Quote:
Originally Posted by ue
I agree that, even if we had HSR from coast to coast, if you're going from, say, Vancouver to Montreal, the plane will always be more convenient. But I'd say there are uses for it beyond just localized Island and Lower Mainland routes. A non-meandering route (as much as is possible with the mountains) to Kelowna and Kamloops from Vancouver, and then a line down Hwy 97's Okanagan corridor between Salmon Arm (perhaps over to Kamloops to make a loop) and down to Osoyoos would be decently useful if reliable, affordable, and at least as fast as driving. If you had moderate HSR speeds, I could see trains being economical from BC as far as Edmonton/Calgary, perhaps Saskatchewan.
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I've said this before, but you could plunk Austria over the area covering Vancouver, Kelowna, Kamploops, Edmonton, and Calgary. They're comparable in population, area, wealth, and rugged terrain. Yet they aren't at all comparable in rail service.
That's the scale passenger rail works at in real life. Germany, France, and Spain all have excellent rail systems, but taking a train from Hamburg to Barcelona isn't a convenient or fast trip. There are political and administrative reasons for that, which wouldn't exist in Canada, but Europe could also smooth out those issues. They haven't because they don't really need to in the same way that Canada doesn't need coast-to-coast HSR.
HSR across Canada is a distraction. Canada should build strong regional rail networks. Once they exist and establish, extending regular service across the bald-ass prairie, or to the Maritimes, or to Sudbury, becomes realistic.
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