How to move people efficiently...

[Klause]

So 3rd world countries have figured this out.

Yet in Canada.... We drive cars.


Maybe instead of spending money on solar panels and carbon taxes... we should be building electric passenger trains.

Dunno... Just a thought... Maybe it's stupid and we should have Teslas...

[tmyrfield]

So 3rd world countries have figured this out.

Yet in Canada.... We drive cars.


Maybe instead of spending money on solar panels and carbon taxes... we should be building electric passenger trains.

Dunno... Just a thought... Maybe it's stupid and we should have Teslas...

generations of canadians have first hand experience of how well our rail system works...it will be a formidable challenge to change that perception

[bucket]

I think it's harder to populate a country without a train system ....

I would rather jump on a train to Calgary at midnight than drive ....

Be better to sleep or visit than drive...

But I also think there should be less trucks here as well....

But WTF do I know....

[sumdumguy]

Now, in the computer and autonomous age, the coordination of fuel efficient trains with sensing ability would be welcomed with open arms. Who knows, maybe some government with half a brain would be innovative and revolutionize rail for many uses. Sounds good Klause, you are always thinking. 👍

[makar]

Someone look at a map of high level to rycroft, over 250 miles, almost no grain goes over that rail, trucked to rycroft or wherever, you want to talk about wasting carbon this is it.

[ajl]

Does this rail line cover its own costs or is there tax subsidies. Groups in this country have been peddling high speed rail lines between Calgary and Edmonton, but how much tax dough should be put in such a project is the question. Maybe some, I don't know.

[makar]

From my point of view the fuel tax is not going into the roads, we are destroying highways watching rail fall apart. Fixing building creating nothing.

[makar]

The rail i mentioned cant cover costs if the rr refuses to use it. I think thats the master plan.

[FarmJunkie]

No rail service kills small communities. No business wants to setup shop in a town with no reliable rail service. U would think people in government would figure that out but the same cycle of kill the small town continues. My grandparents said that was the only way to travel 60-70 years ago. They used to take it from our home town to Vancouver back in the seventies. They loved it and for the most part was very safe. Now the closest Via point is 2 hours away and is way overpriced. That is just one example of how our country has gone backwards. On the freight side it is unfathomable that moving 112 cars or more to crushing plants or grain millers isn’t more cost effective than using grain trailers to pound the hell out of our roads that never get fixed properly. Very frustrating when u have a leader that has no clue what our own countries needs to be competitive and progressive.

[chuckChuck]

Great to see the support for public transport. We can and must do better with rail service. Unfortunately passenger service in most areas wont make a profit. And it doesn't have to make a profit to be a good investment. We happily subsidize the road system in this country as a public service.

But when Wall cut the STC because it was underused on many routes and required 17 million per year in subsidies many on agriville defended Wall. $17 million is a drop in the budget when it comes to subsidizing the road system.

They have been talking about a high speed rail link in the Windsor to Montreal corridor. Not sure if that will go ahead eventually. But if we cant build it there, where can we expand and improve service in this country?

Governments of all types have been useless at solving transportation issues in this country. We need to regulate the railways and force competition with joint running rights or some other method of making the rail system work.

Letting only the market decide these important transportation issues is a recipe for poor service.

[ajl]

From my point of view the fuel tax is not going into the roads, we are destroying highways watching rail fall apart. Fixing building creating nothing.

Yup. Fuel tax goes to support bureaucratic pensions first, road building second. This problem is only going to get worse.

[Klause]

Great to see the support for public transport. We can and must do better with rail service. Unfortunately passenger service in most areas wont make a profit. And it doesn't have to make a profit to be a good investment. We happily subsidize the road system in this country as a public service.

But when Wall cut the STC because it was underused on many routes and required 17 million per year in subsidies many on agriville defended Wall. $17 million is a drop in the budget when it comes to subsidizing the road system.

They have been talking about a high speed rail link in the Windsor to Montreal corridor. Not sure if that will go ahead eventually. But if we cant build it there, where can we expand and improve service in this country?

Governments of all types have been useless at solving transportation issues in this country. We need to regulate the railways and force competition with joint running rights or some other method of making the rail system work.

Letting only the market decide these important transportation issues is a recipe for poor service.

I actually agree with you on that.


Three billion for ring roads around Stoon and Regina. I'm sure you could build a high speed electric link between PA, Stoon, Regina, Weyburn (or heck, even Regina->Stoon to start) for less than that.

How much traffic and emissions would that remove?


Linking the provincial centres (Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Stoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Brandon, Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec city, and so on... Less vehicle traffic, less accidents, less emissions, less flights.

[samhill]

Yep, the best way to transport, nice level ground,hardly any rivers.
Company execs won't have the peons to make their flights reasonably priced though.

[farmaholic]

Are distances and population the limiting factor?

[tubs]

As soon as start subsidizing railroad the air plane industry will start whining. Also I was just in Romania and all the rails were double tracked what a concept hey. Most there are electric train engines