Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

29 March 2002

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 647, recorded on 29 March 2002. Bert Titcomb reporting for John Pearce.

In this issue...

1 - Eastern rail line's future uncertain

The western half of the former CP mainline between Saint John and Montreal remains in serious financial trouble: in trusteeship and/or bankruptcy protection from creditors. Nonetheless, the Canadian American Railroad between Brownville Jct, Maine and Megantic Quebec and the Quebec Southern Railway, Megantic to Montreal are still reported to be running one long freight each way every day. There still appears to be good prospects for purchase by Rail World of Chicago in the next few months and a return to prosperity.

In addition, the "Copper Canyon" Mexican winter cruise train will make weekly round trips on the line between Montreal and Saint John from June 9th to Sept. 13 with a 2-night stopover in the Appalachian resort area near Greenville, Maine and a one-night turnaround in Saint John.

Transport 2000 Atlantic's goal is to restore VIA's "Atlantic" to the route when stability returns.

2 - Halifax VIA station adds a bus terminal

Canada's newest major intermodal passenger terminal will begin operation about mid-April. The N.S. provincial bus company, Acadian, will move from leased premises on north end Almon St. to VIA Rail's downtown location. Eleven return bus trips by Acadian, DRL Coach Lines, and Zinck's Bus will join the lone "Ocean" VIA train in the under-utilized terminal. Acadian is owned, along with the N.B. SMT system by the Irving corporate empire.

3 - New air security tax takes effect

Next Monday, April 1st, the new Canadian Air Security tax goes into effect for all commercial air trips in Canada. Passengers will pay $12 per one-way trip. The Sabre and Galileo air reservation systems said Monday they had resolved all major issues during the past 10 days and were ready for a smooth transition. The questions of what is a "round-trip" and how long a traveller can stop at an airport awaiting connections remain somewhat contentious. The Canadian system is more complex than in the U.S. as about 90 smaller communities will be totally or partly exempt from the tax.

4 - Toll roads, transit score high in Toronto study

A Toronto Board of Trade study released Tuesday, March 26, contained support for a solid transportation system. Close to 2/3 of respondents supported private toll roads. Board members also indicated much higher satisfaction with the Toronto Transit Commission and GO Transit than with highways. GO scored higher than TTC on safety, cleanliness, reliability, and comfort, while TTC came out ahead on schedules and access.

5 - CLN shop in trouble

CLN Industrie International, the former CN shops in Joffre, Quebec will probably close its doors soon. Employee numbers have dropped from 75 to 15 due to lack of contracts. The shops were visited by the Transport 2000 Canada board prior to the 2001 AGM in Quebec City.

6 - VIA Ocean ridership still high

Sleeping car traffic on VIA's Montreal-Halifax "Ocean" service is up 20-25% over the past 6 months compared to a year ago. The growth in traffic has held up very well not only at Christmas-New Year's but through the March school breaks. Serious concerns have arisen that the new "Renaissance" equipment acquired from Europe and due in service in 2003 will fall 20 to 40% short of providing the sleeper space required. Baggage and dining space has been expanded, but there is yet no plan for dome-observation and adequate lounge space for the day portions of the 20-hour run.

7 - Greyhound takes over southwest Ontario route

Greyhound Lines took over a route between Hamilton and Brantford, Ontario on March 11 after local operator Sharp Bus lines abandoned it. Greyhound hopes that better connections with other bus routes will keep the route going. Although this may appear as a local issue, the importance of good networks and connections to viability needs to be recognized more widely.

8 - New Maine Amtrak service success

The new Amtrak service between Boston and Portland, Maine is exceeding ridership predictions. The regular 4 car consists have been lengthened to 5 on some of the four daily return trips and reached 6 cars, occasionally sold out, during recent school vacations.

The service will be extended north and east during the next couple of years with State of Maine support.

Negotiations are underway to allow for ticket interchanges with parallel Concord Trailways bus and connections with the Scotia Prince cruise ferry from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia operating from May through October. Unfortunately rail service from Yarmouth to Halifax, N.S. was killed in 1990 and bus services both leave before the ferry arrives.

9 - Higher airfares and surcharges

Air fares between central Canada and the Atlantic provinces are up 60-80% this year from last when CanJet, Royal, and later Canada 3000 all went bankrupt by charging unsustainably low fares. 6 or 7 hidden taxes including the new security tax total 55 to 60% above the advertised fares on these routes. Recent CBC investigations have shown that a $100 return Calgary- Edmonton fare actually requires $82 in added taxes even prior to the new security tax. This means that GST, NavCan fees, fuel surcharge, insurance surcharge, airport departure taxes, plus the new security tax could actually more than double the advertised fare on the Alberta route!

10 - Air Canada eliminates travel agent commissions

Following a decision by 5 U.S. air carriers to stop paying commissions to travel agents for selling air tickets, Air Canada will remove its 5% commission on April 22. The cut will involve both Air Canada national and regional services. However commissions on Tango, Air Canada's new discount carrier will not be affected, since Air Canada reasons that Tango's main competitors still pay commissions. Most travel agencies are expected to increase service charges on tickets sold without commission. Currently 86% of agents levy a surcharge which averages $27.

11 - Vancouver area transit budget approved

The TransLink 2002 budget was approved for Greater Vancouver this week. Some highlights are:

12 - Getting Alberta light rail back on track

Calgary and Edmonton have restored plans for road and Light Rail expansion following Alberta Premier Klein's restoration of a full 5 cents per litre gas tax for urban transportation. The funds had been promised in a signed agreement with the 2 cities and legal action was threatened when the provincial budget had earlier cut the figure to only 1.5 cents per litre.

13 - Nova Scotia increases highway user fees

The Nova Scotia government has announced 20 to 25% increases in road related fees such as driver's licences and car registrations. Heavy commercial truck fees will rise by 40%. Off road ATVs and snowmobile fees will triple to $30. It is rumoured that a 2 cent per litre increase in gas tax will be announced in the April 4th budget. Unfortunately the gas tax increase generates only $22 million annually, enough to build just 5 to 10 miles of new 2-lane highway, only a "drop in the bucket". Better it be spent on transit says Transport 2000 Atlantic.

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