11-05-2015, 11:00 AM
(11-05-2015, 09:44 AM)tomh009 Wrote: Right. And if there is infrastructure funding enough for "gold" but not enough for "platinum", the choice would be clear, at least for me.
"Proper HSR" might take us to downtown Toronto in 30-35 minutes, assuming stops in Guelph and at Pearson. Maybe it's 45 minutes for the "gold" version (even GO with dedicated track and no level crossings should be less than an hour). I suspect that for most people the difference would not be significant. (The higher speeds are more relevant on longer routes with fewer stops, though.)
It wouldn't make much difference for KW-Toronto but it would for Detroit-Quebec City, which is where we are going with this. Moreover, whatever decision we make would likely not be upgraded in decades. Are we prepared to forego HSR until 2050?
Also have we lost the capacity as a nation to dream big? This seems to me like Avro arrow all over. We have a window of opportunity, the demand seems to be there, all that it requires is the capacity of people to dream big and reach for the stars.
Think of the population centers we would connect: Windsor/Detroit, London, KW, Guelph, GTA, Oshawa, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec City. About half the population of Canada lives along this corridor.