Barrie Collingwood Railway (BCRY)

[ShonTron]

Of all the rail projects possible in Ontario there are still some people obsessing over passenger trains to Collingwood?

It’s not going to happen.

 

[Collingwoodbuildinglover]

All in all there are plenty of opportunities to connect towards the more populated mid northern hub area around Georgian bay

 

[Collingwoodbuildinglover]

Of all the rail projects possible in Ontario there are still some people obsessing over passenger trains to Collingwood?

It’s not going to happen.

Hey if you talk to most of our residents they would prefer a passenger rail to a six-lane highway hell we will even take a commercial rail line to eliminate some of the truck traffic we deal with

 

[crs1026]

Hey if you talk to most of our residents they would prefer a passenger rail to a six-lane highway hell

I don’t doubt that would be their preference, in the abstract - but the numbers even with growth are still way down the priority list and not the biggest slice of voters either. The available funding will be gobbled up by other things for a decade or two - if not even longer.

- Paul

 

[Collingwoodbuildinglover]

I don’t doubt that would be their preference, in the abstract - but the numbers even with growth are still way down the priority list. The available funding will be gobbled up by other things for a decade or two - if not even longer.

- Paul

I can see them beginning the next phase of the highway 26 renovations soon though to better connect between Barrie and Stayner All in all Transit wise it's a very underserved area with multiple small roads to get here but nothing to handle large volumes

 

[sixrings]

Let’s be real. I’m trying to get to Bruce Peninsula national park. And I think a GO train should get me there. GO trains are now for commuting, for long distance trips and any random tourist attraction in remote places as well. There’s no end to GOs potential.

 

[lenaitch]

So going to push back on the corporate side because yes Blue mountain is owned by a large family of resorts (alterra) but everything to do with our daily operations and engagement with the town of Collingwood is all coordinated by the resort.
Blue mountain as a resort does more for the Collingwood community in terms of jobs and opportunities than any other large corporation I know of it's not a corporation like Walmart or Amazon other than having access to each other's resorts and pooling they're funds All the resorts operate autonomously
but as somebody from Collingwood I would love to see our rail line restored as a kid I remember CN rail passing behind my house with materials for our rim manufacturing plant ethanol plant and glass plant a big thing that killed the Collingwood rail line was whenever the town d industrialized for the sake of the resort there needs to be a balance brought back

Collingwood didn't consciously de-industrialize; that has been the fate trend of a lot of our country, particularly industry that is rail-dependent. Those businesses just allowed the 'C' part of the BCR to hang on a little longer. The main economic driver of the line was the shipyards (and, in earlier days, the grain elevators and tender fruit from Meaford).

I'm really not seeing the Collingwood thing.

While thousands of carloads converge on the area both summer and winter, one has to consider where those people come from and how much a commuter train would really help them make the trip more conveniently. My take is - not much and not many. All those cars fan out across various highways - no doubt a lot at the 407, more at 401, not to mention 89, 9, and 124. The catchment area for both Wasaga and the ski business extends from Oshawa to Kitchener - and beyond.

Carrying all those folks downtown to Union and then asking them to take further transit to get home is not going to sell. This is a market where the auto is truly more convenient, even with the congestion created.

I could certainly see a demonstration bus service from Allandale GO, meeting GO trains and demonstrating whether there is demand to either ski hills, Collingwood town, or Wasaga Beach. Certainly some business would appear, and that would be useful to calibrate whether a GO extension is justified.

Relaying the 15 miles of track from Utopia to Stayner, and refurbishing the line east of Utopia to achieve reasonable passenger train speed, strikes me as much lower priority than laying down 15 miles of track on many other places in the GO network. That same envelope would likely make a much bigger difference on Stratford - London, for instance.

I can buy extending GO to the west side of the 400, as proposed, as a way of keeping cars out of central Barrie - but no further.

- Paul

No doubt the traffic on Hwy 26 is steady in the morning and evening. The first step should be to help or convince the County to enhance their bus service. Having said that, I've been on Airport Rd. during both ski and summer season and it draws a fair bit of traffic, I assume from folks in Peel who would likely have no intention of trying to get to a stop on the Barrie line.

I've often felt that a tourism-oriented rail service is a bit precarious. Interesting article from last year:

Many Collingwood visitors are from rural communities: study

'Overall, we want to drive more tourists to Simcoe County,' says county's experience development co-ordinator

www.collingwoodtoday.ca

 

[lenaitch]

Let’s be real. I’m trying to get to Bruce Peninsula national park. And I think a GO train should get me there. GO trains are now for commuting, for long distance trips and any random tourist attraction in remote places as well. There’s no end to GOs potential.

Interesting that you started that post with "let's be real". The realistic limit of GO's potential is the taxpayer's willingness to pay for it.

 

[sixrings]

Interesting that you started that post with "let's be real". The realistic limit of GO's potential is the taxpayer's willingness to pay for it.

Apparently there’s lots of people on these threads which want to double their property tax.

 

[micheal_can]

Let’s be real. I’m trying to get to Bruce Peninsula national park. And I think a GO train should get me there. GO trains are now for commuting, for long distance trips and any random tourist attraction in remote places as well. There’s no end to GOs potential.

That would be the Bolton/Orangeville line.

 

[micheal_can]

So, with the election results, is this GO extension back into the realm of fantasy? Might we see this new government investigate its potential.

 

[sixrings]

So, with the election results, is this GO extension back into the realm of fantasy? Might we see this new government investigate its potential.

90% of any election platform are promises that won’t be fulfilled. So it wasn’t likely to begin with and it’s completely dead now.

If I’m wrong then how didn’t transit city become a thing with a liberal mayor and province.

Where is smart track despite a conservative mayor and conservative province.

 

[micheal_can]

90% of any election platform are promises that won’t be fulfilled. So it wasn’t likely to begin with and it’s completely dead now.

If I’m wrong then how didn’t transit city become a thing with a liberal mayor and province.

Where is smart track despite a conservative mayor and conservative province.

Transit city is kind of happening at a snails pace.
Smartrack has morphed into GO RER 2WAD

I agree with your sentiment though. While it would be a nice thing to have, the need isn't there,yet. So long as this ROW can remain intact, there is hope that when it becomes a need, it can be reactivated.

 

[sixrings]

Transit city is kind of happening at a snails pace.
Smartrack has morphed into GO RER 2WAD

I agree with your sentiment though. While it would be a nice thing to have, the need isn't there,yet. So long as this ROW can remain intact, there is hope that when it becomes a need, it can be reactivated.

Transit city had a Jane line and a lake shore line. Neither line are ever mentioned. The rt conversion was cancelled. Sheppard east cancelled. Eglinton east might as well be cancelled. If you consider 2 out of 7 lines transit city promise being effectively delivered then I guess we can sell anything.

As for dumbtrack which was meant to be the fastest infrastructure to get up and running. Even if you consider it morphed. Well GO 2wad isn’t here yet and it’s definitely not at a TTC fare. So way off schedule and way over priced.

 

[micheal_can]

Transit city had a Jane line and a lake shore line. Neither line are ever mentioned. The rt conversion was cancelled. Sheppard east cancelled. Eglinton east might as well be cancelled. If you consider 2 out of 7 lines transit city promise being effectively delivered then I guess we can sell anything.

Line 5 Eglinton is expected to open soon, maybe...
Line 6 Jane is expected to open by the summer.
Eglinton East is under planning. It is expected this year to move forward.
Parts of Don Mills is the Ontario Line under construction. Whether the northern part is part of the future extensions of the Ontario line remains to be seen.

Sheppard East and Waterfront West are in planning purgatory.

Jane has been canceled, or at least no longer going forward.

As for dumbtrack which was meant to be the fastest infrastructure to get up and running. Even if you consider it morphed. Well GO 2wad isn’t here yet and it’s definitely not at a TTC fare. So way off schedule and way over priced.

That is why I said it morphed.TBH most considered it a drawing on a napkin kind of thing. There really was no substance to it.

I do get your point. And to some degree, I agree with it. I feel this extension is much like Bolton GO - stuck in promise purgatory.