VIA Rail

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I don't think anybody "likes it". But some of us see it as the path of least resistance. I really think that once HFR enters service, the public discussion and political support for intercity rail will change substantially. This is what has happened elsewhere with large rail projects.

Upgrades also become much easier. Increasing speeds on one segment (say Ottawa-Montreal) can be done in a single government term and mostly for less than what the baseline HFR will cost. I think we'll see the HFR corridor achieve HSR capability inside of 15 years after the launch of service.

Originally Posted by ssiguy

HFR may indeed change the public, and hence political, climate to encourage a more robust passenger rail service but only if results in SIGNIFICANTLY faster travel times.

If the travel times drop from 25% to 40% on every route then the public's perception will change for the better. Conversely, if all it does is offer more trains with just better reliability but no meaningful decrease in travel times then any potential further government money for improved rail service will be seen as nothing more than throwing good money after bad.

I am wondering if HFR is enough to shut everyone up about the Corridor so that Via can work on other routes. The problem is, unless it is frequent HSR, I doubt Via will do anything outside of the Corridor. We are operating equipment from the 1950s outside of the Corridor.