[Cre47]

I know this is likely still a very long way from here, but here's a quick little poll on which suburb outside of Ottawa and downtown Gatineau should be first served by LRT or other form of rail transit.

I`m leaning between two choices: Aylmer and Rockland, but I would choose the latter because of multiple factors. First foremost, the city of Gatineau seems less interested in rail transit without that I think Aylmer and Le Plateau would have been the first choice with the approximate 60 000 to 80 000 people living west of St-Raymond Blvd., though due to the layout of Aylmer, a corridor would be either on the southern most or northern most urban part of Aylmer.

So basically, with the city of Gatineau being not that much interested, I had no choice but to choose Rockland because of a slew of factors. First, it is by far on the Ontario side, the most populated non-Ottawa suburb (30 000-40 000 something like that depending on the results of the 2011 Census), probably triple the size of Kemptville, Arnprior and Carleton Place (probably more then the three combined). Second of all, Orleans looks to be the frontrunner for the first Ottawa suburb to get LRT, so there will just be an additional 15 km more of rail in order to reach the core of Rockland. And second of all the 174 nightmare east of Trim with the heavy traffic, narrow road, frequent side roads/streets and many private home entrances where people turn, frequent fatal crashes and ridiculous speed limit of 90 km/h despite being not provincially maintained anymore.

Still I might see rail there only in around 2025-2030 at earliest.

Second choice in Ontario would probably be Carleton Place, but it is like 25 000 less then Rockland

[phil235]

Wouldn't commuter rail be more appropriate for Rockland? I would see two separate systems. The order of priority will likely depend on the availability and condition of existing rail corridors.

[reidjr]

Carleton place is growing 10-20 years from now i think it could have a fair size population.

[Harley613]

commuter rail from brockville with stops in prescott, kemptville and bankfield.

[Cre47]

Based on availability of existing rail lines that would advantage only Smiths Falls and Limoges/Vars/Embrun but not the major towns which isn't too good. However that might be a bigger boost for Limoges and Smiths Falls would probably need that boost. If it wasn't for all the rail line removals, excluding in Quebec I beleive only Kemptville and Rockland would have had no rail - still the biggest on the Ontario side not having rail.

[Aylmer]

If Aylmer had a ROW along Chemin D'Aylmer 'til Wilfred-Lavigne, then shared traffic down Principal and up Front Street (Maybe ROW on Front from Eardley to Allumettières), it would be perfect. It would be used for Aylmer-Ottawa trips, but also for Aylmer-Aylmer trips since Aylmer is a Town, not just a suburb.

I think another line from Ottawa to le Plateau via Taché (with possible extension to and down the corridor previously reserved for the mythical Deschênes Highway right beside Vanier... Maybe even down a new bridge to Lincoln Fields?) would also be a step in the right direction, but it would be used almost only for Plateau-Ottawa trips.

[lrt's friend]

Logic would suggest that a commuter rail run would be added on the Via Rail line from Ottawa to Alexandria via Casselman first.

LRT beyond Ottawa and Gatineau would be unaffordable and LRT is not designed to run such distances.

[eternallyme]

Not LRT, but commuter rail you mean?

Unless dual-mode LRT that can cheaply operate on diesel is brought in (that would be ideal since it would allow rural commuters to go to more stations and combine resources), it would be unrealistic to extend LRT beyond the suburbs.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

lrt's friend wrote

Logic would suggest that a commuter rail run would be added on the Via Rail line from Ottawa to Alexandria via Casselman first.

LRT beyond Ottawa and Gatineau would be unaffordable and LRT is not designed to run such distances

When we speak of rail to towns like Alexandria or Smith Falls in the other direction, are we not talking the province here? The City can not use its taxpayers money to do things outside the city limits. it is a matter for the province.

It has to be the province. Is not the famous GO train in the GTA a provincial crown corporation?

If we want commuter rail in the Ottawa Valley then we need to write to our MPPS to get moving on this. Likewise the city councils of the various communities involved need to lobby the province for commuter rail.

[matty14]

lrt's friend wrote



When we speak of rail to towns like Alexandria or Smith Falls in the other direction, are we not talking the province here? The City can not use its taxpayers money to do things outside the city limits. it is a matter for the province.

It has to be the province. Is not the famous GO train in the GTA a provincial crown corporation?

If we want commuter rail in the Ottawa Valley then we need to write to our MPPS to get moving on this. Likewise the city councils of the various communities involved need to lobby the province for commuter rail.

I was wondering what kind of moniker we would use for such a commuter system. Do you think we'd keep the O-Train designation, or go with something akin to "Nation's Capital Transit" or something (since "O-Train" would kind of imply travel to and from Ottawa only)?

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

I was wondering what kind of moniker we would use for such a commuter system. Do you think we'd keep the O-Train designation, or go with something akin to "Nation's Capital Transit" or something (since "O-Train" would kind of imply travel to and from Ottawa only)?

Dalton McGuinty previously said that he'd like to see GO Trains in Eastern Ontario with Ottawa being the hub, much like Toronto is the hub for existing GO Trains. However, that was conditional upon funding, and the willingness of Ottawa and neighbouring communities to put together a plan and scrape together some financing.

[Kitchissippi]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned MOOSE (http://letsgomoose.ca/attachments/109/Moose-30-Seconds-PDF-02.pdf) yet. They had an odd abrasive presentation at the last LRT debate.

http://letsgomoose.ca/attachments/84/3_route_terminus_mapPNG.png

[Ottawan]

I voted Smiths Falls because (Aylmer and some inner Gatineau suburbs aside) I think what we're really talking about here is commuter rail, and it's the easiest route on a cost-benefit analysis.

I don't believe there are still existing rail lines to Rockland or Carleton Place, which are already commuter towns, while the infrastructure is there for a heavy rail commuter line to Smiths Falls. Smiths Falls is also a more human-scaled town, which still has a nice downtown, and due to recent economic woes could really use the help.

On the Gatineau side, if we're talking commuter rail rather than LRT, I would like to see it connect to Wakefield (perhaps via Chelsea, although Chelsea might be more in range of a Hull Sector LRT).

[O-Town Hockey]

O-Train would still be appropriate for Outaouais.

[Cre47]

Can someone add "or commuter rail" to the titie of the poll?