I am sick and tired of David Collenette’s latest high speed train plan..
The idea sounds sexy, except when you start adding up the cost. The purpose of tax money being spent by government is to benefit the highest number of taxpayers.
Who uses the train along the Windsor/Quebec corridor? Rail passengers – and there are not enough of them to justify the monumental expense—which we know will not be $3B. Try $5B, or even $6B.
Let’s check just a few benefits of road building vs. train building, since the $6B would benefit far more people if were put into roads.
Who would benefit from a $6B road? Everyone across Canada. Truckers, busses, RVs, cars, SUVs, ambulances, police cars, fire trucks, to name a few vehicles. We could twin the Trans Canada, and have enough money left over to knock a few cents off the gas tax too.
If there is a problem with the $6B road, a detour can be set up, and the road will still be useable. If there is a problem with any of the high speed track or its train, the majority of the route is unuseable.
The road can be used 24/7. The train and its track will be used 2% of the time, if that.
I could go on, but clearly one can see that this pet project is simply a terrible waste of money that is rooted in one person’s obsession with trains. The project has no basis in public need, which is why government should stay out of the megaproject business.
What happens if the $6B road is blocked?
The train project, proposed by VIA Rail Canada, is expected to cost more than $3 billion.
Proposals for high-speed trains in the corridor have been studied by governments for almost 30 years but the enormous costs have sunk past proposals.
