Another alternative to a rail link over a new bridge, that could still provide rail service to Dartmouth would be an expanded version of the railcut-based route on the Halifax side that would include an equivalent route along the Dartmouth waterfront using the existing tracks there (between Burnside and Shearwater). There was actually a master's thesis written a few years ago that proposed that route - interestingly enough, it was written by the same guy who authored the Bedford Transit Alternatives staff report and the latest commuter rail report. The two rail networks could link up near Bedford (if the city is willing to build the extra tracks to do so) or ferry services could link a couple of the stations north of the narrows to provide a second crossing point for people from Bedford/Mainland North who want to skip the peninsula - for example MSVU to Shannon or Wright's Cove. This could also be more effective than a Shannon Park to Downtown ferry since it would feed into the western harbour rail network without having to go through the narrows.
I think that the extra cost of making the bridge or tunnel wide enough to accomodate a railway on top of the road traffic, and then having to install tracks on it, would not be worth it. If anything maybe some of the road traffic from the MacDonald could be diverted to the 3rd crossing and the Macdonald could be reduced to 2 lanes plus 1 rail line (this would be cheaper since it would be a shorter distance and wouldn't have to be widened).
Last edited by Hali87; Dec 12, 2011 at 8:06 AM.
Reason: reworded some stuff
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