Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
Looks like you can fit 8 tracks in that corridor.
Though it does get narrower at some points, we can be happy that we don't have to worry too much about physical constraints in that corridor. With a modern signalling system, it can handle pretty much anything we choose to run. That's why I was so baffled by the recent high-speed rail study that said, presumably based only on a chat with some guy at Metrolinx or GO, that the Weston corridor couldn't accommodate high-speed rail.
Yeah, that HSR study was a crock, there were so many problems with it. It predicted lower ridership than the study they did 20 years ago for gods sake. It was either designed to be shelved or the people who wrote it have never set foot outside North America.Though it does get narrower at some points, we can be happy that we don't have to worry too much about physical constraints in that corridor. With a modern signalling system, it can handle pretty much anything we choose to run. That's why I was so baffled by the recent high-speed rail study that said, presumably based only on a chat with some guy at Metrolinx or GO, that the Weston corridor couldn't accommodate high-speed rail.
Are we sure about that? In the Hurontario-LRT PIC, in the options for downtown Brampton at Brampton GO, there was some room for a future third track on the Kitchener line indicated.Although the corridor is huge south of Lawrence, there is only room for 2 tracks through downtown Brampton. I expect it was more of a capacity issue than a speed issue, although I doubt you could go much over 100mph with the corners on the line.
Wasn't there a plan to jack up the Brampton station building and move it ten or twenty metres north? It looks like they could lay a third track on the north side then... I'm not sure there is the room on the south side, what with the bus station and all. Edit: and, looking at the overpasses further east, they seem to be ready for widening to the north. You might have to narrow or shift a one-block-long section of Nelson Street, but other than that, there seems to be room on the north side.The Mill Street/Railroad Street grade crossing west of Brampton Station makes me think a third track would be tricky.
There's been rumours in the past that OBRY would abandon Streetsville-Brampton and connect with CN rather than CP at Brampton (CP still owns the track and serves the customers between Streetsville Jct and Highway 401. It would eliminate what is otherwise redundant trackage to just connect with CP, but nothing came of that. Yes, long term plans would require Brampton's station building to be moved 10-20 metres to the north, but I prefer the Railroad Street 3rd track myself as well, as the new second platform could easily be modified for a third track.
I wish that the CN/CP bypass via the 407 "Greenbelt" was built, but that ship has all but sailed at this point. It would have freed up both GO's routes through Mississauga and Brampton.
I hope that route is never completely abandoned. It would be very useful for regional rail!
There's been rumours in the past that OBRY would abandon Streetsville-Brampton and connect with CN rather than CP at Brampton (CP still owns the track and serves the customers between Streetsville Jct and Highway 401. It would eliminate what is otherwise redundant trackage to just connect with CP, but nothing came of that. Yes, long term plans would require Brampton's station building to be moved 10-20 metres to the north, but I prefer the Railroad Street 3rd track myself as well, as the new second platform could easily be modified for a third track.
I wish that the CN/CP bypass via the 407 "Greenbelt" was built, but that ship has all but sailed at this point. It would have freed up both GO's routes through Mississauga and Brampton.
If you're referring to the Brampton-Orangeville stretch, no, it probably wouldn't be particularly useful. Slow, windy track, to a small town that has far too little population to justify very limited commuter-type GO train service much less proper regional rail. In order to get Orangeville's population up to a level where you could even start contemplating a few commuter trains a day, you'd need to get it to sprawl all over the greenbelt.
I guess you could conceive of a situation where the lower Brampton-Mississauga stretch was turned over to an LRT or O-Train-type operation of some nature, but I dunno if the route really has much by way of a healthy built-in ridership.... it mostly runs through low-density sprawl, although I guess with a bit of new track at each end you could connect downtown Brampton with the newish employment lands near the 401 and Derry.
How about a one-car, ultra-light DMU, that's nicely tailored to ridership demand, nimbly achieves lower total travel times than conventional rail traffic on the line, can stop multiple times and accelerate back to top speed quickly, and is fully compliant with federal safety regulations when operated by a crew of one?To service Orangeville, you run a different type of service with shorter trains. I have been on EmU's with 2 cars that carry very few riders over the 90 minute route.