Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

26 October 2001

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 625, recorded on 26 October 2001, our 25th anniversary year, Bert Titcomb reporting.

In this issue...

In this issue, rail, aviation and transit items:

1 - Canadian ground transportation gains after terrorism

Passenger trains more popular option in wake of Sept. 11th attacks in the U.S. Enduring qualms people have about travelling appear to be easing but have not vanished, transportation officials say. While corporate travellers are just about where they were last year, there still seems to be a general fear of flying. VIA Rail has benefited from the Sept. 11th disaster and the resulting temporary shutdown of air traffic.

Immediately after the attacks, VIA carried up to 70 per cent more passengers in the Atlantic region and 40 per cent more in Central Canada. Some potential customers were turned away, a company news release says. VIA's business has levelled off since the return of regular air service but remains above normal, spokesman Benoit Simoneau said from Montreal. "We are doing quite well in the eastern part of the country," he said.

Passenger traffic on Marine Atlantic's ferries was barely touched by the terrorist attacks, spokesman Jim Wellman said from St. John's. The company carries about 500 000 passengers annually.

2 - Amtrak Maine service in December

Amtrak Downeaster trains between Boston and Portland, Maine, will begin regular service on December 15th, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority announced recently. Four trains each way will provide daily service between Boston's North Station and Portland, making seven intermediate stops.

The passenger trains will use 78 miles of Guilford track between Plaistow, NH and Portland, which was rehabilitated in a $62 million project. Twelve freight trains a day use the single-track line. For now, passenger trains will travel at 59 mph. Guilford has contended the 115-pound rail is insufficient for operation at 79 mph, and sought to limit passenger train speeds. Amtrak and the rail authority have argued that the track is safe enough to operate at 79 mph. Although the 20 mph difference will only shave 12 minutes off the Boston-Portland transit time, the backers of the Amtrak Downeaster service say 79 is the magic number to be competitive with parallel Interstate Highway 95.

3 - Canadian transit needs major funding

According to a recent article in the Toronto Star, Canada's public transit systems will need $13.6 billion over the next five years to maintain their fleets and keep up with growing ridership demands, a new study says. The study, to be released by the Canadian Urban Transit Association, says systems can count on only about half of that amount from current government funding sources. The other half is entirely contingent on new external funding sources, says association president Michael Roschlau. And it's by no means clear whether that money will come or not.

The report, which was based on a survey of 75 Canadian transit systems, was completed before the Ontario government announced twoæ weeks ago that it would spend $3 billion over the next 10 years on public transit. The Toronto Transit Commission, the country's largest system, needs about $380 million a year over the next decade just to maintain its current service levels.

4 - Smooth start for Ottawa's O-Train

It's unanimous. Less than one week after its official launch, Ottawa's O-Train gets the green light from area residents. City staff counted 6 000 passengers who took the train last Thursday. Passengers said the new rail system saves them a significant amount of time and would like to see it expanded. University of Ottawa student Hendrik Rosenthal, on board for the first time, was enthusiastic about the project. He said it's about time the city offered an alternative form of mass transportation. "If I time it right, I can save a lot time," he said. "And it's better than building more roads."

5 - Montreal Metro extension progress

The 5.2 kilometre extension of Montreal Island's metro to Laval is rolling toward a January 2006 completion date. That was the essence of a progress report recently from Florence Junca-Adenot, president of the Metropolitan Transit Agency that is co-ordinating the $378.8 million project being financed by the Quebec government. The extension of metro line No. 2 (the orange line) will go under Rivière des Prairies from the Henri Bourassa station and be accessible from the soon-to-be built Cartier, Concorde and Montmorency stations. It is expected to carry 50 000 person/trips a day, seven days a week, Junca-Adenot said.

6 - Canada 3000 gets federal loan

A federal loan guarantee will keep Canada 3000 ahead of its creditors. The federal government came to the aid of Canada's second-largest airline yesterday, guaranteeing $75 million in operating loans in an effort to keep Canada 3000 in the air.

In a hastily called press conference, Transport Minister David Collenette announced the support measures to alleviate a looming liquidity crisis that threatened to ground the 41-plane airline. Mr. Collenette said Canada 3000 flies to more than 100 destinations and carries more than three million passengers annually, adding that he would be very surprised if the airline does not recover by spring next year.

In reassuring Canada's 3000's creditors with the loan guarantees, Mr. Collenette also promised that the airline would also implement an aggressive restructuring plan that includes seeking new equity investors, renegotiating aircraft leases, employee pay cuts and job cuts.

7 - Miscellaneous Short Items

Several items of interest from the latest issue of International Railway Journal:

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