"The speaker of the evening was probably rail transportation's biggest advocate. Harry Gow is the founding president of Transport 2000 Canada, formed in 1976 as a federation of regional groups concerned about the direction and quality of Canadian public transport, particularly the future of rail passenger service."
The Star reported: "(Gow) agreed now is an "opportune" time to lobby Ontario's Ministry of Transportation for renewed support for rails. Gow said a new economy is already developing in the United States, which Thunder Bay's Bombardier plant reports is resulting in more orders for passenger cars. Passenger service is up 16 per cent in that country as a direct result of the historically high cost of fuel, he said."
Transport 2000 souligne le consensus sans précédent de trois partis (Parti libéral du Québec, Parti Québécois, Québec solidaire) qui se sont engagés à accroître les investissements en transport collectif dans la région de Montréal. Or, l'organisme rappelle que la relance du transport collectif doit être assurée non seulement dans la Métropole mais doit aussi répondre aux besoins de l'ensemble de la population du Québec. Transport 2000 est d'avis que le financement est une responsabilité partagée entre les deux niveaux de gouvernement, de Québec et d'Ottawa, compte tenu des besoins considérables.
"Transport Canada has fully satisfied the board in 26 of the 53 recommendations. In the remaining cases, the government has not taken adequate action to "substantially reduce or eliminate the safety deficiency" for air travellers.
"Of the other files, the board has determined Transport Canada's response to be "unsatisfactory" in two cases, because the board has received "inadequate explanations to convince it that the risks are not worth pursuing." Both are in response to recommendations related to the Swissair crash off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998 that killed 229 people," Canwest reported on Nov. 27.
"It's to become a transfer point between trains and buses, built into a major expansion of the college, and to serve a new city archives building, Ben Franklin Place and existing and planned commercial and residential buildings nearby. The transit components will be underground. The total cost is estimated at $185 million.
"Klaus Beltzner, who lives in Manotick, said the city should simply keep building commuter rail to Barrhaven, rather than constructing such a expensive transfer station.
"It's a huge amount of money," said David Jeanes, of public-transit advocacy group Transport 2000. He said that the city has in the past overbuilt some transit stations, such as Lincoln Fields. He said this has the potential to become a white elephant if the rail system is in fact extended beyond Baseline," the Ottawa Citizen reported on Nov. 21.
In 1959 a conversion to oil firing was done at Stratford and the locomotive was sent west to work out of Winnipeg. Saved from scrapping at Winnipeg's Transcona shops by the intervention of a sympathetic employee 6077 came to Capreol in 1967 for display at the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum. This year, thanks to a great community effort, the locomotive has been refurbished and awaits your visit.
To order a copy of THE STORY OF A LOCOMOTIVE 6077 please send $15.00 plus postage and handling of $8.00 per order. Send your cheque or money order to: NICKEL BELT RAILS, BOX 483, STATION "B" SUDBURY, ON, P3E 4P6.
http://www.northernontariorailroadmuseum.ca/
The information is in the 2008 Railway Trends publication at www.railcan.ca. It is an annual composite of financial and operating data for the 55 Canadian railways' performance over the past decade.
"Freight workload grew by 1.6 per cent year over year; Intercity passengers increased 4.7 per cent to 4.5 million; and accidents per billion gross ton-miles declined from 4.3 in 2002 to 3.2 in 2007. Rail can move a tonne of freight 170 kilometres on one litre of fuel," RAC reported on Nov. 25.
"The high court declined to hear an appeal by Canadian airlines of a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare. The airlines had lost an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal in May and had sought to launch a fresh appeal at the Supreme Court. The court's decision not to hear a new appeal means the one-person-one-fare policy stands.
"The appeal had been launched by Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet," Reuters reported.
"APD will be based on four bands set at intervals of 2000 miles from London. From December 2010 when a second rise in APD kicks in, a non-standard class passenger flying more than 6,000 miles will pay GBP170 pounds (USD$254), up from the current GBP80.
"From November 2009, the lowest APD -- which will be paid by passengers on budget airlines -- will be GBP11 (USD$16.40) for a flight up to 2,000 miles, up from GBP10 now. The charge will be raised to GBP12 in November 2010," Reuters reported on Nov. 24.
"Countries around the world are leading the way investing in transit infrastructure as an economic stimulus. Among these, China has committed to invest up to $586 billion into infrastructure projects including subway and other transit initiatives. In addition, Europe and the United States are working on similar measures," CUTA said on Nov. 20.