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Using the former CP Belleville Sub (aka the Don Branch) assumes that ML would reactivate the old CN Leaside Spur which ran from the Bala Sub at Oriole down to CP at Leaside. While some might argue that it was "railbanked", I am confident that there would be intense pushback if the idea of...

I seem to recall Kathleen Wynne declaring the need for an "Adult Discussion" about taxes. Her government foundered for other reasons, which placed this comment in the "not credible" category. But it was appropriate. And the right context around that. At the moment we have attack ads declaring...

"Neoliberal rot"?...... Pretty low bar for debate when you reduce to that level.. For every neoliberal government ignoring infrastructure upkeep (while spending excessively on other things) there is a neoconservative government ignoring infrastructure upkeep (usually in the name of lower...

As a for instance, the capital cost of setting up a replicated Greyhound service on the Winnipeg-Calgary-Edmonton triangle (with a Saskatoon-Regina leg) are so ridiculously small compared to reinstating rail service. Sure, the bus service would lose money…. Which is why investors haven’t done...

Your guess is as good as mine, but both are so far into the billions that cost alone may not be the key decision factor. I would say that the CP midtown line isn’t far enough north to really add much mobility, other than moderate relief of the Lakeshore, while the CN route adds a quantum to the...

Nice historical map available at - https://ontariorailwaystations.wordpress.com/home/waterloo-region/hespeler-railway-stations/ - Paul

Lol... rest assured, I am not going quietly..... :) I do think a regional rail service (and much better transit infrastructure) across the top of the GTA is both desirable and doable. I would compare this challenge to Crosslinx in London.....the business case for the Elizabeth Line was probably...

Procuring electrical switchgear and power control system components, and stringing and commissioning the wires, takes even longer than procuring locomotives. Plenty of time yet. - Paul

No, while it would only take a small segment of new line from Lisgar to Halwest, it also would take a large amount of additional freight track along the existing CN corridor from Halwest to Scarborough. And then the author suggests even more trackage on that corridor for GO's use. The video is...

Basically, two or more railroads sharing a single line or route. - Paul

More seriously, it's interesting to speculate on what messages CPKC would want to send to Ontario and what messages Ontario would want to send CPKC. This flows more into General Railway discussion than GO Transit, but I will leave it here. Ontario: - Milton Line (it's effectively a Ford promise...

If some additional higher standard had been in VIA's service contracts sooner, the price of running the service would have been higher sooner. And perhaps that would have eroded whatever public support there has been for running the train at all. It would be interesting to know what the...

....in exchange for building a second GTA intermodal terminal out in the Greenbelt someplace? - Paul

Now you have me dreaming of catching a GO train in Kitchener, riding it to Mount Dennis, catching the Crosstown to the Science Center, and backtracking on the Ontario Line to downtown to catch the train to Chicago..... All in good time, I hope - Paul

I would not despair so much. The Detroit terminal sat as a bombed-out shell for decades, while down the road, the Gordie Howe bridge is a Canadian initiative that business interests on the US side bitterly opposed. Compare the condition of the 401 roadway to I-75.down to Toledo. We have our...

Beautiful building. If only Buffalo had a re-building sponsor industry with equally deep pockets. - Paul

In the sense that Ottawa charges GTAA "rent", yes. But how that rent matches financing charges for future capital heeds, plus past capital expenses that are still being amortized, is another question. - Paul

I don't have the precise date close at hand, but CN stopped delivering chlorine to the Ashbridges water treatment plant around 2019-2020. - Paul

"Who pays for it" is indeed baked into VIA's service contract with CN..... the point being, VIA can't afford to pay more and still maintain a cost recovery ratio that can be sold to the taxpayer. - Paul

^ Lots to see indeed, Working grain elevators, boxcar in the then Don Yard....., the freight train is one of the gravel trains that shuttled between the quarry in Limehouse and gravel yards at Scarborough and Milliken. Former boxcar and rebuilt caboose 79499 is no longer with us, but its close...