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High-Speed Rail Proposals

It would make much more sense to establish a Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa high speed line as there is a far greater population to be served. The metro areas of the three cities account for more than a third of the population of Canada.

If they build such a train line between Calgary and Edmonton, there is absolutely no excuse to explain why such a line could not be built here.
 
Both lines, an Calgary-Edmonton line and HSR and upgraded service in the corridor, make sense. The Alberta HSR would be from a techincal standpoint easy to do so it would not be an expensive project (in relative terms) so the fact that its length serves a smaller population is somewhat offset. The corridor is going to be more expensive to construct in (though not excessively more), but the benefits from an HSR line and local upgrades would be enourmous. It is hard to compare the two projects side by side but while the Quebec-Windsor corridor would certainly bring about far greater changes and benefits in passenger transport, the Alberta project still has merit.

If the federal government were to help fund an Alberta project, then you are right, there is no reason they should not also fund a corridor project (and they probably would as part of an overall rail investment funding package). But that means Ontario and Quebec politicians and leaders are going to have to take some iniative and start pushing for such a project. Otherwise the whole thing will be left to the passing fancies of the Federal government and if that is the case it will be a long time before HSR ever gets off the ground.
 
I'm not doubting the merit of a Calgary-Edmonton route; I just happen to think that Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal high speed route is a no-brainer and ought to have been acted upon a long time ago.
 
"Both lines, an Calgary-Edmonton line and HSR and upgraded service in the corridor, make sense."

"Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal high speed route is a no-brainer and ought to have been acted upon a long time ago."

You're both right - no need for the only-too-typically-Canadian regional either/or, here. Let's just get on with planning and building both.
 
I agree Pep'rJack. I am actually glad that Alberta is considering HSR since one more region of Canada wanting to pursue the idea means that it is no longer just a Quebec/Ontario project and subject to the typical regional nonesense you talked about.

Though I do disagree slightly with Hydrogen. Any of the past HSR plans for the corridor were not all that great. I might be a supporter of the idea but I would have had a hard to agreeing to what was planned in the past. I see it as a good thing since no large mistakes were made in the past which means it is a lot easier to go forward with an intelligent plan.
 
Especially considering that governments in this country are hoarding embarrassing amounts of cash. Bring on the infrastructure spending!
 
Though I do disagree slightly with Hydrogen. Any of the past HSR plans for the corridor were not all that great.
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Just to clarify. I wasn't being plan-specific. It's the idea that should have been seized along time ago. Any time the concept of high speed rail hits the radar, the naysayers show up with a thousand soft reasons why it just can't be done here.
 
Criticism and naysayers are a part of life. If HSR supporters are not prepared to deal with peoples questions and comments (legitimate or not), then that is their own fault.
 
Interesting news.
The idea of high-speed railway lines both in Alberta and along the Windsor-Quebec City corridor is appealing. I'm not sure if 'if you built, they will come' holds true in the Canadian context. Perhaps a change in mentality is also needed, I don't think that people will voluntarily get out of their cars in Canada... every one needs their own private coccoon... except for the people on this board offcourse ;)
That being said, I surely think that the population along the corridor certainly is large enough to sustain a high-speed railway line, if you can only get the people to get into those trains in the first place.
 
I'm not sure if 'if you built, they will come' holds true in the Canadian context.
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It would. Right now rail travel accounts for 3% of passenger travel in the corridor. With HSR it would be able to grow to about 15% in 15 years, or less. This is why private interests have been the ones pushing the idea the most so far, it would be successful and attract a lot of people.

A lot of the new passengers would not be coming from cars right away. It would be those would who normally fly between cities in the corridor. This is why airlines are against HSR. Over time though, once better intermodal and transit connections were made to lines feeding into the network, more people would switch from cars though.

One point that shows the actual demand for rail passenger service in the corridor is the fact that despite VIA service being riddled with delays and continually trying to overcome funding issues and dealing with freight companies, it is has managed to not totally collapse. A proper passenger rail network would be an instant success in the corridor.

The Alberta proposal I am not sure how much of the traffic would come from airlines and how much from cars. It would be interesting to see what studies done on that proposal say though since it would be a rather different project from one in the Quebec-Windsor corridor.
 
Maybe a Calgary/Edmonton line would be a good place to test out that train/car-ferry deal thing that someone mentioned in another thread. Albertans in particular might dig that.
 
this will never happen, this is pipe dream that every 10 or so years someone mentions "a high speed rail link " between the two cities, and everyone thinks "what if...".
 
^ Most. Typically. Tragically. Canadian. Post. Ever.
 
thank you, all I'm saying is while it would be awsome, the population in Calgary/Edmonton might be something like 2.5 million far to small for a high speed rail link, I think Alberta should be waiting to see if a high speed works in the Windsor/Quebec City corridor, where there is far more people and it makes far more sense.
 
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