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407 Rail Freight Bypass/The Missing Link

Thanks for clarifying. Is there a specific source available where CN has said they are fine running freight trains with the frequencies GO wants as long as there is no catenary? It seems speculative.

steveintoronto said:
Actually not at all. What they have stated is "no catenary". CN is singing a different song of late on sharing tracks. Plus RER as you are premising is electric. I stated DEMU *that can later run on electric*. The present UPX Sharyos need a wholesale conversion, bogies and all.

There is a challenge to sourcing FRA compliant DEMUs, but that's a separate subject. What I'm touting, in lieu of the very disappointing "link announcement" is finding something workable and affordable that can happen in the *next few years*. And do it with rolling stock that is forward compatible to electrification *when* it comes.
Click to expand...
 
Allandale25 said:
Thanks for clarifying. Is there a specific source available where CN has said they are fine running freight trains with the frequencies GO wants as long as there is no catenary? It seems speculative.
Click to expand...
I give you the very post you made some fifteen minutes ago:
Correct. Two tracks with the third roughed in. Map here.
Click to expand...
That plus passing loops where needed. We're talking trump change compared to "$5B".

Edit to Add:
crs1026 said:
@drum118 makes a good point. It can't cost $5B or take 8 years to address those. Make those changes, see how many diesel trains that enables, and add some track to allow 2-way service west of Georgetown. Then, think about the Bypass as a 'further step'.
Click to expand...
I'm leaning more towards what can be done in two years rather than when some of us probably won't still be alive in fifteen years.

Again, consider investing in some DEMUs with forward compatibility...and to take that even further, since none are available to meet need that meet FRA regs, and there's *still* no indication of the regs being changed (snore)...at the figures being touted, it may even be worth having Siemens or Bombardier (or God help me, Sharyo) develop a model that will. Will we pay too much for them? Inevitably....but not by $Billions!

Sorry Wynne and Del Duca, you had my ear, and you spat in it.
 
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mdrejhon said:
Just wait.
Click to expand...
We are. The train is late. Really, really late.
The agreement-in-principle also begins the planning and technical analysis to build a new freight corridor that will allow CN to shift most of its freight traffic from the section of the Kitchener corridor the company owns -- roughly between Georgetown and Bramalea -- to the new corridor. That will free up capacity for more GO service through Brampton to Kitchener.
[...]
Quick Facts
  • The agreement-in-principle between Metrolinx and CN will allow for continued planning and design on improvements to the Kitchener GO corridor to support more GO train service in the future and deliver GO Regional Express Rail along this line.
  • The province will be seeking support from the Government of Canada to construct the new rail corridor and enable transformational changes in shifting freight rail operations to allow for increased transit choices.
  • Under the GO Regional Express Rail initiative, Metrolinx is transforming the GO rail network, including the Kitchener GO corridor, to provide faster and more frequent GO train service across the region, with electrification of core segments of the network. Weekly trips across the entire GO rail network are expected to grow from about 1,500 to nearly 6,000 over 10 years.
  • [...]
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I'm finding it very difficult not to write something sarcastic...
Here's CN's news announcements:
https://www.cn.ca/en/media/news/news-articles

Please assist me in finding their official news coverage on the 'bypass'.
 
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Allandale25 said:
Thanks for clarifying. Is there a specific source available where CN has said they are fine running freight trains with the frequencies GO wants as long as there is no catenary? It seems speculative.
Click to expand...

It doesn't say "fine".....but.....the RER Business Case analysis
http://www.metrolinx.com/en/regiona...fitscases/GO_RER_Initial_Business_Case_EN.pdf
points to electrification not being feasible (let alone acceptable) where there is double stack or autolevel traffic.

I think it's reasonable to assume that if ML were willing to fill in the triple track gaps, and maybe move some turnouts around, *something* would be possible with diesels.

- Paul
 
steveintoronto said:
We are. The train is late. Really, really late.

I'm finding it very difficult not to write something sarcastic...
Here's CN's news announcements:
https://www.cn.ca/en/media/news/news-articles

Please assist me in finding their official news coverage on the 'bypass'.
Click to expand...

Easy. Check their official twitter feed here. They literally retweeted a tweet with the word "bypass". Just to be clear, are you skeptical of the merits of a bypass because you'd prefer making the exiting Kitchener Corridor west of Bramalea work for freight and more diesel GO trains, as opposed to the capital investment required to build a bypass?
 
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Allandale25 said:
Easy. Check their official twitter feed here.
Click to expand...
A tweet isn't a news release, and those are nothing but decoration on a cake, the recipe of which is completely unknown. Pardon me if I'm of the older generation and like to see things in writing.
Just to be clear, are you skeptical of the merits of a bypass because you'd prefer making the exiting Kitchener Corridor west of Bramalea work for freight and more diesel GO trains, as opposed to the capital investment required to build a bypass?
Click to expand...
I'm a *huge* supporter of the "Missing Link". So are many of the other skeptics. Just read back on what I've written, and ditto for Paul. We were both excited at the mention of the announcement, and both on record here of being so. How could you possibly have missed that? It was all of...well...a day ago, to be exact.

But like some others, I got caught up in the wild enthusiasm...until my sixth sense kicked in. Sorry...but slick weasel words don't work on me.

Show me the money, or show me something in writing. And tweets don't count. Would you do your banking by tweeting?
 
jamincan said:
How would HSR fit in with that though?
Click to expand...
After this lame attempt to curry flavour (apologies to 'favour'), HSR looks even more of a pipe dream. Collenette is missing in action. Who could blame him?

It's going to be 15 years until this line is electrified, if then, at this rate. Some are fine with that. I'm not, nor are the majority depending on it.
 
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What is "#elxn2018."?

OK, Googled to find this:
https://twitter.com/search?q=#elxn2018

For those of us who just speak normal English, I believe it means "Election 2018"? Sorry, I don't speak Twitter, and I have no desire to.

And oddly, I'm not going to wait until 2018 for answers. I hear Jesus is returning too...just wait.
 
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crs1026 said:
I have seen maps somewhere - I'm not imagining this, I swear ! - showing provision for a right of way curving up around the truck stop and eastwards from there. The north end of Milton is filling up with development, and the potential corridor may have been lost. I will go looking for this.

I agree that the most direct route is to get back on the original CN row through the park, and turn right at the Galt Sub.... but this may create conflict with some of the east-west underpasses as the tracks would have to return to grade. I wonder how Milton would feel about the intrusion into that park.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

- Paul
Click to expand...

A good friend of ours has been working on the project for a couple of years. Feel free to ask him on Saturday.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
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