Transport 2000 Canada Hotline

16 March 2001

Summary

This is issue number 593, recorded on Friday, March 16th 2001, (Our 25th Anniversay Year) Harry Gow reporting.

In this issue, rail, transit, road and air news.

1 - Nightstocks in Halifax

STOP THE PRESS: An item just in from Halifax states that 3 Nightstock Cars will visit Halifax this weekend.

2 - Canadian airport rail plans

Work could soon start on rail links from downtown Toronto to Pearson Airport AND from downtown Montreal to Dorval Airport, according to the media. The common element is the leadership of Federal Minister of Transport, David Collenette, who has been the "champion" of both projects. The Toronto project would cost $300 million. In addition, the feds have given $35 million to get Union Station rebuilding "off the ground" and VIA Rail has already started work on about $10 million to upgrade and modernize its facilities at the station.

In Montreal, studies are "very advanced" and all that remains to be done is to choose between a northern approach from the CN Deux - Montagnes line or a sourthern approach over the C.P. Riguad line. The Minister has indicated that both projects are priorities. The Toronto project would cut airport access time from Union Station from 45 minutes to 20 minutes.

3 - The Alaska Railway?

The proposed British Columbia - Yukon - Alaska rail link continues to get "news column inches". This proposal, expected to reach the Canadian Government within weeks, is possibily a tool to improve the chances of an Alaska Highway route for northern natural gas. The U.S.A. Congress has alloted $6 million to extablish a bilateral commission to study the 2000 km rail link from Fort St. John, B.C. to Fairbanks, Alaska. Frank Murkowski, an Alaska Senator, denies the rail project is directly linked to the pipeline routing controversy. The Yukon Government supports the rail project, and Sen. Murkowski has met with Minister Collenette to discuss the project.

4 - Seeking transit funding

Transit funding remains a hot issue in Ontario. The Federal Minister of Transport has said publicly that the federal investment in transit in Ontario will depend on the Ontario Government spending money on it again. Meanwhile, the Federal M.O.T. is matching a $5 million Quebec M.O.T. investment in a study of a light rail link between Montreal's South Shore and downtown over the Expo "Ice Bridge" via Nun's Island just upstream of the Champlain Bridge.

A sign of the times may be the establishment of an Ottawa office by the German Rail and Tramcar electric components manufacturer, KIEPE, apparently at least partly to join the growing lobby for more government money for transit. Welcome to the fray, KIEPE.

5 - More Montreal subways and buses

The Montreal Gazette reports that the addition of a nine-car train to Metro lines 1 and 2 has reduced wait times from 3 minutes to 2 minutes and 40 seconds, improved capacity by 15 per cent and reduced overcrowding in morning and evening rush hours. Ridership has been growing by single digit percentages over the last year. The Montreal Transit system will take delivery of 100 new low-floor buses this year and 200 buses next year.

6 - Canadian derailments

A derailment earlier this week has blocked the CPR mainline in B.C., just outside Salmon Arm, spilling diesel fuel into Shuswap Lake. The line will be closed for a few days. In Ontario, eleven cars of an 89-car freight train derailed east of North Bay on the Ottawa Valley Rail Link near Eau Claire on March 12th.

7 - Bigger Bombardier profits

Bombardier profits are growing, in the past year they have risen by 37 per cent. Bombardier Transport has obtained an order of 126 IRM passenger rail cars from NS Reizigers in the Netherlands, in a contract worth $319 million. Since 1992, NS has ordered 668 IRM cars.

8 - Air Canada fare confusion

Air Canada has been getting contradictory messages from Federal agencies: First, the Competition Bureau ordered Air Canada to quit offering discount fares on Maritime routes, and now the Canadian Transportation Agency has ruled that the lowest fare offered on the Vancouver - Prince Rupert route was unreasonably high at $400, when compared with fares on similar routes, such as Winnipeg - Saskatoon.

T2000 Comment: The Federal Government should get its act together and quit going in different directions on this one. The financial health of the carrier is at risk, as is the amount of service offered in Eastern Canada, the carrier says. We agree.

9 - CanJet fares too low?

Transport 2000 Atlantic has been concerned that CanJet fares have been too low to be sustainable: Not only has this undermined Air Canada, it has also affected VIA eastern loadings. CanJet investor, Ken Rowe, says the airline maybe for sale. Media stories say the airline is losing large amounts of money, demonstrating the old adage that "there is no free lunch" and supporting T2000's contention that CanJet's fares are too low to be sustainable.

10 - Boston enforces airline customer service

Boston's Logan Airport has set limits on length of airline - imposed passenger waiting times for check-in, baggage pick-up and security clearance. Airlines that fail the grade could lose the right to use the airport!

11 - Quebec superhighway showdown

A "row" has developed between the Quebec Ministry of Transport, which is pushing a superhighway project, the McConnell - Laramee Expressway in Hull, and the Federal Ministry of Transport, which pays 50 per cent of the costs! The federal ministry says the environmental impact studies are incomplete. The superhighway will cross the Gatineau Park, and destroy forest and wetland with a spaghetti of interchanges. Transport 2000 has publicly supported the demand by Hull residents for a delay in environmental hearings until studies are completed.

12 - France tram problems

In France, the TVR guided trolleybus, a supposedly "cheaper" tram substitution in Nancy is a disaster. Twice in March, vehicles have ":derailed": at the end of the single guide rail and hit adjacent trolley wire support poles. In February, the system was already very unreliable. Since the "derailments", drivers have had a one-day strike to protest against the "unsafe" gee-whiz technology used.

13 - Houston LRT construction begins

Finally, in Houston, Texas, ground breaking on REAL LRT took place after two senior court decisions against anti-LRT groups that had tried to block the project.

14 - Orange Prize Presentation

Finally, Transport 2000 Canada has tried for several weeks to set a date with the office of Transport Minister Collenette for a prize giving ceremony, but the Minister's busy schedule has so far frustrated our attempts. The date has now been set for April 26, at 4:00 p.m. T2000 members will be invited. Possible venue is the University of Ottawa. Details to follow.

Finally...

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