a significantly more complicated station. Also, the infrastructure cannot evolve as it can for HSR. Initially, HSR could travel down Kent St. in Guelph exactly as it is to the existing station, at the speeds currently used by GO trains. Of course, I would hope that they would at least upgrade the tracks so they could go a little faster than now even in that area, but the point is that the existing infrastructure can be used here and there where running slowly gets around a significant problem.