All Aboard

In writing a slow-going and not-yet-posted entry, I got to thinking about high-speed rail. Just how fast is it?

It takes five and three-quarter hours, according to Google, to drive from Union Station in Toronto to Gare Centrale in Montreal. At best, VIA Rail says they can do it in four hours, though most of their trains make the journey in five hours. It’s certainly an improvement over six hours on the 401 but taking the train is still a fair chunk of the day.

Compare that to the experience in France. Paris and Bordeaux are just a fraction of an hour nearer to each other than Toronto and Montreal; Google says it takes five and a half hours. On the TGV you can travel from Gare du Nord in Paris to Bordeaux in only three hours.

Can you imagine a Canada in which Montreal is only three hours from Toronto? We probably wouldn’t see many people making a daily commute, but you can bet it would take a lot of business away from the airlines on these short flights.

Win for the environment, win for commuters, win for a lucky few struggling manufacturers who get to build the rails, trains, and cars. Lose for the airlines, but I don’t think most people have any sympathy for those monsters.

Sadly, it’s all just a dream with the government we have now.

[photo] “300 Km/h” by Tramway de Lyon

Blizzard!

There’s a blizzard barreling down on me.

Environment Canada is warning of a near-crippling snow storm set to arrive tonight. Thank goodness it’s not a full-out crippling snow storm, but I’m probably not getting home as planned tomorrow.

Widespread snowfall accumulations of 20 to 30 cm are expected in most areas tonight and Sunday. Some local amounts of 30 to 40 cm are quite possible in a few areas by Sunday night. Parts of eastern Ontario may also receive amounts in excess of 30 cm.

…

Significant blowing snow is expected to be a problem in all regions as strong northeast winds gusting up to 70 or 80 km/h whip up the freshly fallen snow and cause whiteout conditions. Freezing rain is possible especially near Lake Erie for a few hours overnight and Sunday morning as milder air pays a brief visit aloft. Ice pellets are also quite possible generally along and south of a line from Grand Bend to the greater Toronto area to Kingston and Cornwall.

The public should be prepared to change plans accordingly to avoid unnecessary travel during this storm. This massive snow storm has the potential to cause near-paralyzing conditions as any road travel on any unplowed streets may become next to impossible on Sunday. All motorists who must travel are urgently advised to use extreme caution and plan for much extra time to reach their destination.

There is a high degree of certainty with this storm as the concensus of weather model data is virtually unanimously forecasting this event.

Perhaps more immediately important is my last exam (for which I should be studying). AccuWeather is saying this nasty weather is going to arrive in Niagara around 7 tonight, which is when my exam begins. The university administration probably won’t decide until the last minute to postpone it.

I wonder if this blizzard is a freak storm or if the last two years of green Decembers and Christmases were the freaks.

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted if anything exciting happens. There might be some pretty pictures to come. Unless the power goes out, because then this whole internet thing won’t work.

Update: Snowed In (noon, next day)

I’m not going anywhere today, but the snowfall hasn’t been so dramatic as I’d expected. Still, it isn’t over yet.

Two Aimless Weeks Ahead

I just found out I’ll probably be unemployed over Christmas break. What am I going to do with all that free time?

Between Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and the aftermath of both, I can strike four days off my calendar. I’ll probably see my high-school friends at least once outside New Year’s Eve, so there’s another day. And Christmas shopping is one more.

Well, when you put it like that it doesn’t seem quite so bad. Fourteen days of boredom becomes eight. I can handle eight.

Maybe I’ll fill the void with blogging. Haven’t done that in a while.

In the meantime, let’s have a Christmas carol:

[.mp3] “A Christmas Carol” – Tom Lehrer

[photo] “Three Trees/Ontario Route 21” by base10