For anyone interested, this video give a good overview of some of the issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1G0Lyh3uik

It's just as much who owns the rails. In Vancouver we have a commuter rail service that runs on lines owned by the freight companies. So sometimes people have to watch as they wait in a siding while stuff goes by first.

Ideally this is just one of several rail related initiatives and we have more announcements coming.

We can all enjoy the new cars whilst sitting waiting for another train to pass.

Canada could also benefit from a shinkansen line or two. With population centers mostly along a straight line in the south, it would allow for rapid transit between major cities on dedicated passenger rail.

Freight right-of-way ownership is also a problem, but the car set they are replacing/adding to is 75+ years old, they are sturdy and reliable, but having more cars means that they could increase service beyond 3 trips a week on these routes. At the moment, occasional breakdowns and maintenance periods mean they face long distance equipment shortages sometimes.

@ryper @radish6367

I assume this is primarily for the GTA commuter rail where that's less(?) of an issue.

But in any case, the VIA rolling stock is pretty old, AFAIK.

Everything VIA is run down. But yeah the rail is the biggest issue and probably more expensive.

Half of the country lives in a straight line between windsor and quebec city, so it would be a great start to improve rail there first (even if it feels unfair to the rest of the country)..

Even just toronto to montreal would be a great place to start in terms of bringing canada in line with other developed nations

Hopefully this spurs more rail in the rest of the country.

I was just watching city talk yesterday about Switzerland's rail network and how interconnect it is.

What shocked me the most was this overlay of Switzerland over Quebec and how inexistent rail is Canada.

Worth a watch for anyone interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zpSSkkpTrY

Map of the rail network not including buses or light rail, meanwhile we in Canada are debating if high-speed rail should exist between Quebec and Montreal.