Quote:
Originally Posted by jammer139
Its pre election silly season. The Liberals pulled the same tactic last election in an attempt to get votes in SW Ontario. Expect more of this sort of stuff as the months pass.  |
Yep. That's exactly how I'm looking at this. The latest report says that as many as 10 million people might be using HSR, by 2041.
2041 is 24 years from now. What they're really saying is, "We're going to go through the motions of studying this yet again, but it won't get built until 2041... or later... or probably never." I'll be long dead by then.
I think the real stumbling block is this. Ontario is addicted to gasoline tax revenues. It also relies upon the auto industry for tax revenues and the generation of economic activity.
A high-speed rail line would result in significant reductions in gasoline tax revenues. It would also mean fewer cars being built and reductions in auto-related tax revenues as well as economic activity.
But not building a high-speed rail line is not an option, either. Ontario's population is expected to grow to nearly 20 - 30 million over the next 25 - 30 years.
The existing highway networks, i.e., 401, 403 and 407 are already clogged. There is no more room to build additional highways.
Most of the population growth is going to happen in the Golden Horseshoe, which encompasses the GTA, and in the heart of southwestern Ontario itself, namely the Golden Triangle area (KW-Cambridge) and in London.
All of those cities are located close enough to each other and the Golden Horseshoe to make high-speed rail both viable and necessary. In fact, the constellation of cities in this region greatly resembles the clustering of small, medium and large cities seen in central Europe, where high-speed rail works very well.
All that Ontario is doing right now is kicking the can down the road in an attempt to delay the inevitable. And the Liberals are hoping that people in SW Ontario who want high-speed rail will fall for this tactic once again.