Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

13 July 2002

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 662, recorded on 13 July 2002, Harry Gow reporting.

In this issue...

Several rail stories, a few air and one transit item:

1 - Transport 2000 calls for retention of airline watchdog

First, a Transport 2000 Canada plea to enure continued attention to airline passenger concerns beyond a July 31st "summit clause" deadline:

Transport 2000 Canada released a letter to Transport Minister David Collenette asking the Minister to find a way to keep Bruce Hood on the job. "Bruce Hood has made headway with the airlines. Consumer complaints are being taken more seriously. Hood has successfully pressed airlines into dropping 'user-unfriendly' procedures," says David Jeanes, President of Transport 2000 Canada.

"But much more needs to be done quickly. A new commissioner, however competent, means starting over. Let's find a way to keep Bruce Hood on the job," Jeanes says. Transport 2000 Canada members successfully lobbied for the inclusion of an ombudsman function in Feb. 2000 'Air Canada' legislation. Transport 2000 Canada is a transportation watchdog group with 1500 members in five regional chapters.

2 - Keeping Cape Breton rails alive

There was plenty of interest at a Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board hearing in Sydney about the fate of Cape Breton's only rail service. Greater profit is the main consideration behind an application to end Cape Breton's rail service by October this year. Peter Touesnard, G.M. of Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway, told the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board that a $50,000 a month operating loss in Cape Breton is cutting into the company's annual profits. "Closing the line is the last thing we want to do, but it's extremely important to us to stop losing money," Mr. Touesnard told the board on the opening day of hearings on the application.

He said the company tried to buy Devco's rail line. However it was shut out by the federal agency, then headed by trucking giant Joe Shannon, and was never invited despite a request, to make a bid, he said. Had it had the chance, "we wouldn't be here."

It also tried to get the contract to move gypsum from Georgia Pacific's new Melford mine, but trucking firms have a lock on that work for the next three to five years. And the firm also failed to win amendment to a contract to transport coal for Nova Scotia Power. He said the railway needs at least 5,000 carloads a year on the Cape Breton section to break even.

Donald Dunbar, a T2000 member, said he has learned that VIA Rail intends to double its Bras d'Or tourist trains's frequency next year, to twice weekly, meaning increased revenue for the railway. The Province refused to contribute to a 7.2 mile rail spur to Georgia Pacific's Melford mine site, part of a company bid to win gypsum traffic. T 2000's John Pearce noted the government $1.4 million to upgrade the Trans-Canada Highway between Melford and Port Hawkesbury to accommodate gypsum truck traffic through town. This has also brought calls for a highway bypass around Port Hawkesbury, a project that could cost $14 million."I think the railway would be well advised to continue to work on the Province to even up competition a bit," said Pearce.

3 - Quebec supports Baie Comeau rail line

In contrast to Nova Scotia, Quebec will invest in rail. The City of Baie Comeau, Quebec, will get financial help to extend its isolated railway line from the port of Baie Comeau to its industrial park. A railway line will be built with a main line of 6.23 km and a passing track for 34 freight cars and a transfer facility for 25 freight cars. The Societe du port ferroviaire de Baie Comeau Hauterive (SOPOR) believes it can move 150,000 more tonnes of freight by train ferry; this would free Highway 138 of 4500 heavy trucks annually. The project represents an investment of $10.5 million financed in equal parts by the Quebec municipalities infrastructure programme and the SOPOR.

Items 4, 5 & 6 from the NARP Hotline of July 12th.

4 - Amtrak funding battle continues

The supplemental appropriations bill has passed both houses. In light of Amtrak's recent funding crisis and a general desire not to increase Amtrak's bet load, a bipartisan consensus for $205 million for Amtrak had developed on the House-Senate conference committee handling the bill. Today, to reduce the bill's cost, the White House asked conferees to choose from a hit list of several items, one of which is $100 million of the Amtrak money. To express your support for the full Amtrak $205 million, and opposition to the Administration's effort to reduce it, call the White House comment line (business hours) at (202) 456-1111 or e-mail president@whitehouse.gov

5 - Old Orchard Beach Downeaster stop opens

"The whole town came alive" as Old Orchard Beach, became a seasonal stop recently on the Downeaster following an 11 a.m. ceremony. All trains will stop here, starting with the 12:08 p.m. northbound and continuing through mid-October. Meanwhile, Downeaster ridership jumped from an average 775 per day in May to 856 in June.

6 - Vancouver Island VIA safe for now

Good news from Vancouver Island: The passenger train is safe for now. The Vancouver Island Rail Development Initiative (VIRDI) reached agreement with E & N (Rail America), the current operator of Island rail services, that will permit VIA to continue operations on present terms through September. A VIRDI release stated "this will allow for the transition to a new, integrated rail service company for the Island that will ensure the continuation of rail services well into next year. This agreement is an important step toward the development of an integrated, sustainable and economically sound rail service for the Island."

7 - CN supports Kelowna short line

Canadian National Railway Co. is providing financial help and materials so that Kelowna Pacific Railway can upgrade the short line route in B.C. it took over from CN two years ago. CN said it is providing new rail ties to help Kelowna Pacific carry heavier loads on its system. Canada's largest railway is also extending financing to the short-line operator so it can build a new reloading centre at Winfield, B.C. CN, which will benefit from improvements to the feeder line, did not reveal how much the measures will cost.

8 - Air Canada pilots ordered to settle seniority issues

A federal labour board has suspended a controversial seniority ruling that led to almost open warfare between Air Canada and former Canadian Airlines pilots. Both sides have been given 120 days to come up with a better way to merge their seniority lists on their own or the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, or CIRB, will intervene. The ruling by board chairperson Paul Lordon was seen as a victory for some 1,200 former Canadian Airlines pilots. Many of them had been bitter about a 2001 arbitrator's decision they say discounted their years of service by an average of 9.5 years and had the potential to ruin their careers - any earning power - at Air Canada.

9 - Montreal plans blacktop over green

A controversy in Montreal's West Island has erupted over a plan by the Quebec Transport Ministry's and the City's plan to widen some roads and to extend others though "protected" green spaces such as the Bois-Franc forest. The West Island "Green Coalition" proposes instead a train on the CN Doney spur to the Fairview Shopping Centre area and downtown. La Presse calls it a "light rail" (train leger) project but previous media stories talked about a commuter train line. The Agence Metropolitain de Transports (AMT) is studying a passenger service on the freight spur line.

10 - Enterprise will go through Ottawa in October

VIA Rail will operate its overnight Montreal - Toronto "Renaissance" equipped Enterprise train via Ottawa from October 27th. The train will stop at the Ottawa Station and at Barrhaven, a new stop to open this fall in south-west Ottawa. Montreal trains will not start there as previously proposed, however in related news, Transport Minister Collenette recently told David Jeanes that some more capital expenditure on VIA may be made. For example, capacity improvements in the Greater Toronto area on the east-west CN main line.

There is still no word on when a VIA Rail Canada Act will be put before parliament. The Minister is in favour of this, but his Deputy Minister is said to be resisting it.

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

http://www.transport2000.ca/.