Intercity Rail

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Union Station Revitalization Update

Disclaimer:  Although I am the Vice-Chair of Toronto’s Union Station Revitalization Public Advisory Group, this article represents my own opinions, not necessarily those of USRPAG who have not had a chance to discuss this matter since the release of the report linked below.

On June 2, Toronto’s Executive Committee will consider a staff report recommending that the Union Station Revitalization project proceed at a total cost of $640-million.  This project is dependent on funding approvals from Queen’s Park and Ottawa which are expected to materialize over the coming months. Continue reading →

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AC or DC?

Robert Wightman has been looking into the question of AC versus DC traction motors, and posted the following long comment.  I have moved it to its own thread.

At the end of the note, Robert asks that people send him additional info if they have it.  I have removed his email address to avoid harvesting by web crawlers, but if someone needs this, just let me know in a comment and I will pass on the address in a private response.

Continue reading →

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High Speed Rail Symposium

Updated:  The start time for this event is now 1:00 pm, not noon as previously announced.

There will be a symposium on high speed rail on Saturday, April 25 from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm at the University of Toronto, Bahen Centre for Technology, 40 St. George Street (just north of College), room 1130.

Pre-registration is required via the sponsor’s website and the cost for the event is $10.

Please note that this announcement does not constitute an endorsement of high speed rail as a priority for rail passenger service.  It may be an appropriate technology, but it needs to be part of a much larger view of rail and of intercity passenger services generally.