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Discussion of Canadian Passenger Rail Services such as AMT (Montreal), Go Transit (Toronto), VIA Rail, and other Canadian Railways and Transit

Moderator: Ken V

 #1499497  by Tadman
 
bdawe wrote: Connections at Pacific Central Station are:

1. Near anywhere you can reach by coach bus from Vancouver, since Pacific Central is the main coach station.
2. The Expo Line, by far Vancouver's most important rapid transit line, which is across the street

Moreover, just because the connections aren't amazing doesn't mean they aren't important. The Vancouver leg of the Cascades only sees 50,000 riders. It would see more if there were more good connections to be made
I think you're right, if there were better connections (and hangups at the bridge), you'd have far more Cascades riders to/from Vancouver. I don't see the tour trains (Rocky and Canadian) becoming a viable connection, because Cascades riders are generally business or local tourists while Rocky/Canadian riders are flown in/out from far away. That means better access to the ferry docks and West Coast Express. Perhaps a one-seat bus ride to Tsawassen or West Vancouver docks, or a ferry passenger only station near the junction of 91 and 99 highways north of White Rock. Alternatively, using Waterfront Station instead of Pacific Central with arrivals and departures timed to connect with WCE trains and the North Van seabus. I think I'm going to cross post this to the Cascades thread now that I'm thinking of it.

Back to Detroit, there's not much to connect to other than the Wolverines, and I think it would work much better to run Via to MCS and then a shuttle bus to Amtrak in New Center.
 #1499673  by Tadman
 
For what it's worth, both cities have baseball, hockey, and basketball teams. It wouldn't be a stretch to see the pro teams travel by train like they do out east.
 #1504850  by dgvrengineer
 
I think a possible solution to the Detroit situation would be to restore service to MC station for all Chicago-Detroit service. Then if Michigan still desires service to Pontiac, run 2 car train(or a DMU) connection from MC station to Pontiac. This would allow for thru service to Canada if & when that ever happens and restore close to downtown service in Detroit. It would also be the base for restored commuter service and future LD service from Detroit to other areas of Michigan.
I think the biggest problem in Canada is that Via runs on CN. CP does not have any LD passenger service to Toronto & I'm pretty sure they don't want any. There is a connection to CN just past the tunnel portal, but it would require extensive up grades and it misses the Windsor station by about a mile or would require a backup move.
 #1506352  by dowlingm
 
Rockingham Racer wrote:CBC mentioned only two gateways, when there are actually three. They left out Rouses Point for the Adirondack.
No sign of Montreal's preclearance setup yet...