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Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY)

abovegrade said:
Good News?

This is a screenshot from Brampton's Draft Official plan that just got sent to me by email.

under page 2-237.

https://www.brampton.ca/EN/City-Hall/Official-Plan/Documents/Draft Brampton Plan.pdfView attachment 396326
Click to expand...

Wasn't part of the issue that Orangeville couldn't afford to keep the line because the property taxes Brampton was charging them were so high? If it was such a priority for them, why didn't they just give Orangeville the reduced tax rate that they were looking for? Sigh...
 
crs1026 said:
That section does not appear in the document that you linked to (did I get the right one?). That document is marked 'draft'.

Until we see the section having been added to the document, I'd be a bit cautious about this.

- Paul
Click to expand...
It did, on page 2-237. It has been edited out now. Not sure why.
 
abovegrade said:
Good News?

This is a screenshot from Brampton's Draft Official plan that just got sent to me by email.

under page 2-237.

https://www.brampton.ca/EN/City-Hall/Official-Plan/Documents/Draft Brampton Plan.pdfView attachment 396326
Click to expand...

I'm extremely skeptical of things like this. It's one thing for the feds to recommission a line in the middle of nowhere that is now a trail (VIA HFR) but when you pull out tracks in the city/suburbs and make it a multi use trail, you're basically saying "this rail line is dead'

The NIMBY pushback you will get converting a nice bike/walking trail through peoples back yards into an active rail line is stratospheric.

Just like the Leaside Spur, which is actually owned by the province with a special agreement to allow the city to use it as a trail for "the time being" with a provision to be able to reactivate it for GO use, it ain't ever gonna happen. You've set a precedent thats basically impossible to return back from.
 
robmausser said:
I'm extremely skeptical of things like this. It's one thing for the feds to recommission a line in the middle of nowhere that is now a trail (VIA HFR) but when you pull out tracks in the city/suburbs and make it a multi use trail, you're basically saying "this rail line is dead'

The NIMBY pushback you will get converting a nice bike/walking trail through peoples back yards into an active rail line is stratospheric.

Just like the Leaside Spur, which is actually owned by the province with a special agreement to allow the city to use it as a trail for "the time being" with a provision to be able to reactivate it for GO use, it ain't ever gonna happen. You've set a precedent thats basically impossible to return back from.
Click to expand...
I really don’t buy it. The first time we reactivate one of these it will be painful; far less so for the next.

Its not like to be short term in Brampton, but the Leaside spur really should come back the moment Crosstown GO gets on anyones agenda.
 
robmausser said:
Just like the Leaside Spur, which is actually owned by the province with a special agreement to allow the city to use it as a trail for "the time being" with a provision to be able to reactivate it for GO use, it ain't ever gonna happen. You've set a precedent thats basically impossible to return back from.
Click to expand...
I agree. You go from a largely positive discussion of making better use of a derelict rail corridor by reactivating the line, to a discussion with mixed reviews where people who love using the trail hate the idea and those who want rail or transit are fighting for it and politicians taking the easy do nothing route or perhaps commissioning studies finding compromise picking an entirely different route leading to a pathetic return on investment calculation leading to nothing happening. Using the VIA HFR example... VIA hasn't even gone through the environmental assessment and community feedback phase so while it is great to see this new level of commitment to the cause, I'm still not even convinced it will reach the finish line. Parts of the corridor VIA plans on using are going to get significant negative feedback because they have become so integrated as trails in some communities like Sharbot Lake and Tweed. Large parts of the railway corridor are the official Trans-Canada Trail. If there were still rails sitting in the corridor making it clear that is what the corridor is for and making it clear to property owners and purchasers that they should expect trains on those lines in the future... that is a simpler discussion. If GO or VIA start running trains again on the Leaside spur from Union to Leaside they don't even need to have an environmental assessment... it is a rail line with no at grade crossings going to be used as a rail line. Take those tracks out and everything changes... the owners of houses that were built in the Governor's Bridge neighbourhood plus the save the Don folks all show up to the environmental assessment and make it difficult to put tracks back in.
 
EnviroTO said:
I agree. You go from a largely positive discussion of making better use of a derelict rail corridor by reactivating the line, to a discussion with mixed reviews where people who love using the trail hate the idea and those who want rail or transit are fighting for it and politicians taking the easy do nothing route or perhaps commissioning studies finding compromise picking an entirely different route leading to a pathetic return on investment calculation leading to nothing happening. Using the VIA HFR example... VIA hasn't even gone through the environmental assessment and community feedback phase so while it is great to see this new level of commitment to the cause, I'm still not even convinced it will reach the finish line. Parts of the corridor VIA plans on using are going to get significant negative feedback because they have become so integrated as trails in some communities like Sharbot Lake and Tweed. Large parts of the railway corridor are the official Trans-Canada Trail. If there were still rails sitting in the corridor making it clear that is what the corridor is for and making it clear to property owners and purchasers that they should expect trains on those lines in the future... that is a simpler discussion. If GO or VIA start running trains again on the Leaside spur from Union to Leaside they don't even need to have an environmental assessment... it is a rail line with no at grade crossings going to be used as a rail line. Take those tracks out and everything changes... the owners of houses that were built in the Governor's Bridge neighbourhood plus the save the Don folks all show up to the environmental assessment and make it difficult to put tracks back in.
Click to expand...
And this is why we will forever be stuck with the automobile.
 
The Orangeville Brampton Railway shows up in the Ontario Liberal Party enviro/transit platform!

9138007F-05CE-4AE8-A220-F778E77A4C7C.jpeg
 
It's unfortunate that Metrolinx showed no interest in the corridor (GO Transit did preserve the Stouffville-Uxbridge section when CN abandoned its line to Lindsay in 1990), though it has limited potential for transit, especially north of King Street near Brampton Airport. However, this is the best case. Peel Region previously purchased the ex-CN Beeton Sub through Caledon, which is now the Caledon Trailway (sadly Halton/Halton Hills didn't follow Peel's lead), so there's precedent. This will at least mean a new north-south active transportation corridor between Brampton and Orangeville, and a new route between Brampton and Mississauga under Highway 407, leading towards the Second Line AT bridge over the 401.
 
Boosting (and electrifying?) GO Bus 37 might be more cost-effective for Orangeville's growth and transit connections in the medium term, though personally I'd love to see an Orangeville - Schomberg - Newmarket service someday as well... or at least a Mayfield - Bolton - King City route as an exurban radial.

It's really disappointing that we won't know for sure what could have been done about the rail, but on the bright side, at least we may end up with a continuous trail from Brampton to Owen Sound now.
 
north-of-anything said:
Boosting (and electrifying?) GO Bus 37 might be more cost-effective for Orangeville's growth and transit connections in the medium term, though personally I'd love to see an Orangeville - Schomberg - Newmarket service someday as well... or at least a Mayfield - Bolton - King City route as an exurban radial.

It's really disappointing that we won't know for sure what could have been done about the rail, but on the bright side, at least we may end up with a continuous trail from Brampton to Owen Sound now.
Click to expand...

It’d probably be fine too to run that Highway 9 bus through Tottenham as well. There’s a much larger population there than in Schomberg, and it’s been left off the Simcoe County Linx network.

I’d agree with boosting Route 37 as well, especially with all-day service between Toronto and Kitchener ramping up over the next decade. Once Brampton gets the LRT extension figured out (and I’m convinced more than I was a few years ago that it will, finally), it will be a real important hub.
 
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