They are not electric ... they use diesel, don't they ? this is unacceptable ... it has to be electric ... this proposal is not even a "half-measure" ... I really want HSR, but if it's not electric, it is a big mistake - everybody knows this ...

I myself would like to see a maglev train line from Toronto to Montreal which is a lot faster and greener….I have been exhibiting a fully functional maglev train exhibit that I designed and built a few years ago. I have displayed this exhibit for many years with the organization of OACETT during engineering week…

@@epowerplus we should just let the Chinese come in here and build one from coast to coast ...

@@richardblais5232 Not really, we need to create jobs here…We have the technology and the companies to do it here, just needs additional funding from our governments and the go ahead….I have worked in the aircraft & marine industries for many year and there is no need to contract the work out to other countries….

@@epowerplus Well, we used to have Bombardier build HSR all over the world while being subsidized by the Canadian Taxpayer to protect those Canadian jobs and now we are left holding the bag because Bombardier has flown the coop ... I'm all for you getting the contracts, bro ... but we've been down that road already ... the Chinese built the largest Maglev HSR system in less than 20 years - I'm with them ...

Good point about funding!

Gov run infastructure is never that good japan is privately run with gov funding and it has the one of best in world

All public transport should be government run. Who cares what japan does.

FYI, Bombardier is the designer builder of the first monorail in the world. Design & Built for Disney world in 195Os . Canadian Technology that no other country in the world had, or had any Idea about. Bombardier is a Canadian leader in the world of technology & transport. With their invention of the monorail, thrust proportional,i.e seajet, also, snowmobile, skidoo etc.

@@wavelength7503 totally agree the private sector has no business in public transportation sector. These are public lands owned and payed for by the taxpayers of Canada and any new rail ways that are to be built should be built by the government of Canada for the people of Canada and remain as a publicly owned company of Canada. If a privately owned company wants to come in buy the land from private owners in Canada with their own money not government funded by the taxpayers but with their own money and build a private rail line then by all means go ahead but the government of Canada should not and nor should the taxpayers pay the burden for some private company.

Good point! That’s a solid solution, and that’s where the higher speeds matter the most. Thx for sharing!

The proposal by Alstom is exactly what Japan did when they built the Shinkansen network starting from the 1960s. They built new dedicated stations for the railway and connected them to the local subway network (i.e. Shin-Osaka Station), but when circumstances allow it they simply rebuilt the old downtown stations to accommodate the high speed rail line ( i.e. Nagoya Station) then redeveloped all JNR owned properties around the station to generate more profit.

All you have to do is look at the Northeast Corridor in the US. The NEC, despite being practically grade-separated, still has about a dozen such crossings still in place, all in Connecticut, due to limited space available to build overpasses. In all locations with grade crossings, speeds are held down to under 100 mph (~160 km/h). In terms of electrification, one has to look at SEPTA's Regional Rail, specifically the West Trenton and Fox Chase Lines. Both lines, formerly owned by the Reading Railroad, was also used by the former Baltimore & Ohio RR for their premier Royal Blue passenger service that connected the Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City, NJ and Washington Union Station in DC. In the 1930's, the Reading electrified their commuter rail lines, lines that also included segments of track used, via trackage rights, by the B&O and its successors (Chessie System and CSX) as well as Conrail, of which CSX acquired 49% of and took over ownership of most of the former Reading trackage. As such, when SEPTA implemented its Positive Train Control systems, and to prevent interference with CSX freight movements and vice-versa, the portions of the West Trenton and Fox Chase Lines shared with CSX were physically segregated from each other. As such, while the CSX trains can pass under the Reading/SEPTA catenary architecture, CSX trains cannot use said architecture as SEPTA (and Conrail) removed said architecture when said tracks were physically segregated. Thus with the right catenary support architecture (which is also used on the NEC in New England between New Haven and Boston), electrified passenger trains and diesel-electric freight trains can co-exist on those short stretches of track, again provided that said tracks are physically segregated.

This is imposed upon them

Fair points!

Well said. The way I see it, a lot of the passenger rail problems this continent faces today is precisely due to a lack of foresight and stinginess. A mentality this country needs to get over if we are to catch up to the rest of the modern world.

As long as any train reaches the destination within THREE hours, that is sufficient enough to win the competition with the airlines. There is no fundamental requirement to get there faster competing with the airlines. So there is no need to invest ten times more than necessary...

yeah, those bridges have to be build regardless. I hope the alignment gets finalized before I die.

@@ronclark9724 if you look at the geology and the other option by alstrom, this high-frequency rail goes through the Canadian Shield and therefore is prohibitively expensive to straighten and upgrade. You are missing the bigger picture. VIA chose a short-sighted, politically cheaper route at a cost of future Canadians.

Look here, it is the first company who's done a proposal for HSR. No other done that! "The Plan To Bring High Speed Rail to the Corridor - Alstom's Proposal for High Frequency Rail (HFR)) // kzfaq.info/get/bejne/npqkZ5uKrJuqlY0.html

Yeah the travel time difference looks pretty significant from where I'm sitting. Paris-Lyon takes 2 hours with maximum track speeds of 270 or 300 kph on 409 of the 425 km route between Paris and Lyon. This is an average speed of 212 km/h. You won't reach anything near that with 200kph rolling stock. The High speed line is also 87 km shorter than the previous intercity line. Meanwhile the non-stop London to Brimingham intercity also takes 2 hours running on mostly 100mph (160kph and 125mph (200kph) track for most of the way. These trains have top speeds of 200 kph, but the average speed over the 163km route is a measly 82 kph. To be fair, this isn't a new alignement and there are a few short bits along the way where the train has to slow to 90mph or 75mph to blast through a station or a junction. Let's look at a modern line. Rail Baltica is looking at ca. 150kph (1h planned travel time for ca. 150km of track) on average between Riga and Pärnu, most of that line will be rated for 230 kph. Of course if you build the line for high speeds of 250-300 at least, your 200kph intercity trains can still use it (Like we do in Belgium with the line Brussels-Liège and also on the high speed track between Antwerp and Amsterdam), so you can give people options. In the case of Brussels-Liege, the line has some 200kph & 220kph sections due to the hilly terrain and it's on 160kph track for the first quarter of the trip. The ICE3 does the ca. 120km trip in 40 minutes (180kph average) whilst the 200kph capable IC train takes 1h05. If we take away 5 minutes for the stop the IC makes in Louvain, we still get 'only' a 125 kph average. And this distance is a arguably too short for HST to really shine. In conclusion, looking at the precedents in Europe, the 400km or so taking the train direct between Toronto and Ottawa could take 2 hours probably slightly less with modern EMU-styl HST trains with a true 270-300kph high speed line. It would take just shy of 3 hours with modern electric 200kph stock, and that's if they don't add too many stops on the way. A 150 kph line would take about 4 hours, if not more because they would likely add more stops. I guess you could go for the budget high speed option of 250 kph which would not be that far off the 270-300kph travel time with a non-stop travel time around 2h20 minutes or 2h30 minutes if you do like rail baltica and limit the line speed to ca. 235kph The fact remains that the more stops you add along the way, the less benefit you gain from a higher line speed. Conversely, the slower the line speed, the less difference each individual stop makes to the travel time, and the higher the temptation to add extra stops for political reasons. Lets look at how it all compares with flying. If you go with the 150kph option, your travel time is longer than taking the plane for most travellers (including 30minutes before boarding, and a 1h trip to/from the airport.). The 200 kph option is competitive with people flying who have a travel time to/from the airport of ca. 30 minutes on each end if you very generously consider a 15 minute trip to/from the station. Only at 2h30 minutes does the train become truly competitive on travel time, and if you get it down to 2h with true high speed rail, you'll probably reduce the number of flights by an order of magnitude. So really, the question is: Do you want a basic intercity that goes faster than taking your car, or do you want a train that will take lots of short-haul flights out too?

In most countries that average high speed is 200 km/h, you guys are not even hitting the low high-speed. Canada is a joke, especially when compared to even a slow high speed system like in Sweden, Norway. It's all electric! worse choice. Burning more fossil fuels which wasn't needed, the technology for EMU's are decades old.

@Marius Dufour In light of the fact that over 90 million trips by car annually take place between Toronto and Montreal alone, HFR will thus attract far more travelers by car, and even a considerable portion of air travellers, due to its ticket affordability compared to far more expensive HSR. As such, HFR will reduce our carbon footprint far more than HSR. Period. I challenge all disbelievers in HFR to take the time to travel to Europe, where the vast majority of travelers by rail (90 percent) actually take regular intercity and regional trains running at up to 200-225 kph as opposed to HSR trains! So, don't believe the disinformation disseminated towards HFR, a far more affordable, yet effective, and realistably sound project.

@@mariusdufour9186 - I guess, the Question is, if the Roadbed is capable of Multiple Tracks, and offer 2-3 "Speeds" with the lower speeds for serving more stops, with a couple cross points with the high speed lines stops, making fewer stops in the High Speed Lines, like 1-2 between Toronto - Ottawa, for example. Current VIA Rolling Stock could easily serve the slower speed runs, with the newer Rolling Stock serving the High Speed Runs.

@@CycloideNYC true but there are closer cities that could be better connected like the Québec Windsor corridor and in general the city outskirts as well as Edmonton to Calgary which has no intercity train at all.

Unfortunately the Liberal Party only cares for those living in Quebec and Ontario. Everyone else living in Canada chose the small straw. The Ocean suffers from 30 mph speed restrictions in New Brunswick, the West and the Maritimes don't have daily VIA train services, much less multiple daily services...Yet, despite the brush off, Quebec and Ontario EXPECT everyone in Canada to pay for their goodies they DENY us...

@@sevs17 You know deep down in your heart that the Liberal Party only gives a damn about Ontario and Quebec, the rest of Canadians are third class citizens... Watch the trunk corridor be sold off to foreign investors with another corruption scandal while the rest of VIA vanishes...

Hear hear!!! Thx for your comment

Yup. I agree.

Before ALL Canada got the HSR, the way it goes, it will take over 199 years, and the HSR actual system will be a far away over.

Canada doesn't have enough density for more speed rail it just couldn't justify itself in more places

@IndustrialParrot2816 The population density for the Toronto to Quebec City corridor is actually slightly higher than that of France. As such, there is absolutely no reason to suggest that this HFR project wouldn't be just as successful as similar modernized passenger rail systems such as evidenced in Sweden!

Thank you!

Nor am I, but let's be honest, DB and Alstom etc are far more equipped + don't have to swing with political winds as a gov only project would. Hopefully a consortium can implement and then hand over to via/ca(n)hsr

Agreed, it's a masterful project. AND I got to see test trains running over the new Champlain on Friday which was really cool!

Thank you!

Although the LRCs were capable of operating at up to 125 mph or 200 kph, they were never permitted to do so and were limited to 95-100 mph or 153-160 kph. On the other hand, the new Siemens Charger train sets would operate on HFR dedicated tracks at up to 177-200 kph or 110-125 mph without encountering any freight trains, thereby shortening travel times considerably while also providing reliability up to 95 percent. Who can argue with that since HFR would provide a level of modernized passenger rail very similar to that seen in Sweden!

@@marclemieux8269 Québec To Montréal via Trois Rivières and without a tunnel to acces Central station adds 40 minutes to trip time unless Park Ave becomes the new main station for Montréal and bypass downtown. Conventional trains will remain faster on St-Hyacinthe tracks (especially of the line were double tracked all the way). Montréal-Toronto via Ottawa and the old sinuous tracks between Perth and Peterborough will be longer, and it also depends on how fast trains can travel between Peterborough and Toronto. The Siemens trains being delivered now are heavy steel trains (to meet FRA requireemnts that trains be slow and heavy) and won't get higher speed permissions unless dedicated tracks are perfectly straight. This is a political project for photo ops, this has not been thought through. The fact that the guy who signed the contract for VIA t buy traisn from Siemens then quickly quit VIA to be hired as Siemens Canada CEO says a lot about ethics,

Thank you! That’s a great point. If it can do that reliably that would be absolutely game changing for us!

I'd argue the opposite way; high frequency and increased usage won't bring us better/faster infrastructure. Conversely, if HSR is built it will bring more use (and maybe the political/funding) for higher frequency. Build it now or never, imo.

@_-_ Yeah that's a good point. It's kind of a chicken and egg scenario. Riders need trains and trains need riders.

@_-_ HFR will provide vastly shorter travel times along with hourly frequencies and far greater reliability than anything we've ever had in this country before. Take the proposed Toronto-Ottawa HFR route, slated to offer a very palatable travel time of less than 3 hours, will definitely attract both drivers and air travelers to modernized passenger rail far more than our considerably less reliable and slower present rail service. Since HFR will also offer a level of passenger rail service almost equivalent to that of Sweden's highly-success regular intercity and their so-called HSR rail service also operating at a top speed of 200 kph or 125 mph, there is absolutely no reason as to why the proposed HFR wouldn't also work effectively in Canada! Contrary to HSR, HFR will, most importantly, also connect small towns and cities located between start and end points so as to offer additional travel options to the traveling public in light of the increasingly disastrous effects of climate change! Why do we continue to persist in delaying the construction and implementation of HFR, which would reduce our carbon emissions by a factor of 30 to 1 in comparison to a lone occupant in an automobile?

Bombardier Transport is dead now. Alstom take over.

Disney Monorail as an alternatieve for public longdistance transport. Brilliant ingenuity!

@@fbabarbe430 Disney's monorail doesn't run coast to coast... In fact, it doesn't run twenty kilometers...

Out west the trains are privately run too. They completely cut service to every single passenger route and there is effectively no intercity transport that isn't driving. They kept only the profitable routes (cargo) and cut everything else. It's actually currently illegal to ride an intercity train out of Calgary. Privatization won't help anything since privatization will cause railways to cut the losses and heap on only the profits. What Canada needs to do is treat rail, and dedicated bus lanes, as public infrastructure like how roadways are treated. It would be better to privatize the highways and make rail infrastructure government owned, that way more people would switch to taking public transport.

Japan is the 11th largest population in the world with over 125 million and a population density of 347 per square km. Private, for profit run rail companies probably can make money with that kind of population and density. Do you want to guess what Canada's population density is? 4 people per square km! Of course, that's including vast areas of uninhabited land, and over 80% of Canadian population live within 100 miles of the US border and 60% live in that Quebec City to Windsor corridor, but still. All of Western Canada which still has people in major population centres can feel even more alienated than they already are if we expect private rail service to make a profit before any expansion of passenger rail happens. Public services aren't supposed to make profit. The system is all upside down anyways. Nature isn't a bank machine and isn't supposed to be treated like a elitist way for a small group of capitalists to get obscenely rich off exploiting and oppressing. Yet, that's the mad world we live in. So, those who know better are trying to change the system to something that has a healthy, sustainable structure. Along with it that can come with fast, safe, efficient cross-country rail service. Whatever improvements VIA rail is making, that's all fine, but the more integrated system won't happen until communities take control of their own environment to make their local living more self-sufficient and sustainable. That can be done via collaboration, co-operation and contributionism. See what is happening with the One Small Town strategy from Michael Tellinger. Starting already in towns across the world, including Canada.

The Canadian and Ocean will be the only 2 that survive, they'll be handed off to Cruise Companies probably.

Canada is a much larger nation than Japan where nearly two thirds of the population live within a 300 mile/ 480 kilometer corridor... Tokyo to Kobe... Japan also has nearly four times the population of Canada as well...

Unfortunately too many desire to have stops on HSR lines, which should be more an express service, not a local service stopping everywhere. The difference between HSR intercity trains vs slow local commuter trains...

A good chunk of the old CP has been abandoned. It is not a good idea as it leaves out all the cities between Oshawa and Cornwall.

@@trainglen22 Those cities would be served by the Toronto-Montreal run, I'm assuming.

@@jaygatz4335 the same way that Via kept trains in Brandon, Saskatoon, Red Deer and Calgary. By eliminating service.

I like the prospect of tracks dedicated entirely to passenger rail. But the question is, if that route is so great, why was it abandoned in the first place?

Fair

If the current pattern is followed these trains will be quietly discontinued. VIA has no interest or desire to provide rail service for the people of Northern Ontario and has chose a route that bypasses all but two communities from Winnipeg hundreds of Kms east of Thunder Bay; much to the joy of the airline industry.

There it is! Private, for profit ruins public good, over and over and over again in this absurd capitalist-driven system. NOTHING we care about will not be negatively effected the longer we run our economy on the capitalist death model. This isn't hyperbole. Capitalism, structurally, is like cancer. Destroys the host on which is lives, unless it is cut out! We are in the "need to cut out" phase of our human social experiment. The good news is we have strategies and options to get out of this mess and get on to a better track (hah, train joke). The bad news? We need more people to be aware of viable options so they can join in, starting now, this year and on going. There is an initiative called One Small Town (from Michael Tellinger) using the power of collaboration, co-operation, co-ownership and contributionism (a lot of 'c' words) to create communities of abundance and prosperity. This sort of model is voluntary, but very beneficial to those who choose to participate. It also encourages team work and positive values that improve our collective knowledge and can shift us into the future in a more healthy, sustainable way where we advocate and BUILD the things we need, because we know how to and have the will and way to do it.

It doesn’t sadly. But we can hope it’s a step towards getting coast to coast high speed rail. That’s the dream! 🇨🇦

Yeah if the 407 is any example of the government spending billions of dollars in infrastructure and then selling it to a privatized company for one dollar what a waste of taxpayers money and that should never be allowed to happen. As long as taxpayers money is funding the project it should remain in government hands and be run by the government on behalf of the citizens of Canada

Fair point! I agree that the 407 sale wasn't appropriate. An important difference between this and the 407, though, is that the gov't genuinely has zero experience running (and making decisions for) a self-sustaining and world class high speed rail system. With the 407, we already had all the systems and expertise needed to run and maintain the highway. Selling, especially for that little, didn't make any sense. A full blown high speed rail system on the other hand... can't say I'd expect great outcomes from 100% govt run. As of right now it appears the feds are going to be retaining a good chunk of ownership versus a full blown sale or lease, like the 407.. so at least there's that! Cheers & thx for your comment!

@@FahadxRehman Really your ok with tax payers money being spent then selling the rail line to one of those bureaucratic buddies in Parliament just like the 407 wake up and smell what you’re shovelling.

Definitely!

It is very unlikely that large amounts of drivers will make the switch to HSR due to much higher ticket costs in comparison with a HrSR (Higher Speed Rail) type of project such as HFR. That's the beauty of HFR since it will cater to almost everyone's needs, not just business people, high-end tourists, politicians and the rich! What's the point of spending huge sums of money on a HSR system if only a select few will be able to afford it? Contrary to HSR, HFR will also serve small towns and cities located between start and end points. Although planes damage the atmosphere far more than cars, far more carb emissions can be reduced overall by having a significant number of drivers take the train instead due to far more affordable ticket prices than would be the case with HSR. And HFR will still offer impressive speeds (up to 200 kph or 125 mph) and travel times (3 hours or less for Toronto to Ottawa) as evidenced in Sweden compared with our present, antiquated, and near irrelevant passenger rail system!

@@marclemieux8269 / But there too many disadvantages with the HFR. The worst one is Canada with HFR will be the slowest train system in the world at 200 Kmh, in the very closes future. (Lol! Impressive speed at 200 Kmh? 😆 Ha! Ha! ) The HSR it could take 8-10 years before to be finish. The HSR is for the closed future with many years with alway growing population in Canada. For over 20 years, the HSR was mention. Yes it is very expensive, nothing is change. But If Canada had decided to get the HSR twenty year ago, it would have been a bargain price et today cost. Tor-Mtl Average speed now: 5h, / with HFR 4:10h / With HSR 3h Mtl-Que average now 3.50h // with HFR 3h / with HSR 1h40. The HFR will be perfect for short ride with many stops. (Mtl-Ottawa, Toronto-Kingston-Montreal, Montreal-Drummondville-Quebec City, Mtl-Ottawa-Kingston, Toronto-Windsor, etc...) -

I'd rather have a far more affordable, comfortable, frequent, and reliable HFR train running at 200 km an hour, connecting far more small towns and cities located between start and end points rather than our present, antiquated and unreliable fleet of Via trains arriving a half-hour or more late almost 50 percent of the time beyond the allotted 5-hour travel time schedule, or HSR, whose construction costs will very likely discourage our federal government from ever funding it, as has been the case over the past 30 years or more! And what makes you think that most travelers won't be using HFR trains when far more people in European countries (around 90 percent) actually take regular intercity and regional trains than those that embark HSR trains (10 percent). I personally witnessed this very fact while traveling extensively throughout Germany, for example, whereby mostly business people, high-end tourists, and politicians took HSR trains! A significant portion of these HSR trains also didn't arrive at their destinations any faster than regular intercity and regional trains simply because a substantial portion of Germany's railways fall into the category of HrSR (Higher Speed Rail), involving maximum speeds of 200 to 225 kph! At first glance, a 300 kph top speed for an HSR train appears very enticing, but in reality, if this same train only travels at the aforementioned speeds for only a fraction of the time, just like the Acela NEC trains in the US, it simply detracts from the dire need to increase speeds over most of a given network. That's what the Swedes have decided to focus on, and the result has been a very affordable and successful modernized passenger rail service, that would be the envy of any Canadian! I highly encourage you to travel to either Germany and/or Sweden to experience for yourself what I just mentioned! Traveling affordably and competively with HFR at a top speed of 200 kph will sway far more drivers away from their cars, including even some air travellers, rather than far more expensive HSR that will mostly cater to the elite, while excluding the majority of Canadians! If an HFR-equivalent passenger rail service operates very effectively in European countries like Germany and Sweden, why would HFR not succeed just as well in Canada?

HFR may not be as much of a express train as HSR, but keep in mind the more stops there are, the slower the average speed, and the longer the train takes to reach its destination... Isn't the goal to reduce the time of rail journeys? If you are going to stop at every town, why bother to increase the train's speed?

😂😂

Need a dedicated passenger train railroad, too many derailments clogging up freight railroads across Canada.

@@DavidHalverson well, this corridor doesn't have many actually. And if they build additional tracks, they'll also maintain the existing ones -> fewer derailments. My point still stands

Thanks! And glad you liked the new trains! Yeah the Montreal route issue is something that would need to be corrected for the new HFR/HSR line. Not sure how they will do this but it will be well worth the money to get it right!

There is discussion about blasting a new tunnel through Mount Royal for it @@FahadxRehman

A good idea. TGV-Avignon and Shin-Osaka are fine examples of HSR stations located away from a city's center.

Poland train 200 km/h kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oJ2poZmD0tm2Y2w.html

HIGH SPEED TRAIN in Poland | PKP EIP Warsaw - Krakow kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g7thdtaAtcvHn40.html

Lol pretty much 😂

"They are diesel only." that is a very negative point, they forget what is pollution!

They were supposed to be dual mode capable at some point ie reasonably able to be converted to electric

"Supposed to" is the keyword. I recall seeing the RFP from VIA that had that stipulation. When the diesel Chargers were done, Siemens claimed they were derived from the ACS-62 electric locos (which came from the European Vectron line but downgraded for US standards). Yet, when Amtrak actually orders bi-mode locos, Siemens solution is to put the electrical stuff on a separate carriage (business class car to be peranently coupled to loco) and have the loco remain diesel, except for ability to drive motors from the busines class car power instead of diesel generators. I would have fully expetted to have seen proper dual mode locos offered. @@ScotMatheson

I know your pain. The frustration of commuting in bumper to bumper traffic for hours a day, day in day out. In the meantime perhaps you can look into finding remote or hybrid work? Might help your situation.

The only way this would work would be to have a station at Dorval, or somewhere south of it but north of the Tascherau (CN yards) connection. From there, trains from Quebec City could continue to Ottawa and/or Toronto, with shuttle service using the existing tracks to Central. Of course - there would be more demand for services starting/ending in Montreal (Central), with relatively few to/from Quebec needing the shuttle service.

Completely agree! Where is that vision that wanted to build the tallest tower in the world? Among the other items you mentioned as well.

We had visions. Excavated rocks from Métro tunnel construction was thrown in St Lawrence river for Ste Hélène island expansion. The´ Expo 67 and La Ronde were builted. Today you can´t even throw a stone in the river. You know fish, frog algea....you could kill biodiversity. It´s a big NO NO !

@@danielfantino1714 Exactly - since when should animals take precedence over the #1 animal - human beings?!

@@BrianBaileyedtech well, now humains are not animals anymore. In the nature, all animals are mâle or female. Some exceptions like snails have both, Us it´s better, you can change, short term or permanently or depending on your mood. Quite an evolution over nature that choose for you. Aren´t we the master of all species ? ´next step to conquer is self procreation like tomatoes . Don´t need a partner anymore. Being a veggie is may be our next step in the evolution of mankind or womenkind....or whateverkind.....

Will it be "better" when you have supply shortages because of freight trains being delayed?

The freight railroads own the tracks and hire the train dispatchers, not Via or Amtrak outside the northeast corridor. The train dispatchers know who puts butter on their bread, it isn't Via or Amtrak. The solution for passenger trains to have priority is controlling the dispatchers on the tracks they should own...

Most Via trains operating between Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal actually do hit 100 mph or 160 kph, although very infrequently due to freight train congestion on privately-owned tracks. Otherwise, it would have been still possible to obtain travel times close to 4 hours between Toronto and Montreal running at 100 mph or 160 kph most of the time! That's the main problem that Via Rail has had to contend with ever since CN was sold off as a crown corporation to private interests (still called CN), who have no wish whatsoever to accommodate Via passenger trains on their network, unlike other advanced countries like Germany that own their rail infrastructure. That's the beauty of HFR whereby its new, modern trains would operate almost exclusively on dedicated tracks at top speeds of up to 200 kph or 125 mph, thereby reducing travel times considerably just like the regular intercity and so-called HSR trains in service in Sweden, both of which are very similar in speeds to the proposed HFR in Canada!

I traveled by Via Rail years ago from Toronto to Ottawa it was a torture and experience only compare to having a tooth pulled. Canada is just a wealthy third-world country. I had the glory of traveling in Japan, China, and South Korea, and Via Rail will never ever nor even in a million years be able to get near the perfection of the most advanced modern high-speed network.

​@@victormendez8811sure with more inhabitants in Canada the smallest country compare to them. Shame on us.

Western Canada - With All the Big Bumps (Mountains) Might need help from "The Boring Company" Type Tunnelling Services - if they want more Train connections! Or - they could make it simpler for Light Aircraft Charter and Schedule Flight Services to Operate. Airports with Rail Service - both for Freight and Passengers - are great interconnects to get around those Mountains. Also - More "Short Line Links" - in Rail, would be great to interconnect old BC Rail Lines, CNR Tracks, and CPR Tracks, for example. Like Lytton (CPR/CNR) to Lillooet (Old BC Rail - I think now owned by CNR), Along the Fraser River. Basically - most "New Rail" Lines were last build 50-100 Years ago, or More! It is obviously Tough, to build limited Grade Slope Roadbeds, for Rail, when mountains go up and down so steeply! Way Too May Kids Getting Silly Degrees, instead of things like Construction, Surveying, Engineering (Civil, and other), to refresh the skill sets needed for long future development of such long running programs as these!

Glad to hear it!

Extremely valid points! I agree 🙌

Hopefully they switch to 25 kV AC electrification at some point

@@IndustrialParrot2816 It’s 2023, by when exactly. Most countries use electrified track as standard especially for communter rail. First world my ass.

What about all the current rail line where the government spent millions and billions of dollars building New Train Stations what’s going to happen to those if they change the route ??? Bad planning

Thank you! Yeah definitely, anywhere that ends up hosting a station stop will see an influx of residential and commercial development in the surrounding area. It's part of why some communities oppose it, but I think as a province and nation we are long overdue!!

No real solution for passenger rail will come to Canada until the discution get serious on zoning. The low density being the norm makes it very difficult to trains to work to their full potential. If one has to drive to the station to get a train, in many cases he will prefer just continue on his car all the way to his destination.

The U.S. frieght roads are notoriously bad, ironically it seems that CP & CN are the most cooperative with Amtrak... Maybe it's time for both nations to consider nationalization of the rail infrastructure, and leas operations to private operators like in Europe. We subsidise the highway system for the motor freight industry as well as all the infrastructure for the airlines, maybe it's time to do the same with rail...

Oh, you explain the orginal plan and the current plan 😅