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The Provincial Liberal government announced a high-speed rail plan, linking London, Kitchener/Waterloo, Pearson airport and downtown Toronto.
While I’m a HSR fan and think this is something the province needs, I have a few initial thoughts.
If they indeed plan to have trains running every 1/2 hour, downtown London better look at either building a big parking garage or really ramping up LTC service, I’m hoping this plan includes funding for that.
What effect will this have on local housing prices? It’s quite possible if London becomes a bedroom community of Toronto this will be reflected in housing prices. This has been seen in areas in Europe where high-speed rail already exists.
Will there be an effect in local business keeping employees. If HSR was in place now it would certainly have allowed me to expand my job search when I was looking to K/W and Toronto.
I realize this coming at the eve of a possible election is worth noting but this is also one of those issues that should be independent of partisan politics. Hopefully all side will look at this as something for the future. Just like people opposed the 401 being built, in the end the benefits have been proven.
I am looking forward to hearing more about this in the months ahead.