Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
This has been covered numerous times. There are segments of HFR where it is competitive with air.
Take Toronto-Ottawa at the projected 3:15 hrs. At best air is only faster downtown-to-downtown by an hour. If you're traveling from the Eastern GTA to Western Ottawa, like say a tech worker from Markham to Kanata, HFR would be faster than air or driving. I expect the number of companies willing to pay for airfare to save 1 hr on a trip to decline (only downtown to downtown). The only people flying will be same day return travelers where 2 hrs saved might be worth airfare.
HFR will also be faster than air on Quebec-Montreal at 2:10 hrs. Even with the new REM, there's no way to get from downtown Quebec City to downtown Montreal in 2:10 hrs, once you include pre-boarding times and travel to/from the airports.
There's one specific segment where HFR isn't competitive with air: Toronto-Montreal. At 4:45 hrs though, it's most certainly competitive with driving. Getting close to 5 hrs from downtown Toronto to downtown Montreal requires no traffic, no stops and some aggressive driving. The train would be a bit quicker and far less stressful. I expect Greyhound, Megabus and Coach Canada to take some hits from HFR too. A better schedule and faster trip times, means bus companies would have to offer significant discounts and many more departures to compete.
Also, all these HFR travel times can actually be improved through capital investment over time, making it more competitive.
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Ottawa to Toronto:
Air - Get to airport an hour early, line up for check in, line up to go through security, get to departure lounge, line up to get on the plane, pack yourself into a seat and pray that some obese person is not sitting with you, wait to depart the gate, take off, pay some money to get internet, sit in cramped seat, land, wait to get off the plane, wait to get your bags, wait for cab, cab fights traffic to get downtown.
Train - Get to station 10 to 15 minutes prior to departure, get on train, sit in roomy seat with lots of leg room and no issue if the person sitting beside you is large, internet immediately, you can use your phone to call, walk about if required, arrive at Union Station downtown, grab bag and go, if you're lucky your place to go is within walking distance.
HFR will just make this mode of transport more enjoyable than flying.
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