Transport 2000 Canada Hotline

6 January 2001

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline for 6 January 2001, David Leibold reporting.

Summary

1 - Rail Ways to the Future

During the year 2000, the Rail Ways to the Future Committee of Transport 2000 Ontario was instrumental in having 110 of Ontario's towns and cities endorse measures to promote rail transport.

For years, the Committee has urged the creation of a Rail Renewal Task Force, informing all Members of Provincial Parliament about how far Ontario has fallen behind neighbouring, competing areas in protecting and augmenting rail transport. The Committee publications also show concrete actions which Ontario can take to fix this.

The Rail Ways to the Future also calls for adoption of the Route Banking strategy, where municipalities exchange property tax liability on rail rights-of-ways on the condition that the railways surrender to municipal or provincial governments any abandoned infrastructure free of charge.

The Committee was also invited to the opening of the Orangeville-Brampton Railway in November. Yet, provincial conditions make it difficult for towns and cities to save their rails from abandonment.

2 - Bus rage in Northern Ontario

A Greyhound bus with 32 passengers on board rolled over in Northern Ontario 23rd December. At Hotline time, one elderly London-area passenger remained in critical condition, after smashing into a TV screen inside the bus. There were other minor injuries.

This occurred near Upsala, west of Thunder Bay, as the bus headed eastbound towards Toronto. A passenger on board grabbed the steering wheel from the driver, and forced the bus off the highway.

Witnesses reported that during an earlier stop in Ignace, an OPP officer placed a passenger on the bus who had apparent "paranoid issues".

The provincial Special Investigations Unit has launched a full investigation into the OPP's role in this incident. There also remain questions as to whether carriers such as Greyhound should take tougher measures against those who pose a potential danger to passengers.

3 - Toronto rocket rage

Some Toronto transit bus passengers were endangered 5th January as a woman on board chose to verbally abuse the driver, then tried to seize the steering wheel. The bus was forced into another lane during the struggle, but the driver regained control and avoided a collision. No injuries were reported.

4 - African Air Rage

British Airways flight 2069 from London to Kenya almost ended in disaster 29th December. A passenger entered the cockpit and tried to crash the jet. The flight crew, assisted by a few passengers, regained control of the plane, just seconds before disaster.

British Airways policy is to lock the entrance to the cockpit only during takeoff and landing.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Transportation Agency announced that airlines have the right to ban disruptive passengers from flights, even for lifetime bans. The Agency did order Air Canada to clarify its tariffs with respect to the penalties which can be imposed, to prevent unnecessarily severe bans.

5 - Airlines end year on high note

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced that scheduled air traffic increased 8% overall in the year 2000, compared to 1999. International traffic alone increased 10%. These measurements combine the carriage of passenger, freight and mail. Last year, scheduled flights carried more than 1.6 billion passengers.

6 - The sleeper environmental issue of the year 2000

When world oil prices collapsed to very low levels two years ago, it caused oil companies to sharply curtail their exploration and drilling activities for new supplies. This drop in drilling, coupled with complacency due to a couple of very mild winters, has resulted in supplies of petroleum products, and especially natural gas, dropping to dangerously low levels.

Now that we are experiencing a more "normal" winter, the shortfalls have already become very noticeable in the U.S., where prices for natural gas have spiked to levels five to twenty times the prices of two years ago. These high prices have encouraged all users who can do so, to switch to heating oil. This will put pressure on oil supplies, and these shortages will soon be felt in Canada.

T2000 members are encouraged to spread the message, that we have to rethink our over-dependence on the private automobile, so as to stretch our fuel supplies, and keep them available for more critical uses.

7 - Decline in Canadian transit funding

Last month, the Canadian Urban Transit Association sounded the alarm on the sharp decline in government funding for urban transit. Total provincial and municipal funding was slashed by a quarter from 1994 to 1999. Yet an increasing number of trips are being taken on transit, the largest ridership surge in a decade.

New buses, trains and services are expected to require an additional $9.2 billion in capital funding in the next five years. The federal government will face increasing calls to be a funding partner for Canada's urban transit services.

8 - Railway to Russia

What is 100 kilometres long, costs $90 billion and will take 20 years to build? A tunnel between Alaska and Russia, across the Bering Strait.

Some officials in Russia and America are promoting this link as a connection between North America and much of Asia and Europe.

The problem is that the Bering Strait is in a very remote region of the planet. The Russian end of the tunnel would be in a very remote area, with the nearest road and rail connections far away.

In North America, the closest mainline rail connection is 2000 km away at Prince George, British Columbia. Yet plans will proceed to study a rail connection linking B.C., Yukon and Alaska. U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Rails to Resources Act to set up a joint commission for this purpose. Such a line would cost billions of dollars, and be built through extremely rugged terrain, but could deliver northern mineral resources and other goods.

Meanwhile, a tunnel between Russia and Japan is closer to reality as the initial construction is expected on a tunnel to Sakhalin Island this year. From Sakhalin, another tunnel could link Hokkaido in Japan.

9 - BC ship sold

Last month, BC Ferries announced the sale of one of its vessels, The Queen of Victoria. The 38-year-old ship sold for CAD$550 000 to R & G Importadora & Exportadora of the Dominican Republic. R & G, a tour operator, purchased another surplus BC Ferries ship in 1998.

10 - Newfoundland's daring winter bikers

Mountain bikes are a hot item in Newfoundland this winter. The province's police force, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, is warning bikers to stay off slippery roads. There is concern about the increased numbers of bikes combined with winter's often dangerous road conditions.

11 - Concorde crash update

French officials have a leading suspected cause of last summer's Concorde airliner crash. The leading theory as announced last week is that the jet's tire exploded into pieces which then tore into the plane's fuel tank causing a fire. The tire was punctured by junk on the runway, most likely a scrap piece of metal.

BEA, France's national office that investigates air disasters, found that there were several earlier incidents in which Concorde tires blew up. There were several cases where tire pieces damaged the plane, including six cases where fuel tanks were punctured.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also reported on four dangerous Concorde tire blowout cases. These happened two decades ago.

The 25th July Concorde crash near Paris killed all 109 people on board, and killed four on the ground. A final report is expected from BEA within months.

The supersonic jets, operated by Air France and British Airways, were grounded last summer when their airworthiness certificates were suspended.

12 - Winnipeg Transit strike threat

A labour dispute could soon shut down Winnipeg Transit service. The amount of pay increases for drivers is a factor. There is no word when a legal strike could occur, but union officials are warning of possible service loss.

13 - Alberta rail links

Tranpsort 2000 Canada Western Vice-President John Bakker has proposed a Diesel light rail service from downtown Edmonton on the CPR line, through the High Level Bridge to the International Airport. Currently, travel to the Airport requires a taxi at $40 per trip, or finding a bus service.

The High Level bridge is currently home to a heritage electric tramway, where wiring has been installed. Previously, the tram operated with a diesel generator trailer.

Meanwhile, dreams of a high speed rail service between Calgary and Edmonton remain difficult to turn into reality. While Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith wants the link, local Calgary politicians doubt this would be financially supportable.

Mayor Smith is scheduled to meet with Transrapid International, a German company promoting its maglev system which claims a top speed of 500 km/h, meaning 40 minute trip times between Calgary and Edmonton. Yet cost factors may limit plans to a more modest rail link with more mature technology.

14 - Ottawa clears tracks for more light rail

The Quebec newspaper LeDroit reported last week that the new Ottawa City council wants the next public transport priority to be an east-west light rail line. The road priority is said to be the Ottawa portion of a ring road. Consideration of bridge locations is for later.

Meanwhile, federal MP David Pratt is pushing for a VIA station in the south-west end of Ottawa. This suggests possibilities for integrating VIA with local rail services.

15 - Calendar

Finally...

Thanks to John Bakker, Ian Fisher, Harry Gow, Tim Lane, Ross Snetsinger and Bill Wimperis for additional material for this edition.

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

www.transport2000.ca