VIA Rail

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

My list is:
1) Calgary-Edmonton

For new origin-destination pairs, I agree 100%, that should be the top priority, but it needs to be done correctly. It doesn't need to be HSR or even HFR, but it needs to be at least competitive to driving or taking the bus. Using old, hand-me-down trains on the existing track with minimal upgrades just would flop.

2) CP Vancouver-Toronto

We have discussed this too many times before.

3) CN/CP Thunder Bay-SSM-Sudbury

Really? That is your number 3? A total distance of about 1,000 km, largely following the TCH, with the following populations:

Greater Sudbury		164,689

Thunder Bay		121,621

Sault Ste. Marie	78,159

Interestingly, the Sudbury/SSM train seems to have been cancelled around the same time as VIA took over CP's passenger service (it was on the 1976 combined CN/CP schedule, but not on the 1979 VIA schedule).

4) Toronto-Chicago

I can see that, though that would require co-operation from Amtrak. Because of the boarder, Toronto-Detroit would probably make more sense as customs and immigration could be done at Detroit station in both directions. The old route via Sarnia probably doesn't make sense these days.

5) Halifax-Boston

Before Montreal-Boston? Either way it would be mostly Amtrak, not VIA. The current Downeaster does the 233km from Boston to Brunswick, ME, but that is less than a third of the route you are proposing. Given that the I-95 and the TCH largely parallel that route, it will have stiff competition and both have the same disadvantage of having to drive around the Bay of Fundy (unless you take the Ferry from Saint John to Digby).

Montreal-Boston, while it has similar parallel highways, is connecting to a city of population 4 million (Halifax, Moncton and St. John have a combined population of less than 1 million) makes the demand higher and thus worth the cost of upgrades. The distance is also considerably less (between 500 and 600 km depending on the route), putting it in the sweet spot for rail.

Then there is this route, and the one between Winnipeg-St Paul.

There are others, but to me, that's roughly my order.

I may be wrong, but it seems like you are drawing lines on a map without any consideration of where most people actually want to travel.