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

[dtkvictim]

Could we ever hope for a Brightline North? If it can be demonstrated that privately owned passenger service can make a profit, maybe we can even convince CP and CN to get back in the game (or at least make their tracks available)... I can dream can't I?

I know that part of the challenges is that VIA and Metrolinx believe that they are fighting over the same market share and absolutely refuse to find a middle ground. (If this covered in the article, I apologize.  I can't get into the article even though I subscribe to the Star)

I couldn't help thinking with reports of Pearson limiting flights during peak times what would happen if some of the domestic trips were shifted to high speed rail.  Yes, we're never going to have a 4-hour train trip to Calgary (or Winnipeg for that matter), but if there was a way to eliminate the hourly flights from Pearson to Montreal (and equivalent jumps), that would definitely ease up on some of the pressure at Pearson.

Private rail somehow makes a profit in Japan, but not here. The context is pretty different I guess.

There is so much capacity on the Montreal-Toronto route and so many flights (though also a bunch of flights from City Centre). VIA doesn't come even close.

The context is pretty different, but I think it's mostly in land usage patterns. The rail companies there usually own huge amounts of land surrounding their stations, and make a lot of their money by having their rail lines drive consumers to their real estate investments (many major stations there are basically just malls). As I understand it, early North American rail companies used to follow this strategy as well, but don't seem to anymore.

Also IIRC, some private company saw potential profit in a HSR line between Calgary-Edmonton, so we'll see if that ever happens.