reaperexpress
Senior Member
It doesn't make sense to build in a choke point like Brampton. Since it would presumably be an express station stop, it would need to be widened for multiple platforms anyway. I took another look at the corridor and it looks like 4 tracks wouldn't be such a difficult fit.
We're not "building in" a choke point. It's already there. The question is whether it's worth fixing at a very high cost. I've been to Brampton Station and it doesn't look like there's room for two more tracks, but if there is we definitely should build them.
The bigger issue is the freights: unlike most of GO's corridors, the line from Silver to Halwest is a major freight route and there's no way that freights could be limited to a night time window. It wouldn't be possible to fit 6 tracks (or at least 5 plus sidings) in the corridor, so something would need to be done. The best long term option would likely be to completely separate the freight bypass from passenger corridors. The most obvious option is the 407 corridor, which is quite spacious through Brampton. The issues would be with grades, though that's hardly insurmountable (pun intended). The route was considered in the high-speed rail studies, but it has far too many curves for that purpose. That's obviously not an issue for freights.
Yes, absolutely. In fact, my original plan included:
- Extending the CN York subdivision west to Milton in order to free up space on the CN/GO Weston subdivision for passenger trains
I was in fact thinking about the 407 corridor. The line would have a lot in common with the Betuweroute in the Netherlands: a new high speed freight line built along the A15 motorway. Hopefully we will be able to avoid some of the controversy and cost overrun they faced because ours would be a much smaller scale project (30km vs 160km; diesel vs electric). Here it is in Google Maps.
With respect to grades, I also agree. The line is going to have to go above or below stuff anyway, so it's going to end up being trenched and elevated regardless of what terrain there is.
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