Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

7 August 2009

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 1032, for 7 August 2009.

In this issue...

1 - Calendar

2 - Public transit shouldn't be 'poor cousin' issue: John Pearce, Transport 2000

John Pearce is not all that happy with transit service in the Dartmouth region. That is why he attended a public open house session offered by Metro Transit at the Alderney Gate library. Metro Transit and IBI Group Consultants held three open houses in metro last week as part of the research and implementation phase of the five-year Transit Operating Plan," the Weekly News reported on July 30.

"Some of the ideas and plans I see presented here tonight are pretty good, though," Pearce said. "But more has to be done. Transit has always been a poor cousin to issues like roads and street repair, and it shouldn't be." Pearce said he occasionally takes the bus, and as he gets older, he will probably take the bus more. He wanted to let officials at the meeting know that the community where he lives, Russell Lake West, is not well served by Metro Transit.

"Russell Lake West now has many residents who are seniors," said Pearce, who is a member of the advocacy group Transport 2000. "And 30 per cent of people do not have cars. Something has to be done, " The Weekly News' Joanne Oostveen reported.

3 - Aviation Safety News: Safety plunges in 2009

PIAC and Transport 2000 released the latest edition of Aviation Safety News on Aug. 7. It covers helicopter crashes, Continental Flight 128, Sleeping Pilots, 8-pound birds, weak aviation inspections, LAX parking lot a home for pilots, A330s, wakes, downdrafts and turbulence, Air France Flight 447 and proximity events. To subscribe please contact Transport 2000 Canada.

4 - Hommage à Georges Faivre: Transport 2000 France

« La Fédération nationale des associations d'usagers des transports (FNAUT) de Franche-Comté rend hommage au Dolois Georges Faivre, cofondateur avec Pierre Bermond (lui aussi décédé récemment) de l'association Transport 2000 et du Comité de liaison des usagers des transports de Franche-Comté (le CLUT). François Jeannin, le président régional de la FNAUT, évoque « une figure légendaire du milieu ferroviaire dolois » Le Progrès de Lyon a rapporté le 27 juillet.

« Sa maison jouxtait le chemin de fer à Dole, rue Léon-Guignard. Tel un personnage d'Henri Vincenot, il vous donnait la nature du train qui entrait 39 Aou sortait de Dole ville, à partir du bruit du roulement des bogies, de l'heure, des moteurs d'autorails, de diesels, non sans évoquer souvent l'indélébile empreinte du temps de la vapeur... » écrit François Jeannin, qui évoque aussi la fabuleuse documentation que ce passionné du rail, décédé en mars dernier, avait rassemblée.

5 - Alberta high-speed line stuck at station

"Land has been assembled in Calgary and Edmonton, the provincial government is eyeing transportation corridors and there's growing corporate and public interest in the project, but a high-speed train won't be leaving the station any time soon in Alberta. In the wake of a newly released government report studying the prospects for high-speed rail in Alberta, there's renewed momentum to build the 300-kilometre, multibillion-dollar link between Calgary and Edmonton--one that could shuttle passengers between the two centres in as little as one hour," the Calgary Herald reported on August 6.

"The public is on board, with repeated polls showing a large majority of Albertans would ride the rails if a bullet train pulled into town. Companies from around the world also are expressing interest in both building and operating the line in some form of a public-private partnership with the provincial government. But with Alberta's Tory government projecting deficits totalling more than $10 billion over the next few years, it will be upwards of two decades before a bullet train takes off in the province, said Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette," the Herald's Jason Fekete reported.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Alberta+high+speed+line+stuck+station/1864069/story.html

6 - Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains: Why we are fighting for the Huron Central Railway

Ms. Lori Middaugh of the Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains (CAPT), which is affiliated with Transport 2000 Ontario, issued a statement to clarify its recent interventions beyond passenger train matters. Part of the statement follows: Someone asked me the other day why we are getting involved with all this talk around freight ... . Originally, CAPT started out to work on getting the ACR line between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst up to better standards. ... . CAPT has done promotions in the mall and other places and many people have asked, "what about passenger rail between the Sault and Sudbury?'

When Huron Central announced its planned closure of the line, CAPT felt obligated to try and help out because if that line closes, the chances of passenger rail becomes very slim. Typically, when a rail line gets sold off, the tracks are torn up and the land used for other purposes. If it vital that this rail line is not terminated, otherwise our hopes of future passenger rail service on the line will be diminished. So, this is the reason that CAPT has become involved with trying to keep the rail line in operation between the Sault and Sudbury even if initially it continues to be used only for freight.

In addition, in feedback from our supporters in other parts of the province they have ndicated that people would be more likely to use the ACR if they could arrive in the Sault, Hearst or Oba by train from places such as Toronto and Ottawa. We need the provincial and federal governments to ensure that the gaps in Northern Ontario's rail network are filled. ...

The Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains can be contacted: C/O NORDIK Institute, 1520 Queen St. E. Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 2G4, or (705) 949-2301 ext. 4356 or at info@captrains.ca

http://www.captrains.ca/

7 - Huron Central Railway: Sault Ste. Marie fights to keep rail line

"A series of meetings is taking place this week to ink a new relationship between Huron Central Railway and its stakeholders in a continuing effort to retain rail services. Late last week, Huron Central Railway said it would agree to continue operating the rail line between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury for up to one more year if its proposal is accepted by area stakeholders," Elaine Della-Mattia wrote in the Sault Star on August 6.

"It wants to finalize an agreement between government, industry and area communities that involves support and contributions to make some immediate infrastructure improvements on the line. The deal still requires a final commitment by the stakeholders to avoid the closure deadlines and meetings are being held daily to beat the clock, said city CAO Joe Fratesi, who had chaired the committee to save the rail service ... Fratesi said the committee is well aware of the Aug. 15 deadline and is hoping to have an agreement in place by the end of the week".

"It has been estimated that about $33 million is needed to improve the rail line between the Sault and Sudbury to make the line viable again for the long term". All eyes are currently turned toward the largest users of the rail line -- Essar Steel, Algoma and Domtar. They ship about 80% of the line's freight," the Star reported.

http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1688095

8 - Timeline set for Peterborough rail study

Preparations for the return of Peterborough-Toronto commuter rail service, including engineering and design work, could be done between winter 2013 and spring 2015, a GO Transit report presented earlier this month shows. The information on the proposed Peterborough-Toronto commuter rail line was presented to the board of directors for Metrolinx, the agency that oversees GO Transit, on July 13 as part of a presentation on GO Transit expansion plans," Brendan Wedley wrote in the Peterborough Examiner on July 29.

"Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro said earlier this month that a transport team would present its findings on an implementation study on commuter rail service to Peterborough to local municipal officials at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa, which takes place Aug. 16-19," the Examiner reported.

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1677139

9 - Private firm lands Union Station deal

"Toronto City Council has appointed a private company to handle retail leasing at Union Station, one of the final steps before it kicks off a mammoth revitalization of the country's biggest transit hub. The city now has "a partner that will help us ensure the retail part of this destination can be achieved," said Mayor David Miller. The firm won't be named until the lease is signed at a date that is yet to be determined. The agreement cements a $640 million plan to revitalize Toronto's 1920s heritage landmark, that includes funding from the city, province and Ottawa," the Toronto Star reported on August 7.

"The station's GO concourse areas, often overcrowded in catering to an estimated 43 million regional commuters annually, will be tripled in size. ... The station also accommodates 20 million subway riders and 2.4 million VIA rail travellers annually. The three streams add up to twice as much traffic in a year as Pearson airport," the Star's Tess Kalinowski and John Spears reported.

http://www.thestar.com/article/677580

10 - Windsor businesses look to high-speed rail to boost manufacturing

If Canada decides to spend billions of dollars building a high-speed rail corridor and trains that can travel along it, Windsor is in a good position to benefit, says a local businessman who has seen the demand for rail work first-hand. "Our history is cars but our future should be trains," said Windsor architect Joe Passa. "Windsor could reinvent itself as a manufacturing centre for the design and construction of high-speed trains. We can't keep flying planes and using expensive gasoline when we can switch to renewable resources," Dave Hall wrote in the Windsor Star on August 5.

http://www.canada.com/travel/Windsor+future+should+trains/1860397/story.html

11 - Rail service is not the only transportation system that is subsidized

A report by GO Transit has raised the possibility of GO trains travelling between Waterloo Region and Toronto. The proposal was contained in a report prepared for GO Transit. The report proposes that GO establish two stations in Waterloo Region, one in downtown Kitchener and the other at Breslau. No doubt there will be much discussion in the months ahead about the pros and cons of those options,\" the Waterloo Region Record reported on August 6.

"Although many people might agree in principle with the desire to see GO trains zipping between Toronto and the region, the really hard question will be whether various governments will be prepared to pay the startup costs. On one level, they are not cheap. GO Transit thinks the initial price to start the service in 2011 would be at least $153 million. The long-range cost of establishing the service on a permanent basis would be about $549 million.

"Taxpayers, however, have to view these costs in their proper context. The rail service is not the only transportation system that is subsidized. In fact, rail subsidies are below the subsidies provided for roads. We tend not to think that our taxes subsidize automotive travel but they do. Just look at the price tag for a relatively small expansion of Highway 8. Ottawa and Queen's Park agreed in the spring to pay $70 million to widen four kilometres of the highway in south Kitchener near the Grand River - that's the price merely to widen a highway, not to construct an entirely new road," the Record reported.

http://www.masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=9285

12 - Movement growing to return high-speed rail link to the political agenda

A train trip from downtown Montreal to downtown Toronto, with a stop in the nation's capital, in two hours and 18 minutes is a far cry from the options travellers currently have. Led by Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume, a coalition of cities has awarded a contract for their own study on the local economic, social and environmental benefits of a high-speed rail system for communities along the route. The Quebec City Chamber of Commerce has also hired a communications firm to help promote the coalition and force the issue on to the agenda of a potential federal election campaign in the fall," Canwest News Service reported on August 5.

"In the meantime, the governments of Quebec and Ontario, along with the federal government, are spending about $3-million for an engineering consortium to update the 1995 study and make new recommendations -- including new ridership estimates and potential financing options --in a report expected in early 2010 .... Mr. Collenette, transport minister from 1997 to 2003, said he believes support is growing because of f rising oil prices, traffic congestion and airport security delays," Mike De Souza

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=1860011

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