Canada is a massive country. Driving across it can take days, and flying across it, many, many hours. It is thus no surprise that the challenge of bringing east to west and west to east has been a prevalent and fascinating facet of our storied history.
What if we could bring ourselves closer to each other without finding it necessary to take to the skies or drive for days?
What if our rail infrastructure, for moving people and massive amounts of goods, was every bit as up to date as our air travel infrastructure and our road infrastructure (assuming the adoption of the Solar Highway concept)?
What if we could cover massive inter-provincial distances on land in little more or just as much time as it takes to cover those distances by air?
Well, the answer lies in Rapid Rail, inclusive of the futuristic but very much operational maglev trains. A very handy introduction can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev_(transport)
The question is not whether or not it can be done. Rather, the question is whether the funds and the will exist.
A test of the will have to be placed before the citizens of our fair land.
As for the funds, it can of course be surmised that we may not be populous enough to make trans-national maglev trains a commercial success. However, with public-private partnerships in which risks and costs are properly shared, it would still be possible to designate ultra-fast train service for pre-selected transportation corridors, along with fast train service for the remaining connections.
As is often the case, the end looks difficult and far off from the beginning, but the idea is not to replace our existing, crumbling rail network in half a decade. The idea is to begin that work today, knowing that progress is not kind to societies that overlook investments in the ties that bind.
Your comments, and ideas on this idea, are welcome. Rapid Rail is a policy position of iCitizen, and in the name of all authors and subscribers, a position that will be advocated before Canadian governments – federal and provincial. So, join us, the time for change is now, and you are that change. Your time, is now.