Ontario "Network Southwest" Rail & Bus System Proposal

Not sure if anyone has taken notice (if much) of this, but in short it's a proposal to expand current VIA Rail corridor services in SW Ontario and link them with a new system of buses to maximize mobility (which at this point is code for "car free" )
Website:
http://www.swota.ca/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Link to the full report. Well worth the read:
http://www.swota.ca/wp-content/uploads/ ... Report.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NH2060 and Everyone:

I will agree that Greg Gormick's plan is a good read - and even uses a early 80s vintage picture of Amtrak's Maple Leaf crossing
the Whirlpool Bridge at Niagara Falls on page 44 of Amtrak F40 338 and four Amfleet cars - three coaches and one cafe car that
is in their original as delivered color scheme that used Scotchlite sheeting - which would fade noticeably over time as one car on
this pictured train has - that led to the introduction of the equal parts red/white/blue color scheme (which F40 338 already has)
in the early/mid 1980s...What makes that picture appropriate is without the track segment crossing the US/Canada Border at this
point we have no through service - and for that matter no Maple Leaf...

MACTRAXX

Greg Gormick writes good reports (although being a gun for hire does sometimes entangle you with unsavoury characters like Dean Del Mastro) and using buses to spread the catchment of regional rail has potential but what he needs is a good political co-author. The reality is that the lack of co-operation between Ontario and Canada (and internally within Ontario govt between MTO and MNDM - Metrolinx and Northland) has inhibited best use of passenger rail corridors while electoral shotgun passes like HSR to London bypass sensible achievable HrSR initiatives (or HPR as Gormick calls it - FRA Class 6/7 basically).

How we can achieve rational, predictable transportation planning in Ontario which the next change of provincial or federal government won't immediately target for abolition is more important than drawing lines on maps, for now (and also that we can get the rolling stock best suited to the task rather than just order Bombardier commuter coaches from Thunder Bay and pretend to the passengers that's they are just as good as PRIIA 305 cars in regional service).