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Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse
It's the routine business user 2x a week that will either make or break this train. Not Joe public that uses it 3x a year.
Few of the oilpatch crowd that make the EDM-CGY run have any need to go to Edmonton's downtown. Typically they're going to facilities or vendors located in one of Edmonton's many business parks, or destinations beyond Edmonton. A train to Edmonton's "downtown" has zero appeal to them. They'd have to rent a car or truck once they got there, and since many of them have company vehicles anyways, time and cost savings are irrelevant for them.
Red's already brought up the dislike of public transit here - your key user of this train has zero interest or reason to take this train. It's just more of a hassle than it's worth. I work at a company with field operations all over Western Canada and I know our "road warrior" area managers would rather jump in their F350 Super Duty than ride the train. Cost, minimal time savings and convienience just doen't work for the average business user of that train.
I'm not disputing the train would have some have some environmental benefits. And it's not a matter of change but the the economics that'll drive the sucess of this thing. It's easy to fall in love with the notion of a high speed train to Edmonton, but the economics just don't make sense.
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Well a train can safetly run in conditions that would be dangerous for automobiles, buses and aircraft a very important consideration with Alberta winters. Remember business travelers represent a sizable portion of their customer base so there are certaintly travelers who don't mind not having their cars with them.