Argentina is not building any high speed line. The government played with the idea - that is all. The plan has been scrapped. The country can't get it together to run the most basic rail service. Trains run without heat or air conditioning, many in a state of utter decay. A Bullet Train was an absurd pipe dream.
Canada is at least thirty years behind in its rail technology and rail transit thinking. A whole industry is missing that bridge the aviation, autombile and hi tech industries. In fact some of the Canadian hi tech sector would be well advised to look at this area and see where synergies lie
Stephen Harper states that Canada is not ready for high speed rail. I say it is. TGV may not be suitable but Pendolino style trains will stimulate ridership and give Canadians a taste of modern high speed rail travel.
However the biggest challenge is the poor state of the railway which is barely maintained for the freight traffic and will not be suitable for safe high speed travel.
The two provinces need to invest in a trial line between Ottawa and Montreal and learn before embarking on a Quebec Windsor corridor.
But is Canada ready for all this?
As in Europe, this will mean massive migration, long distance commuting, competition for employment, more choice, Canada will become more of a stronger nation and we will be able to share more readily our ideas and cultures.
Perhaps Harper is right: Maybe we are not ready!
Canada is at least thirty years behind in its rail technology and rail transit thinking. A whole industry is missing that bridge the aviation, autombile and hi tech industries. In fact some of the Canadian hi tech sector would be well advised to look at this area and see where synergies lie
Stephen Harper states that Canada is not ready for high speed rail. I say it is. TGV may not be suitable but Pendolino style trains will stimulate ridership and give Canadians a taste of modern high speed rail travel.
However the biggest challenge is the poor state of the railway which is barely maintained for the freight traffic and will not be suitable for safe high speed travel.
The two provinces need to invest in a trial line between Ottawa and Montreal and learn before embarking on a Quebec Windsor corridor.
But is Canada ready for all this?
As in Europe, this will mean massive migration, long distance commuting, competition for employment, more choice, Canada will become more of a stronger nation and we will be able to share more readily our ideas and cultures.
Perhaps Harper is right: Maybe we are not ready!
The TurboTrain which not only slammed into a milk truck on its inaugural run but also slammed into itself in the Montreal terminal, was a disaster, built by United Aircraft (not Sikorsky) and thankfully only leased to Canadian National. It retired into oblivion because it did not do what its designers purported it could do. The real issue with high speed trains is related more to the right-of-way than the vehicle.
Truly high speed trains similar to the TGV or the Japanese bullet trains require completely dedicated, fully protected track (no grade crossings) which cannot be used by freight trains that would play havoc with the fine tuned track structure required for a smooth, fast ride. Acquiring a fully protected, exclusive right-of-way and building the necessary track structure and train control system would involve monumental capital investment and decades of environmental assessments.
The idea of a high speed train rolling into Halifax after a 24 hour trip from Vancouver is simply preposterous. Sure, there are some corridors where much higher speed train service could be achieved because population densities are fairly reasonable. But tremendous subsidies would still be required, particularly if the operating agency were to continue to governed by political appointees. (By contrast, bus and airline passengers receive no taxpayer subsidies and airports, in fact, pay huge rents to the federal government.)
So yes, in select corridors, high speed rail can be achieved if governments are prepared to cough up the money. Certainly, improvements in the governance model for VIA Rail and judicious capital investment could lead to substantial improvements achieved by rail service in selected parts of the country. The real question, though, is one of priorities for government spending – bailouts of the automobile manufacturing sector, health, education, other social services, foreign aid, or high speed rail for those living in the Quebec-Windsor and Calgary-Edmonton corridors.
Is Canada ready for the 21st Century? It'll be the 22nd before it even gets close.
High speed rail is the least of concerns - what about a rail link between YYZ and TO so at least first time visitors will be fooled into believing there is such a thing as joined up thinking in Canada.
True we are behind. True as well, we have our ceded our trade & manufacturing skills to globalization. Let’s start at the beginning and get some of those huge American rail contracts.
Our plan: increase performance of the CPR Havelock-Peterborough rail system by integrating with current operations a college for the skilled trades. Innovative in nature, traditional in function, beneficial to all levels of the community, here is an essential description. We intend to bring to bear a college for the skilled trades to:
- Restructure the CPR Havelock – Peterborough rail line, adding shops and foundry to train in traditional mechanical craft and trades.
- Recover, restore, return to service and display the fleet of approximately 58 heritage steam locomotives in parks across Canada.
- Conduct research for transportation focusing on technologies and strategies for domestic and international high speed rail for the coming century.
- Continue and improve existing business on the rail line, preserve and expand employment, bolster regional tourism, heritage and economic development.
Recovering, restoring and putting into service the steam fleet, preserves and displays a tremendous historical legacy and provides opportunity for training a new generation of Canadian craftspeople. We intend to mix classic mechanical and foundry trades with leading edge training and study engineering, railway operating, management and communication trades.
Still dynamic today, Canadian railways opened the country to settlement, stabilized employment, and provided market access for farm and industrial development. We shall help write the next chapter in our story of Canadian rail - you have an important role in this story.
If you want a happy ending to this story, get off your duff and help us build it!
Sincerely,
Peter Wilson
Fifth Line Press
Canada needs to wake up. Canada tends to be dithery about things, very play it safe. I rely on BC ferries but since it was privatized the service has declined, fares increased but there is no competition, no other companies offering better service, small foot passenger ferries going into Vancouver directly later ferry runs or anything. And remember fast ferries? Oh no they splashed waterfront properties!!
I am passionate about having high speed rail in Canada and
I would love to see a Canada wide high speed train system. Also something connecting rural to urban so people can live in rural areas and still have access to city things without having to drive. I have family across Canada but I do not want to fly or drive nor can I afford to.
Canada is such a beautiful place it would be wonderful to travel through it, be fast and efficient and yet create much less pollution. I have tried to support VIA rail over the years when I am in an area with any service but it has always been slow, behind schedule and painful!
We have lost most of the rail infrastructure and much of the rail tracks have been turned into hiking trails. There is an old rail line that goes out to Tofino. Instead of having millions of people drive through that scary little highway and have endless accidents, why not have a train?! It all makes so much sense. But I do not have much hope that we will see high speed trains or anything sensible like that anytime soon.
Thanks for the article. I had no idea the Turbo train existed!
Why do high speed commuter rail networks work all over Europe but people seem to think they're unfeasible in Canada? I can guarantee one thing. If we never build it, it will never work, no question!
I agree with Mr. Soberman about dedicated lines which in high-density areas like the Quebec-Windsor corridor might have to be elevated. Personally, I would like to see those considering high-speed inter-urban rail options take a close and serious look into the feasibility of using Maglev trains running between city centres. These trains run at over 500 km/hr and even faster if they are used in partially-evacuated tubes or tunnels to reduce air drag. I believe Shanghai one currently runs at speeds around 400 km/hr.
Europe's train system is the only study that the Canadian government needs to do to know how effective a high speed train system will greatly help and improve the transportation issues that Canadians and tourists deal with.
Mr. Paulsen writes that railway museums have preserved hundreds of icons of Canadian rail legend, but not the Turbo. I have one. It\'s a trackside speed limit sign that I was given as a gift when consulting for CN about 20 years ago. It says it all: Turbo 50...
