Here's what I'm seeing being promised:
[...]
Speed
- With new electric trains that accelerate faster, your journey times will be cut by up to 20%, so you’ll spend less time getting there and more time being there
- Morning trips from Kitchener will run express from Bramalea to Union Station, and afternoon trips from Union Station will run express to Bramalea
[...]
http://www.metrolinx.com/en/regionalplanning/rer/rer_kitchener.aspx
That can be done with a single track between Mt Pleasant, perhaps Bramalea, and Kitchener, with passing loops at stopping stations. RER is touted to be using CBTC, and ostensibly, in the five years (at least) it would take for RER to be reality, one would only hope with the most up-to-date CBTC.
But then again, it is Metrolinx, and it is Canada, so "up-to-date" is an oxymoron expressed in the Cdn context.
Make no mistake, I'm a massive supporter of the Missing Link. It is one of the most pressing rail issues in the nation, not just Ontario, but to link twinning track for passenger west of Bramalea with the Missing Link is a very weak case. It can be single before and after the Missing Link is built, if ever. There's more pressing issues for Metrolinx to deal with as per increasing track capacity elsewhere than that segment.
And to add to that, I rode the last (15:52) train in from Mt Pleasant today, it's almost always my route back into TO from distance cycling that part of the world, albeit usually, if not running late from the north, I head to Georgetown to avoid the ugly roads and ugly sprawl and take the 15:12 33D bus east to catch the aforementioned train, it's very civilized....but the train invariably runs almost empty. A few people per coach, at least until Brampton. The demand for "all day service to K/W" is a bit flaky, to be honest.
Maybe it's a case of "build it and they will come"...