As a child, I spent many hours at the windows of inter-city trains in Ontario. When the trip included Toronto’s Union Station, I would be particularly excited. The vast dome of the main concourse was a feat of construction far beyond the comprehension of a child. It was the constant streams of people hurrying to some unknown destination that really impressed me.
But today, the people have stopped hurrying. They are not as sure of where they are going or of when and whether they will get there. The trains have let that little boy down. They are but a shadow of the trains we once trusted. We believed in those trains. We trusted their schedules. We relaxed in confidence.
And, damn it all, we have to get back to those trains. If we are going to save our planet, we bloody well have to get more people liking trains. Not just trains that are fast and can be trusted to get you to you to your destination in comfort and on time. They have to run on electricity and on dedicated rails. They have to be the primary method of travel. Ours was a country that grew into our nationhood on steel rails and that has to be our future. Canada is a country in desperate need of the little train that could.
There is no argument that inter-city and commuter trains give fast, efficient service when electrified. Nor is there argument against the planes of the future be most effective for long-haul flights between continents.
Canada has suffered too long the miss-conceptions and bad relations between freight and passenger rail. If they cannot get in bed comfortably, then we have to separate them. Canada becomes a smaller country when long distance travel can be by electric train travelling at over 300 kilometres per hour.
Regrettably, you cannot get change without leadership. We need politicians who keep their word. We need politicians who are going to help save this planet. They have to stop promising us targets some time in the future and do something today. Electrifying inter-city rail is the first step. It will make the future clearer.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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