I have to admit, as a Western Canadian, I am beyond sick and tired of hearing about the corridor's HFR project that is getting so much attention and support from politicians and media. What many folks in Ontario & Quebec fail to realize is that there are Canadians that live and pay taxes in other parts of the country, and the federal government continues to ignore us. When Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, the feds literally fell silent; when Greyhound pulled out of Central Canada a couple years later, the feds gave a song and dance about how unfortunate this is.
The QC/ON corridor doesn't deserve any passenger rail improvements until the rest of Canada can catch up. Alberta's population has doubled since Mulroney made huge service cuts, and Parks Canada continues to cry every Spring about the influx of cars entering our National Parks. Guess what? -it's because there is literally no other option to visit. A dedicated line between Calgary & Edmonton and Calgary and Banff is a must. We've done without it for over 30 years, our population has now doubled and now is clearly the time for the government to make investments in infrastructure. We don't want a train to Toronto, we need regional trains that will keep locals and tourists moving provincially.
We've all been told to pay a carbon tax to green the economy. What is the tax for if it's not actually going to any infrastructure improvements to literally green the economy? As a Westerner, I want attention - I want our needs prioritized over the citizens of Ontario & Quebec. And BTW, this isn't a partisan smear opinion against the Liberals, the Harper Conservatives were just as lousy in this portfolio as the Liberals are. It's great we're getting rid of single use plastics, but I need something with more substance, and no, the HFR project literally has no affect on me or the people around me. It's no wonder Western Canadians are alienated; there is much more to Canada than Ontario & Quebec - it would be fantastic if our federal politicians put in a but of effort to learn the national geography.
You've hit the nail on the head. HSR without a strong network of conventional services underpinning it is a bad idea, akin to planting a telegraph pole and expecting it the magically transform back into a tree. It would also cost about $60bn build a new 380 km/h Detroit-Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec line while shafting every other city and town in the corridor. Frequency and performance on conventional lines - up to 200 km/h - is economically viable and politically reasonable in both the Windsor-Quebec and Calgary-Edmonton corridors. That our federal government isn't doing this is mind-boggling. They talk about attempting to tackle the climate crisis and improve quality of life, but ignore the lowest hanging fruit.
To say VIA has done nothing with the tracks around Ottawa it was made to acquire, because the freight railways were pulling out, is not exactly fair. Before VIA took that segment over, the trip north of Brockville was slow and rough. Since being taken over by VIA, significant amounts of work have been done to improve those tracks, fixing slow orders, raising the level of maintenance, improving crossings, and increasing capacity. That contributed to them being able to run almost hourly Toronto-Ottawa services in 2019. The track west of Chatham, also owned by VIA and maintained by RailTerm/Siemens is similarly smooth running.
The fact is, trains are 19th century technology. We are now seeing a world of electric, self driving cars.....and no one would choose a train over a private car. More roads are always the answer. I suspect that 30 years from now, a substantial portion of those cars will fly. Trains are too inflexible and expensive to build and maintain.
This is a rather ridiculous hit piece that effectively amounts to whining about the attention that large cities get.
VIA has had decades of supporting regional routes to far flung places all over Canada. From Prince Rupert to White River to Gaspé. And has this worked to galvanize national support for passenger rail? Hell no.
It's simple math. A third of Canada's population stays in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Over half stay in the Quebec-Windsor corridor. If you can't make VIA relevant to the average Torontonian or Montrealer, you will never get the funding and support to make it relevant to the average Calgarian or Haligonian. Contempt for large metros isn't going to change that calculus. And let's be clear, VIA is mostly irrelevant in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Still mostly seen as a service for students and retirees.
You forgot to mention the Trudeau The First Liberals cutting back Via services , some 40 percent in the 1981 Budget. Biased much? That was one of the main reasons that Mulroney was elected in 1984; he promised to restore a number of services such as the second transcon train.
I have to admit, as a Western Canadian, I am beyond sick and tired of hearing about the corridor's HFR project that is getting so much attention and support from politicians and media. What many folks in Ontario & Quebec fail to realize is that there are Canadians that live and pay taxes in other parts of the country, and the federal government continues to ignore us. When Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, the feds literally fell silent; when Greyhound pulled out of Central Canada a couple years later, the feds gave a song and dance about how unfortunate this is.
The QC/ON corridor doesn't deserve any passenger rail improvements until the rest of Canada can catch up. Alberta's population has doubled since Mulroney made huge service cuts, and Parks Canada continues to cry every Spring about the influx of cars entering our National Parks. Guess what? -it's because there is literally no other option to visit. A dedicated line between Calgary & Edmonton and Calgary and Banff is a must. We've done without it for over 30 years, our population has now doubled and now is clearly the time for the government to make investments in infrastructure. We don't want a train to Toronto, we need regional trains that will keep locals and tourists moving provincially.
We've all been told to pay a carbon tax to green the economy. What is the tax for if it's not actually going to any infrastructure improvements to literally green the economy? As a Westerner, I want attention - I want our needs prioritized over the citizens of Ontario & Quebec. And BTW, this isn't a partisan smear opinion against the Liberals, the Harper Conservatives were just as lousy in this portfolio as the Liberals are. It's great we're getting rid of single use plastics, but I need something with more substance, and no, the HFR project literally has no affect on me or the people around me. It's no wonder Western Canadians are alienated; there is much more to Canada than Ontario & Quebec - it would be fantastic if our federal politicians put in a but of effort to learn the national geography.
You've hit the nail on the head. HSR without a strong network of conventional services underpinning it is a bad idea, akin to planting a telegraph pole and expecting it the magically transform back into a tree. It would also cost about $60bn build a new 380 km/h Detroit-Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec line while shafting every other city and town in the corridor. Frequency and performance on conventional lines - up to 200 km/h - is economically viable and politically reasonable in both the Windsor-Quebec and Calgary-Edmonton corridors. That our federal government isn't doing this is mind-boggling. They talk about attempting to tackle the climate crisis and improve quality of life, but ignore the lowest hanging fruit.
To say VIA has done nothing with the tracks around Ottawa it was made to acquire, because the freight railways were pulling out, is not exactly fair. Before VIA took that segment over, the trip north of Brockville was slow and rough. Since being taken over by VIA, significant amounts of work have been done to improve those tracks, fixing slow orders, raising the level of maintenance, improving crossings, and increasing capacity. That contributed to them being able to run almost hourly Toronto-Ottawa services in 2019. The track west of Chatham, also owned by VIA and maintained by RailTerm/Siemens is similarly smooth running.
The fact is, trains are 19th century technology. We are now seeing a world of electric, self driving cars.....and no one would choose a train over a private car. More roads are always the answer. I suspect that 30 years from now, a substantial portion of those cars will fly. Trains are too inflexible and expensive to build and maintain.
This is a rather ridiculous hit piece that effectively amounts to whining about the attention that large cities get.
VIA has had decades of supporting regional routes to far flung places all over Canada. From Prince Rupert to White River to Gaspé. And has this worked to galvanize national support for passenger rail? Hell no.
It's simple math. A third of Canada's population stays in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Over half stay in the Quebec-Windsor corridor. If you can't make VIA relevant to the average Torontonian or Montrealer, you will never get the funding and support to make it relevant to the average Calgarian or Haligonian. Contempt for large metros isn't going to change that calculus. And let's be clear, VIA is mostly irrelevant in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Still mostly seen as a service for students and retirees.
You forgot to mention the Trudeau The First Liberals cutting back Via services , some 40 percent in the 1981 Budget. Biased much? That was one of the main reasons that Mulroney was elected in 1984; he promised to restore a number of services such as the second transcon train.