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High Speed Rail: London - Kitchener-Waterloo - Pearson Airport - Toronto

Now that would be a sight to see. Ottawa, which has a much less technically difficult build tried very hard to see if they could speed up construction to open in time for Canada's 150th in 2017, and they found pushing up the schedule by a single year was much too difficult and expensive, and they investigated that a couple years ago now.

Eglinton was originally planned to open in phases starting in 2016, but then the province delayed the funding.
 
Eglinton was originally planned to open in phases starting in 2016, but then the province delayed the funding.
Given that one can't change the past, it would still be an incredible (and incredibly expensive) challenge to open the line in 2017 given a directive today.
 
Now that would be a sight to see. Ottawa, which has a much less technically difficult build tried very hard to see if they could speed up construction to open in time for Canada's 150th in 2017, and they found pushing up the schedule by a single year was much too difficult and expensive, and they investigated that a couple years ago now.

Eglinton was originally planned to open in phases starting in 2016, but then the province delayed the funding.

Given that one can't change the past, it would still be an incredible (and incredibly expensive) challenge to open the line in 2017 given a directive today.

It's not that big of a deal. Just another 3 years.

The cost are too much but if it's 5.3 billion and not 8 billion then they can eat some of the cost, especially with the new revenue tools coming on board. 2017 for Eglinton Phase 1 is not unreasonable and the Liberals will need something to show for because Finch or Sheppard will not be done by that time.
 
What do you want me to say? Really? I was talking about the Toronto projects and I get accused of not caring for the 905, and then I got back on topic and I don't care for GO.

Someone asked you where on the priority list you place the HSR and I get a bit of shock that you put this right behind Crosstown....so, first on the priority list of projects not yet started! That was a surprise to me.
 
This is the High Speed Rail thread after all... I really think this discussion and some of the discussion on other threads concerning Ontario transportation funding priorities really needs to be broken off.
 
Someone asked you where on the priority list you place the HSR and I get a bit of shock that you put this right behind Crosstown....so, first on the priority list of projects not yet started! That was a surprise to me.

That actually seems appropriate for political reasons.

Wynne is seen as a Toronto premier. HSR and frequent Kitchener Service (lots of overlap in construction) are both outside the GTA and flashy enough to get some press.

They need to show projects outside the GTA are high priority too and it's hard to find one more ready for construction (once Georgetown is done, work can move up the line) than the Kitchener corridor.
 
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That actually seems appropriate for political reasons.

Wynne is seen as a Toronto premier. HSR and frequent Kitchener Service (lots of overlap in construction) are both outside the GTA and flashy enough to get some press.

They need to show projects outside the GTA are high priority too and it's hard to find one more ready for construction (once Georgetown is done, work can move up the line) than the Kitchener corridor.

Fair enough....I really thought we were talking transit priority not political priority. Not sure why political priority matters much right now with a 4 year mandate.
 
This is the High Speed Rail thread after all... I really think this discussion and some of the discussion on other threads concerning Ontario transportation funding priorities really needs to be broken off.

I would like to raise a point that Eglinton and Finch Phase II may be particularly relevant here.

Eglinton Phase II will extend from Mt Dennis to the airport. Finch Phase II will go from Humber College to the airport.

What I think is a missed opportunity here is tying in Malton GO station. Furthermore, I would like to see how a discussion between Metrolinx, the GTAA and the CBSA would go about making the airport area such a major transfer hub.

To me, it would make much more sense to have both of these lines terminate at Malton GO, allowing for GO passengers to transfer to them. Also, and more importantly, instead of having to build new rights-of-way between Kitchener-Waterloo and the airport, you could just detrain at Malton, hop on the Crosstown, and get directly into terminal 1.

If you consider the costs for Finch and Eglinton LRTs to be set (already identified in the Big Move, and funding being allocated through dedicated revenue tools), what would the cost difference be between making necessary upgrades to the existing rail corridor from KW to Malton (also already slated to be electrified for GO service), reconfiguing the Eglinton+Finch LRTs, and making Malton a mobility hub instead of the airport?
 
I would like to raise a point that Eglinton and Finch Phase II may be particularly relevant here.

Eglinton Phase II will extend from Mt Dennis to the airport. Finch Phase II will go from Humber College to the airport.

I thought Finch phase 2 was between Finch West and Yonge St

What I think is a missed opportunity here is tying in Malton GO station. Furthermore, I would like to see how a discussion between Metrolinx, the GTAA and the CBSA would go about making the airport area such a major transfer hub.

To me, it would make much more sense to have both of these lines terminate at Malton GO, allowing for GO passengers to transfer to them. Also, and more importantly, instead of having to build new rights-of-way between Kitchener-Waterloo and the airport, you could just detrain at Malton, hop on the Crosstown, and get directly into terminal 1.

If you consider the costs for Finch and Eglinton LRTs to be set (already identified in the Big Move, and funding being allocated through dedicated revenue tools), what would the cost difference be between making necessary upgrades to the existing rail corridor from KW to Malton (also already slated to be electrified for GO service), reconfiguing the Eglinton+Finch LRTs, and making Malton a mobility hub instead of the airport?

I have to agree that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to re-route the rail corridor into Terminal 1. Some form of connection will need to be made between the terminals and the rail corridor. The three best candidates in my mind are at Malton, Highway 427, or at Highway 27. All have their merits, but I personally prefer that the HSR station interchange with the UPX trackage which means either 427 or Highway 27.

The factors to consider here are proximity to the airport, cost of constructing a station, and cost/quality of highway access to the station. This being the western GTA's suburban station, highway and parking access would be very important.
 
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I thought Finch phase 2 was between Finch West and Yonge St

Maybe. Finch West to Yonge and Humbe to Pearson are two section that were identified in The Big Move, and currently have no commitments. I was just using "Phase 2" loosely.

I have to agree that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to re-route the rail corridor into Terminal 1. Some form of connection will need to be made between the terminals and the rail corridor. The three best candidates in my mind are at Malton, Highway 427, or at Highway 27. All have their merits, but I personally prefer that the HSR station interchange with the UPX trackage which means either 427 or Highway 27.

I sure can't get my head around it. The UPX trackage currently turns south to pull into Terminal One. How do you turn it around to continue north? Or do you branch off of it before it turns south? And then where do you put the station? Terminal 3? Then how do you navigate it back to the rail corridor so that it stays out of flight lines?

Too many questions. To be fair, questions that an EA would answer, but way too many compared to connecting with an existing corridor IMO.
 
I sure can't get my head around it. The UPX trackage currently turns south to pull into Terminal One. How do you turn it around to continue north? Or do you branch off of it before it turns south? And then where do you put the station? Terminal 3? Then how do you navigate it back to the rail corridor so that it stays out of flight lines?

I'm not talking about running HSR trains on the UPX spur. I'm talking about co-locating a HSR and UPX station where the UPX spur meets the Kitchener corridor either at the 427 or Highway 27.
 

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