[IRT_BMT_IND]

COVID and the subsequent housing crisis re-drew a lot of travel patterns.

There's also just lots of latent demand for better train service I think. For instance if VIA was able to run at least hourly clockface service that was generally on time on the corridor routes (so not HSR or even electrification) I suspect there would be a large ridership boost just from that.

 

[Bordercollie]

There's also just lots of latent demand for better train service I think. For instance if VIA was able to run at least hourly clockface service that was generally on time on the corridor routes (so not HSR or even electrification) I suspect there would be a large ridership boost just from that.

How do you expect that to happen when they can't get more track slots?

 

[nfitz]

How do you expect that to happen when they can't get more track slots?

Nobody said there was any expectation for this to happen. They said if.

If we invented transporters, and could instantly beam to Montreal then latent rail demand would reduce.

 

[lastcommodore]

Easily resolved here by digging down the Hunter St. Tunnel and putting in two tracks. One can be dedicated to Mx at all times, the other to CPKC and they can steer clear of one another.

Interested in asking-- usually my first instinct, "intuitive" solution usually are thwarted by some engineering or historical factoid i did not know-- is there really nothing stopping them/making life difficult to just dig the Hunter St. Tunnel two foot deeper or so and laying down two full-height tracks, other than, i dunno, sheer unwillingness to do so?

I am aware the Hunter St. portal has room for two non-full-height track and it formerly used to, or one full-height track.

 

[Northern Light]

Interested in asking-- usually my first instinct, "intuitive" solution usually are thwarted by some engineering or historical factoid i did not know-- is there really nothing stopping them/making life difficult to just dig the Hunter St. Tunnel two foot deeper or so and laying down two full-height tracks, other than, i dunno, sheer unwillingness to do so?

I'm unaware of any obstacle other than will and money.

But I don't know how much geo-tech has been done, if any, exploring the possibility. @smallspy is more likely to know.

To be clear, under-pinning an old tunnel is theoretically straight forward, but it is, at best, time-consuming and somewhat costly. Depending on soil conditions, and water table height, and what, if anything is underneath.....it could be fairly involved.

It also requires re-grading the trackbed, for a material distance beyond both ends of the tunnel.

I was being a bit cheeky about how easy it is; but at the same time, it shouldn't be all that insurmountable.

 

[ScreamingViking]

I'm unaware of any obstacle other than will and money.

But I don't know how much geo-tech has been done, if any, exploring the possibility. @smallspy is more likely to know.

To be clear, under-pinning an old tunnel is theoretically straight forward, but it is, at best, time-consuming and somewhat costly. Depending on soil conditions, and water table height, and what, if anything is underneath.....it could be fairly involved.

It also requires re-grading the trackbed, for a material distance beyond both ends of the tunnel.

I was being a bit cheeky about how easy it is; but at the same time, it shouldn't be all that insurmountable.

My understanding is that any work on the Hunter St. tunnel would be limited by impacts to high-rise foundations along the route.

However I do feel that's a somewhat dubious excuse, and it's really a question of money. CPKC won't fund it, but maybe the province would.

 

[crs1026]

There’s an issue of recognizing mutual benefit .

This is a case where there ought to be a meeting in the, er, middle.

If CPKC and GO each had one track thru that tunnel, it would be a pyrrhic (sp?) victory for both, because clearing GO off CP’s route would not materially improve CP’s business (CP would have to bear full cost for one track) , nor would it make GO any better. Even with both users needing throughput, that tunnel is not heavily loaded as a single track line. And cost is shared.

The recent incident is not attributable to not having more tracks - it was likely something else altogether.

I imagine the tunnel will be rebuilt some day, likely at Ontario’s expense…. But I would put a nimber of things ahead of it in the funding stream.

In the meanwhile, one ought to be able to work things out to mutual benefit.

- Paul