Transport 2000 Canada Hotline

2 December 2000

Summary

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline for 2nd December 2000, David Leibold reporting.

Rail

1 - Amtrak Acela service beginning

The US's first high speed train, the Acela Express, will begin service from Boston to New York to Washington on 11 December. Although limited by track considerations to much less than the 300 km/h speeds of the Japanese Shinkansen and the French TGV, the Amtrak-operated train, built by France's Alstom and Canada's Bombardier, can reach speeds of 250 km/h and nips the New York to Washington time from 3 hours to just under 2 and 1/2 hours. If successful, Amtrak plans to introduce it on more routes.

Amtrak also noted that American government support for rail this fiscal year was US$600 million, far behind air services at USD$10.1 billion and USD$28.5 billion for roads.

2 - Holiday Train across Canada

CP's Holiday Train will again travel across much of Canada to raise awareness and support for food banks.

This second annual tour begins at Montreal's Windsor Station on the evening of 5th December, then travels west through various communities along CP tracks. The Holiday Train ends in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia 22nd December.

The public is asked to bring non-perishable food items to the approximately 20 public events along the way.

Tom Jackson and the Huron Carole will provide entertainment at various Holiday Train stops in support of this cause.

For schedule details, check CP's website at http://www.cpr.ca/holidaytrain or the Huron Carole website at http://www.tomali.com.

3 - Montreal subway safety

In light of the Austrian funicular disaster that killed over 150 people two weeks ago, the Montreal Metro underground has reviewed its safety procedures and assures passengers that they are in no danger. The Montreal Metro is rare in that it runs not on steel wheels, but on steel belted radial tires. The last fatal event according to Metro officials was in December of 1971 when a train operator was killed in a crash and fire. Another rolling event took place in 1974, when a train suffered a series of tire blow outs and a fire, but there were no injuries. The most recent non-rolling major disaster was in 1993 when an underground cable caught fire, requiring the evacuation of two stations.

4 - Five years of private CN

CN celebrates its fifth year of privatization. CN stock, originally valued at $10, has risen to almost $49 five years later. CEO Paul Tellier claims that the company has gone from being the worst railroad in North America to the best railroad on the continent during this time.

Road

5 - BC tour bus crash

Six people were killed east of Revelstoke, British Columbia on 27th November when a tour bus strayed from its proper lane and collided into a semi-trailer truck.

24 Taiwanese tourists, a tour guide and driver were on board the bus which was operated by Surrey Bus Service. The bus driver was among the dead. Although he was reported to be an experienced driver, this was his first time behind the wheel of the bus in question.

Authorities are investigating, although suspected factors include winter road conditions along the Rogers Pass, and concerns over the mechanical condition of Surrey Bus Service's fleet.

Highway safety group CRASH reacted to the news by calling for the federal Transportation Safety Board to perform investigations of serious crashes of buses and trucks. TSB involvement in road crashes was a recommendation of both a Senate Committee report and a statutory review of the Transportation Safety Board legislation.

6 - Ontario rates the highway carriers

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation now has a website listing the safety ratings for truck and bus carriers, including lists of Excellent and Unsatisfactory carriers. The website is http://www.carriersafetyrating.com.

7 - Tire maker troubles

Plunging sales of tires in the wake of a massive recall has forced Bridgestone-Firestone to announce it is planning to lay off as many as 10% of its North American workers. Since the recall of 6.5 million of its Wilderness AT tire (and others) that were standard equipment on the Ford Explorer and some pick up trucks, Firestone sales have plummeted 40%. The tire/vehicle combination have resulted in some 119 deaths in more than 40 countries. In addition, there have been huge expenses in recalling and replacing existing tires. Litigation looms ahead.

Air

8 - CanJet troubles

Halifax-based CanJet says it may have to close its doors, as it cannot sustain the losses caused by Air Canada's attempts to cut prices on competing routes. The plucky upstart recently had to curtail service from Toronto to Windsor due to lack of passengers. It is estimated that system wide, the carrier is filling about 60% of its seats, usually considered the break point for profitability. CanJet accuses Air Canada of numerous predatory practices, including discounting only those flights that compete directly with CanJet and hoarding counter space, slots, gates, information displays and not sharing parts, a practice quite common in the industry. Air Canada says it's policy is not to share parts with competitors.

The matter is before the federal Competition Bureau which maintains a cease and desist order against Air Canada's attempts to cut fares.

9 - Flap over first-class flying pig

A US Airways passenger brought a potbellied pig into a first class flight from Philadelphia to Seattle in October.

The passenger claimed that the pig was a therapeutic service animal, and thus had to be allowed into first class. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration recently agreed, but gave no advice on policies for future carriage of pigs on board airplanes.

Passengers complained that the pig was attempting to invade the cockpit, and had been refusing to leave a galley area. Sanitary concerns were also brought up.

Regional

Quebec

10 - Quebec curbs red light districts

Many motorists in Quebec will soon be allowed to turn right on red lights. The province is virtually alone in North America with a general law banning right turns while a stop light is in effect. The policy has been seen as protective of pedestrians, and some groups even call for its adoption everywhere in North America.

The new policy will begin mid-January as a one year experiment in certain areas including Hull, but not in Montreal or Quebec City.

National Capital

11 - Ottawa transportation turmoil

Unless Ottawa improves its transportation network the newly unified city's current boom could become a bust warns Doug Bourrassa, the regions deputy transportation commissioner. On a clear day, the city can just make it, but should there be a major accident or the weather turn nasty, it does has not spare capacity to maintain services. An expansion of the Queensway, two new bridges to Quebec and the Light Rail Transport are needed to provide relief to the super-city's rapidly growing population. Even the city's traffic light system, which with 850 units has half as many as Toronto, is at its limits. Burnt-out traffic lights are no longer an extreme rarity.

12 - Ottawa stoplight cameras

Ottawa has installed red-light running cameras at selected intersections. Violators will be fined $190. The system was recently inaugurated and has already caused some moderation in this practice. Until now, the Ontario government has resisted this type of enforcement.

Greater Toronto Area

13 - GO Transit plans increase fares and service

GO Transit ridership continues to grow, and some service improvements are expected in the coming months. But as long as the the provincial and federal governments stay away from transit funding, any improvements will not be sufficient to meet the transportation demands of the Greater Toronto Area.

GO also wants approval for higher fares to cover higher fuel costs.

There are also plans to build a new bus terminal next to Toronto Union Station, considering the numerous GO buses now at the station.

British Columbia

14 - Pets will ride SkyTrain

As of the New Year, small pets may be allowed on the Vancouver area TransLink transit services. This is a pilot project with certain restrictions - only small pets such as dogs and cats will be allowed, and they are to be kept in a cage or other suitable container.

Policies for pets on transit systems vary according to each city. They are allowed outside peak travel times on Toronto's TTC, but banned outright on the regional GO Transit service. Pets are also banned on Ottawa's bus system.

Service dogs for those with disabilities are generally allowed on transit systems, regardless of particular pet policies.

International

15 - Plane wiring problems

The US White House announced a coordinated attack on problems caused by aging wiring in all modes of transportation, as well as in nuclear Power generation, homes, industry and hospitals. Acknowledging that the concerns originated with aircraft, especially after the crash of TWA 800 near Long Island, NY in 1996, the White House Office of Science and Technology acknowledges that aging wiring is a national safety and health problem which must be coordinated if the public is to be protected from loss of power, information, signals, or exposure to fire or toxic smoke. It noted that the Federal Railway Administration did not always inspect wiring during tunnel inspections and admitted there is much that we have yet to learn about how wires age, degrade, and how this can be detected in advance of failure. This announcement was made during the first annual symposium of the International Aviation Safety Symposium, whose chairman, Lyn Romano, spoke at the 1999 Air Passenger Safety Symposium in Ottawa. The Air Passenger Safety Group was one of the groups to provide presentations at the New York event, held 17-18 November.

16 - European rail competition slowly opens

The European parliament finally approved an agreement on rail freight competition in late November. Differing rail systems among member nations was one complication. The plan is to separate infrastructure from operations. This takes effect in 2003, starting with the main cross-border lines, with the policy phased in for the entire network by 2008.

Freight train speeds now average 16 km/h, and market share is 13%, down from 32% in 1970. There was concern that this trend needed to be reversed in the face of competition from road freight haul.

The European Commission plans to discuss passenger rail competition in 2001. Much of Europe is expected to consider this an unnecessary exercise.

17 - Calendar

Finally...

Thanks to Harry Gow and Mike Murphy for additional items this week.

Thank you for calling the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline. For additional information, please contact our web site at:

www.transport2000.ca