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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇

@taras-grescoe.com
13K followers 1.1K following 4.2K posts

Author of Straphanger, Shanghai Grand, Lost Supper Words: NYTimes NatGeo Smithsonian ⬇️ Train travel + politics of transit ⬇️ www.highspeed.blog Talks: taras-grescoe.com/contact IG: www.instagram.com/taras.rides.trains

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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 8h
Found this quote in Donald MacKay's authoritative The People's Railway: A History of Canadian National. (MacKay wrote it in the past tense—I've shifted it to the present, because it's as true of the 1990s as it is today.)
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 8h
"Compared with cars, railways are relatively non-polluting. They are safer, for there are years when highways claim thousands of lives, and there are no fatalities on railways at all. They are efficient users of land, and demonstrably the most efficient movers of masses of people." 🧵
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 19/12/2024
—father of "Buddhist Economics," E.F. Schumacher, from his book Small is Beautiful.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 19/12/2024
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.”
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 02/04/2026
I take a deeper look at the state of High Speed rail around the world in this newsletter post (it’s free): www.highspeed.blog/theres-more-...
highspeed.blog
There's More to Speed than Meets the Eye
High Speed Rail, Done Right, Is About Moving People Efficiently, Not Breaking Records
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 02/04/2026
To be clear: not an endorsement of anything in #China, apart from the nation’s engineering prowess. (And not always that.)
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 02/04/2026
High-speed rail in #Canada in 2026: 0 kilometers High-speed rail in Canada in 2030 (projected): 0 kms
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 02/04/2026
High-speed rail in #China in 2007: 0 kilometers High-speed rail in China in 2026: 50,400 kms High-speed rail in China in 2030 (projected): 60,000 kms On routes where it competes directly with planes, HSR has led to a 28.2 % reduction in air passenger volume.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 15h
If this goes ahead, they're definitely going to need some thought to the 150 or so level crossings between Calgary and Edmonton. The Brightline in #Florida didn't secure the line, and now it's facing bankruptcy. (Below from the Edmonton Journal)
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 15h
THIS JUST IN: #Alberta might get high-speed rail before central Canada! Mark Carney announces his government is adding a rail link between Edmonton and Calgary to his list of Major Projects to be fast-tracked (so to speak). www.trains.com/pro/passenge...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 29/09/2026
I’ve got problems with the Major Projects that increase fossil-fuel use, and emissions. But bringing back passenger rail—the greenest form of long-distance overland travel? I’m all in.
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Mark Carney @mark-carney.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We’re referring Alberta’s Calgary-Red Deer-Edmonton high speed rail strategy to the Major Projects Office. It’s time to build the infrastructure that matches our ambition.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 11/02/2025
"You pay every time you board a bus, and that makes you think about whether you want to ride it. If you paid every time you used a parking space, you'd also think about whether you want to drive. Free parking doesn’t mean free markets; it often means freeloading." —the late Donald Shoup
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 23/01/2025
—Ivan Illich. Photo: #Brasilia
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 23/01/2025
"Motorized vehicles create remoteness which they alone can shrink. They create distances for all, and shrink them for only a few."
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
We're definitely overdue for a revival! I chase down #Alberta's passenger rail ghosts in this week's HIGH SPEED dispatch: www.highspeed.blog/the-twilight...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
...including the Via Rail station at the foot of the Calgary Tower.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
Until 1985, the two cities were linked by Via Rail's Dayliner RDC, which could do the run in 3 hours. In 1990, Brian Mulroney killed off VIA Rail service to #Calgary. But the stations are still there...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
#Alberta used to be a great place to take a train! The country's fastest steam locomotive, CPR's Jubilee, topped out at 112.5 mph. That's 181 km/h—still faster than any train in #Canada in 2026. Jubilee locomotives were used on the Chinook route, to link #Edmonton and #Calgary. 🧵
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
For me, never owning a car—and getting most places by bicycle, transit, and train—has turned out to be a great choice. Being a life-long straphanger and cyclist? No regrets. More in this HIGH SPEED post: www.highspeed.blog/no-regrets/
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
“Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym." —Bill Nye, Science Guy.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
For me, never owning a car—and getting most places by bicycle, transit, and train—has turned out to be a great choice. Being a life-long straphanger and cyclist? No regrets. More in this HIGH SPEED post: www.highspeed.blog/no-regrets/
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CTV News Montreal @ctvnewsmontreal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Commuters taking the metro at the Place-des-Arts station tomorrow will hear the iconic three-note tone that plays daily transformed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
bit.ly
Montreal Symphony Orchestra reimagines metro chimes at Place-des-Arts
Commuters taking the metro at the Place-des-Arts station tomorrow will hear the iconic three-note tone that plays daily transformed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
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AyJay 68 @ayjay68.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Literally the underlying message of the quote - it shouldn't be that way. Nothing at all to do with privilege.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
“Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym." —Bill Nye, Science Guy.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
"Why can't our cities look like that?" Good question! I dig into the answers in this HIGH SPEED dispatch: www.highspeed.blog/why-cant-our...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 03/03/2025
—Bernard Rudofsky, contrasting the use of public space in Europe and North America.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 03/03/2025
"It simply never occurs to us to make streets into oases rather than deserts."
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moosiusgoosius.bsky.social @moosiusgoosius.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Bring it baaaccckk!!! I dream of a train between Edmonton and Calgary! (Again ha ha). I want to day trip to Calgary to get some of that good good Village Icecream and be back in the evening in Edmonton to hang with my cousins to watch Dancing with the Stars!
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
#yyc
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
David Bowie was a #straphanger! (And steel rider.)
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Rob Cruickshank @robcruickshank.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I rode this once, to go to a David Bowie concert.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
We're definitely overdue for a revival! I chase down #Alberta's passenger rail ghosts in this week's HIGH SPEED dispatch: www.highspeed.blog/the-twilight...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
...including the Via Rail station at the foot of the Calgary Tower.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
Until 1985, the two cities were linked by Via Rail's Dayliner RDC, which could do the run in 3 hours. In 1990, Brian Mulroney killed off VIA Rail service to #Calgary. But the stations are still there...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
#Alberta used to be a great place to take a train! The country's fastest steam locomotive, CPR's Jubilee, topped out at 112.5 mph. That's 181 km/h—still faster than any train in #Canada in 2026. Jubilee locomotives were used on the Chinook route, to link #Edmonton and #Calgary. 🧵
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 27/09/2026
Smart decision on Guildwood station, Via Rail. Now's not the time to be cutting service. www.cp24.com/local/toront...
cp24.com
VIA Rail reverses decision, will keep service at Guildwood Station
Following backlash from residents and local leaders, VIA Rail has reversed its decision to stop servicing its only Scarborough stop.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 27/09/2026
C’est ça, le problème.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 26/09/2026
It’s the Year 2026. The city of Montreal is completely controlled by cyclists. And public transport.
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Mark McIntyre @markjmcintyre.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A couple thousand Scots are experiencing the fantastically pedestrianised, near-car free, historic Old Town centre of Ljubljana this weekend.
urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu
Pedestrianisation of Ljubljana city centre
As recently as 2007, the city centre of Ljubljana was dominated by high volumes of motorised traffic. In 2007 a large-scale initiative to pedestrianise city centre streets was started; today, the pede...
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Annie Desrochers @niedesrochers.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Ahahah! Booh 👻
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 26/09/2026
It’s the Year 2026. The city of Montreal is completely controlled by cyclists. And public transport.
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Mark Carney @mark-carney.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
New contracts for Canadian suppliers. Good jobs for Canadian workers. Paycheques staying in Canadian communities. For the first time in four decades, VIA Rail passenger cars will be built in Canada.
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JackTatt 🇨🇦 @jacktatttran.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
More details on the new VIA Rail long distance fleet! Alstom was not given a target made in Canada percentage, reaching that in agreement after being preferred bidder. No components will be made in the USA, but Mexican and Canadian plants. Alstom will not bid for Amtrak long distance fleet.
trains.com
Alstom, Stadler provide more information on VIA equipment orders - Trains
BERLIN — VIA Rail Canada made news this summer with orders for 45 hybrid diesel-battery locomotives from Swiss-based Stadler, and 313 passenger cars from Alstom, to renew its long-distance, regional, and remote services. Both manufacturers discussed the orders with Trains this week at the InnoTrans trade fair. Among key points raised in those conversations: Alstom [...]Read More...
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Mike @ksmikey.eurosky.social · 25/09/2026
Even ghost stations can come to life again All it takes is a bit of work. And willing
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 24/09/2026
…in this week’s HIGH SPEED dispatch. #yyc #trains www.highspeed.blog/the-twilight...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 24/09/2026
#Calgary is one of the Twilight Zones of passenger rail in Canada. The last Via Rail train called here in 1990. But last week I was shown a functioning rail platform (complete with locomotive) next to the city’s most iconic hotel. Read more… 🧵
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 24/09/2026
…in this week’s HIGH SPEED dispatch. #yyc #trains www.highspeed.blog/the-twilight...
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 24/09/2026
Right…it was the Chinook route that ended in ‘85. I’ve fixed, thanks!
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 24/09/2026
#Calgary is one of the Twilight Zones of passenger rail in Canada. The last Via Rail train called here in 1990. But last week I was shown a functioning rail platform (complete with locomotive) next to the city’s most iconic hotel. Read more… 🧵
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