This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline for 20 January 2001 (our 25th anniversary year), Harry Gow reporting.
The Council alleges that the cars do not meet Canadian accessibility standards. Transport 2000 Canada says, as does VIA Rail, that the requirement of one accessible car per train is met, and that VIA can adapt maore cars. James Lyon, Q.C. has therefore filed a request to intervene before the C.T.A. in support of VIA Rail.
The council's technical adviser, Mr. Glen Fisher, has been making allegations about the Euro Night Stock cars that Harry Gow, President of Transport 2000, says are groundless. Mr. Fisher, an equipment broker, is reportedly hostile to European rail equipment in general. We question whether Mr. Fisher has ever seen the VIA equipment.
Anyone else wanting to intervene in favour of the purchase should contact our office at (613) 594.3290 for a copy of our letters as a reference.
Transport 2000's John Bakker and David Jeanes have submitted a brief to VIA Rail, with recommendations for improvements to the Night Stock Fleet, and with suggestions for dinning and dome/sleeper cars. Contact John Bakker for an electronic copy.
Charlie Palmer, spokesperson for Transport 2000 Atlantic, led a group of train enthusiasts into Cape Breton Regional Municipality council chambers Tuesday night, asking for support for a plan to return year-round VIA Rail service between Sydney and Truro.
A former city of Sydney alderman, Palmer told CBRM mayor and council that Cape Breton could share in a time of "exciting changes" in passenger rail service if they banded with municipalities east of Truro to press the Crown to resurrect the run.
Transport Minister David Collenette has called on the municipality to speed work for a north-south line from Place du Portage in Hull to the Ottawa Airport, Mayor Bob Chiarelli said. That phase, which includes a line down Sparks Street to Kent Street, would cost about $90 million.
In addition, Mr. Chiarelli has greatly increased the scope of a light-rail study to include looking at the viability of putting trains on the OC Transpo transitway and extending the project to the Leitrim, Kanata, Barrhaven and Cumberland areas. The mayor declined to estimate the cost of this second phase.
"The federal government is banging on our door to get going," Mr. Chiarelli said recently.
Although the C.T.A. threw out the complaints, they underscore the delicate tightrope Air Canada must walk in its pricing policies, now that it accounts for 80 per cent of the country's domestic air traffic. On one side, customers are complaining that Air Canada's near monopoly allows the carrier to charge as much as it wants. The airline raised domestric fares by 6 per cent on January 1st.
On the other, competitors continue to come forward with accusations that Air Canada is using its muscle to force little guys out of the skies with "predatory" low fares. "If you price too low, it's predatory. If you price too high, it's gouging," said Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke.
The airline has scheduled 40 pilots to begin working for the proposed carrier in March, with about two-thirds to be based in Vancouver and the rest based in Hamilton. But Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke said that although plans for the new airline will be unveiled before the end of March, the airline's launch date will depend on how quickly Air Canada can resolve staffing issues with its employees.
The new airline is expected to launch with about six Boeing 737s from Canadian Airlines. The planes will be flown with crews from both Canadian and Air Canada, who will be paid less than their counterparts with the mainline carriers.
In a report released by Transport Minister David Collenette, the CTA review panel said it needs more time to study how proposals to increase competition would affect efficiency. Shippers have put forward a variety of proposals to increase competition, including recommendations that Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Co. will be compelled to share their tracks with customers or competitors.
"This panel is determined to avoid access proposals that could lead to system inefficiencies, thus increasing costs that must be passed on to other shippers or which threaten railway viability," the panel wrote in an interim report.
The poll was released at Washington Union Station as part of the mayors' annual Winter Meeting, at which the mayors also renewed their support of the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA) and had a short ride on an Acela Express train.
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