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Designing VIA Rail
A look at the branding, marketing and identity of VIA Rail Canada from 1976 to 2022
Apr 13, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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Designing VIA Rail
Why doesn't Canada have more trains?
How bad ideas, bad leadership, and treating trains as elitist instead of populist are holding back opportunities for better intercity rail service.
Jul 19, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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Why doesn't Canada have more trains?
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The Brightline Saga
How a privately owned Florida passenger railway received billions in taxpayer dollars, pretended to be a highway, dismisses safety concerns, and still…
Apr 25, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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The Brightline Saga
Is VIA HFR the Canadian Brightline?
A look into Canada's first attempt at a modern, intercity passenger rail network
May 18, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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Is VIA HFR the Canadian Brightline?
The Ontario Northland Experiment
How an unlikely passenger rail project for Northern Ontario came to be, and why it calls almost all conventional thinking about trains in Canada into…
Dec 20, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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The Ontario Northland Experiment
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GOing Urban Part 1
How two decades of quiet incrementalism is transforming the GO train network into the most modern passenger rail system in North America
Mar 30, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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GOing Urban Part 1
Conversation Corner: Is the VIA Rail model still relevant?
Looking at what role Canada's national passenger rail carrier should play in the 2020's.
May 26, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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Conversation Corner: Is the VIA Rail model still relevant?
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The VIA High Frequency Rail project: $600 million and counting and still nothing to show for it.
How this project is fast becoming a once in a generation boondoggle and a scandal in the making
Jul 12, 2023 • 
Johnny Renton
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The VIA High Frequency Rail project: $600 million and counting and still nothing to show for it.
The Modernism of Mexican Railways
Brilliant designs in the face of decline, and a complicated future.
May 23, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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The Modernism of Mexican Railways
GOing Urban Part 2
How the plans for modernized GO train service is already changing the urban landscape around its stations
Apr 7, 2022 • 
Johnny Renton
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GOing Urban Part 2
Why VIA Rail will not make a full recovery in 2024
And why it might not happen in 2025 either….
Dec 22, 2024 • 
Johnny Renton
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Why VIA Rail will not make a full recovery in 2024
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Let Ontario Northland take over VIA Rail's Sudbury to White River service
It's time to put the essential remote service into the hands of a competent agency that understands the region
Jul 14, 2023 • 
Johnny Renton
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Let Ontario Northland take over VIA Rail's Sudbury to White River service
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