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Originally Posted by lrt's friend
I think we are just beginning to see the resurgence of rail transport.
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Remains to be seen. I would have thought that, but then the government only gave VIA $3 million to study HFR. So I am on the fence about whether we are actually turning the page here or the Trudeau government is yet another in a long line of Canadian governments that just use studies for optics rather than actually enacting change.
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Originally Posted by lrt's friend
I am not so sure that energy costs are going to go through the roof. I was thinking that 10 years ago when gas got to $1.40 but the price actually has gone down.
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We haven't had carbon taxes over the last 10 years. That's the difference.
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Originally Posted by lrt's friend
I think congestion and the enormous cost of expanding roads is what is going to drive people to want alternate transport. And that is where buses have no advantage.
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I am surprised somebody from Ottawa would say this. Build one LRT and people already forget how successful Ottawa's BRT was. Bus lanes on the highway are far cheaper than building and running regional rail.
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Originally Posted by lrt's friend
I am far from convinced that the Moose proposal is serious, however, we should not entirely dismiss regional rail.
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I am not dismissive of regional rail at all. But let's be clear what Moose is. It's a real estate development proposal using rail to bring customers to the developments. A serious regional rail proposal wouldn't be looking at bi-levels. In fact, a serious regional rail proposal would be offering to basically take over the Trillium Line, to twin track it and promising to run DMUs to keep costs low and boost frequencies.
In Moose's paper they have all kinds of far out ideas. From daycare subsidized by the railway at stations, to enhanced train interiors with services to presumably make the commute so attractive that people choose to live in the boonies. It's a bit fanciful for my taste. But who knows, maybe they have market research to back all that up.