tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878723379768073364.post7813117572002714493..comments2024-03-07T15:00:49.807-05:00Comments on High Speed Rail Canada - TGV - Train à grande vitesse au Canada: Ontario High Speed Rail Study and Press Conference: Moving Forward or Stuck in NeutralUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878723379768073364.post-32234355804981470902017-05-24T14:03:22.979-04:002017-05-24T14:03:22.979-04:00If you believe that this will get built on time an...If you believe that this will get built on time and on budget you are dreaming. This was presented by the Liberals as an election goody, just like the last time they presented it. There is no high speed rail in the proposal until the train is past Kitchener.<br /><br />This plan requires too many other things to happen before it can get built, like the missing link which will not be ready in the time line Metrolinx proposes because they cannot build anything on time.<br /><br />The equipment that they propose does not meet FRA standard and since Transport Canada does not have any standards for trains above 95 mph it will probably adopted the FRA ones. The proposed equipment is 8 car EMUs but FRA standards forbid passengers from the lead unit of any train over 125 mph. That is why the new North East Corridor trains from Alstom have a locomotive at either end as do the BrightLine trains in Florida while their European counter parts are true EMUs.<br /><br />The proposal calls for high platform stations, probably because the NEC ones are high platform, but contrary to public opinion most European trains have a platform height of 500 mm, about 20" above the rail head. This will make combined GO HSR station either very long or 4 tracks wide to accommodate both high and low platforms.<br /><br />The alternative is what is happening in California where CalTrains, a commuter rail operator has tohave by bi-level cars with doors over the trucks and at the normal position on the lower level. An option that costs 16 seats, requires a lift in the car to move accessibility challenged people from one level to the other and adds about $300,000 to the price of the car.<br /><br />This plan also did not study which cities should have service and which should be bypassed. A topic on which I spoke at Brampton City Council this morning. Brampton council, as I am sure are other councils, are ticked off because there was no consultation as to which cities would be getting service and no warning about the plan until it was announced.<br /><br />This entire plan wreaks of a political move to try and win the Liberal Party seats in Southwest Ontario cost be damned. Can you say "Gas Fired Generating Stations," or how about "Wind and Solar Generation." This is another plan that will produce no useful results for 30 years and will cost billions over estimates.Robert Wightmannoreply@blogger.com