by Tadman
bdawe wrote: Connections at Pacific Central Station are: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.
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
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.
The new Acela: It's not Aveliable.