Quote:
Originally Posted by onishenko
It's a tough call all-around. It needs to be multi-nodal, and it needs to be fast. Those two things need no be answered by the same solution, but it's a multi-faceted approach.
Here is what I'd like to see.
1) GO becomes two systems: GO-TO which is Toronto-focuses transit across the GTA and to the outer-exburbs. And GO-ON..(just coming up with random names) but this would be regional inter-connectivity. KW to Guelph, Hamilton, London, etc. Slower and cheaper then high-speed.
2) Windsor-QC high-speed rail. Interconnectivity, but a single line, and fast.
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I think the two serve somewhat different functions. The GO-train system works well serving areas that have a large portion of their population making frequent trips to downtown Toronto (namely commuters). In the areas currently serviced, you're close enough to downtown Toronto that it will be quicker to ride the train than to sit in traffic, which starts way out in the outer burbs to begin with. And of course, the stations are frequent, so you generally don't have to drive that far to get to the nearest station.
Constrast that to somewhere like KW-Cambridge-Guelph, where the distribution of commuters is relatively sparse and it would probably take longer to take the GO-train to Toronto then drive on the 401 where you have 50-60 km past Cambridge where you can speed down the highway and not have to worry about traffic (for now). Logically, if you're going to get those people out of their cars, the service has to be fast and not have too many stops in between.
So what you need in order to make it work are 2 overlapping systems. For the Cambridge-to-Milton route, you don't really need a high-speed rail service, since there isn't much in between where you could put a station. But for the Kitchener-to-Georgetown route, there's a ton in between. Guelph will certainly want their own station. Rockwood and Acton likely will too, which adds more stops. So that route will definitely need a high speed, limited stop rail system.
My idea...
Kitchener-Toronto high speed line. (connecting destinations together)
Downtown Kitchener-Downtown Guelph-Downtown Toronto
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New Hamburg-Toronto GO-train line
New Hamburg-> Baden-> West Kitchener-> Downtown Kitchener-> Breslau-> Downtown Guelph-> Rockwood-> Acton-> Georgetown-> Other existing stations
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Cambridge-Toronto GO-train line
Electrified higher speed service from Cambridge to Milton. Continue on with normal route.
Note: All routes will connect to local LRT systems and local transit.
Of course, one thing I didn't mention through all of this is that people react to the infrastructure put into place. So if there was high speed rail service from Kitchener to Toronto, we'd get a lot more commuters living here and people would push their boundaries even further. In that case, if high speed rail went to London, it's foreseeable that London would become popular with commuters. So dealing with this issue is a tough one, since we still would prefer having people living close to their work.