Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

Friday 20 April 2001

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 598, recorded on April 20th, 2001, our 25th anniversary year, Harry Gow reporting.

In this issue...

Items on rail, air, transit and road modes.

1 - Better rail switch locks urged

Padlocks on all manual switches should be updated to prevent vandalism, CN Rail told. A $35 padlock could have prevented the massive property damage and the injuries suffered by 24 passengers at a train derailment in Stewiacke, N.S. last week, according to Harry Gow, president of Transport 2000 Canada.

CN Rail, which owns the tracks where the VIA train derailed last week after 10 of its cars lurched on to a rarely-used spur line, should be updating the padlocks on its manual switches to reduce the chances of vandalism causing an accident.

"The cost of one train wreck like this would pay for every padlock in the country," Mr. Gow said. "A million-dollar dining car is not something you want to lose every week." He said the switches, which consist of a leveer on a stand secured by a pa dlock, should be protected by high quality steel locks that cost between $30 and $35, require special keys and can't be easily snapped.

Those locks have been installed on some CN tracks in urban areas across Canada and railway workers say nothing short of an electric arc welder can cut through them. Many of the high-security padlocks were installed after a 1984 incident in Ottawa where a VIA Rail train went crashing into a lumber storage area after the lock was removed from a switch on the main track.

Pierre Leclerc, spokesman for CN, said the railway has begun to upgrade padlocks on switches.

2 - CN takeover progress

Paul Tellier, president of Canadian National Railway Co., expressed confidence recently that his company would be allowed to acquire U.S. regional carrier Wisconsin Central. He also said another proposed merger with U.S. rail giant Burlington Northern Sante Fe was no longer being seriously considered.

In late January, CN announced its intention to buy Wisconsin Central for $1.2 billion U.S. to ensure its own link between Western Canada and the continental rail hub at Chicago.

3 - Bombardier gets bigger

Bombardier Inc. becomes the world leader this month in rail-equipment production. Annual revenue at its rail group will more than double to $8 billion, following completion of the acquisition of Berlin-based Adtranz, the rail-equipment division of Daimler-Chrysler AG.

The acquisition will also more than double the rail backlog to $22 billion and open the door to Adtranz's customers. The takeover is no doubt a sweet victory for Bombardier. Besides eliminating a European competitor that was moving into the North American market, the acquisition turns Bombardier into an integrated producer whose expertise in rolling stock will now be complemented by expertise in propulsion and electric-locomotive systems.

4 - New Train line to link Delson and downtown Montreal

The Metropolitan Transit Agency had good news for South Shore commuters recently - a new commuter train line linking Delson with downtown Montreal. As part of the $6.7 million pilot project, starting in September, there will be two trains leaving Delson for Windsor Station in the morning with two return departures from Montreal in the afternoon.

Four new stations - LaSalle, Sainte Catherine, Saint Constant, and Delson - will be built along the existing rail line, which currently includes Montreal West, Vendome, and Windsor Station. Agency president, Florence Junca-Adenot predicted that the new service will reduce traffic by 2500 cars daily.

5 - CNR chief resists plan by OmniTrax to use track

Paul Tellier, president of Canadian National Railway Co., has fired back at a U.S. company seeking access to thousands of kilometres of its track in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Mr. Tellier said recently that proposal by Denver-based OmniTrax Inc. could jeopardize the scondary lines, which are used primarily to transport grain from small farming communities to CN's mainline tracks.

6 - Replacing old buses in Ottawa adds $32M to debt

The City of Ottawa will take on an extra $31.8 million in debt next year to replace 58 articulated bases that are falling apart faster than expected. "The fleet is getting old and we found a few problems with them, and we'd rather be cautious and replace them early," said Pierre St. Jean, manager of transit fleet maintenance for the city.

7 - Freeways versus Forests

The NCC says plans for a highway in Patineau Park are not final. The proposed extension of the McConnell-Laramee Highway through Gatineau Park in Hull will destroy some of the largest white pine trees in Eastern Canada as well as rare aquatic plants and wildlife, an Aylmer conservationist said recently.

Ian Huggett said the $35 million, 1.8 kilometre section of highway could be built through the park starting as soon as this fall. The highway will destroy white pine trees that are one metre in diameter and 345 to 500 years old, he said.

8 - Defibrillators required for U.S. airlines

F.A.A. Orders the Airlines to provide defibrillators. The Federal Aviation Administration has order the nation's airlines in the U.S. to begin carrying emergency equipment to help passengers who have heart attacks while travelling by air. Airlines will have three years to put the equipment, defibrillators, on all domestic and international flights. Flight attendants will be taught how to use the devices to get a stricken passenger's heart beating normally.

9 - Canada 3000 joins American Airlines frequent flyer programme

Canada 3000 Airlines is joining American Airlines' frequent flyer program and may look to further deepen its relationship with the giant U.S. carrier. Michael Leblanc, vice-chairman of Canada 3000, said recently that in addition to signing on with American Airlines AAdvantage Program, there is an interline agreement to ease the movement of bags between the two carriers and that talks continue on a code-share deal for passenger sharing.

10 - Families of Concorde crash victims offered $225 million

Air France's insurers have offered families of the 113 victims of last July's Concorde crash about $225 million. A lawyer for the lead insurer said the offer was "of a final nature" and he thought it would be accepted. The plane crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 109 passengers and crew on board and four people on the ground.

11 - Concorde flight tests

An Air France Concorde outfitted with newly designed tires left Charles de Gaulle airport on April 17th for a military base in southern France to undergo air and ground tests. The delta-winged jet flew at subsonic speed without passengers. It arrived 50 minutes later at the base in Istres, in the southern port city of Marseille.

12 - Egyptair crash considered deliberate

The NTSB has reported that the copilot of Egyptair Flight 990 deliberately caused the plane to crash on October 31st, 1999, killing 217 people, including the assistant editor of LaPresse, on a New York - Cairo flight.

13 - Ottawa Airport terminal renovations

Ottawa's new air terminal to get under way next month. The Ottawa Airport has given the most detailed preview to date of how it will look after a $300 million expansion, to be completed by spring 2004.

A new terminal, costing about $150 million of the total, will be bright and spacious, with an observation area and large windows offering passengers and visitors panoramic views of departing and arriving aircraft.

The terminal, next to the existing one, will be kinked by enclosed walkways to a multi-level parking garage so people won't have to brave the elements getting to and from their cars. It will be about twice the size of the current overcrowded facility.

14 - Transport 2000 Calendar

On Sunday, April 22nd, Transport 2000 Canada and others celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Interprovincial Bridge which links Ottawa to Hull. At 9:15 a.m. a special bus took passengers from L'Ecole Secondaire de l'Ile to the Ottawa end of the bridge for the ceremony.

On Thursday, April 26th, Transport 2000 Canada will award the Orange Prize to Minister David Collenette at the Crown Plaza Hotel at 4:00 p.m. For additional information, please call Harry Gow at (819) 827.0157.

On May 3rd, a rail safety symposium will take place at the Auberge des Gouverneurs in Ste-Foy, Quebec, and on May 4th, a tour of Quebec area rail facilities will occur. Call Francois Garceau at (418) 832-2114 for further details.

On May 5th, Transport 2000 Canada's AGM will take place at the Auberge des Gouverneurs, at 2 p.m. In the morning, a board meeting will take place. Call David Glastonbury at (613) 722.4579 for details.

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

www.transport2000.ca.