Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

20 March 2009

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 1012, for 20 March 2009.

In this issue...

1 - Transport 2000 Calendar

2 - What's the holdup with with the new Vancouver-Seattle train?

Transport 2000 B.C. will go public next week with news, via an Access to Information request, on the delay caused by the slow response time and financial holdups at the Canadian Border Services Agency.

According to David Jeanes, President of Transport 2000 Canada, it took CBSA two years before it replied to an Amtrak request for clearance arrangements for a second Washington State-to-Vancouver train. The slow response and the CBSA's subsequent financial demands are endangering arrangements for international travel to the 2010 Winter Olympics. CBSA claims that its Vancouver staff only work one daytime shift and the train comes in too late for them. John Bakker will suggest using CBSA staff from the airport who would still be on shift in the late evening.

3 - PEI County Line on a roll

Last fall the provincial Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour announced a 12 month, $28,000, pilot project to link Prince Edward Island's cities of Summerside and the capital Charlottetown. Service started Oct. 27, 2008, with 5 round trips each week day over the 65 km route on Highway 2 with 3 major and several other local flag stops. Traffic is growing slowly and now stands at 50 passengers per day on the "County Line" service. System manager Bobby Dunn is encouraged as drivers see a few new regulars each week. Most traffic is commuters to work but there are passengers in the seniors and student categories.

It's a first step en route to what is hoped to be an island-wide rural transit system. Public advocacy is being led by the PEI Public Transit Coalition which includes representation by Transport 2000 Atlantic and its board member Jim Munves.

4 - Le trolleybus pourrait être de retour au Québec

"La Ville de Laval, en partenariat avec Hydro-Québec, a annoncé cet après-midi qu'elle étudiait la possibilité d'implanter sur son territoire un réseau d'autobus complètement électriques, et ce dès l'an prochain ... Au Québec les trolleybus ont quitté définitivement le paysage urbain en 1966. Et il s'agit également d'une première pour Hydro-Québec, qui prépare un important virage vers l'électrification des réseaux de transport collectif, comme le révélait La Presse en novembre dernier" selon François Cardinal écrivant dans La Presse lundi le 16 mars.

"Les écologistes et les usagers du transport en commun ont applaudi à la nouvelle. Il s'agit d'«une très bonne nouvelle», selon Steven Guilbeault, d'Équiterre. Et d'«une excellente initiative», pour Normand Parisien, de Transport 2000, un groupe de défense des usagers".

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/national/200903/16/01-837075-laval-lorgne-les-trolleybus.php

5 - Minister Baird: 4-hour Toronto-Montreal VIA Rail: $30 billion high speed

"Transport Minister John Baird said Tuesday that infrastructure improvements could cut Via Rail's Montreal-Toronto travel time back to four hours. Baird made the announcement that track improvements are coming down the line after riding into Ottawa's Via Rail station by train. The government plans to add two more trains in both directions between Ottawa and Montreal, he said," CBC News reported.

"And the idea of bringing a high-speed train to the corridor between Windsor and Quebec City is still on the table. The idea's been studied many times over the past 30 years, and another study is underway. "I think before we make a $30-billion decision — I think a $20- or $30-billion decision — what we should do is get the facts in front of us," Baird said," CBC News reported on March 17.

Marcus Garnet, President of Transport 2000 Atlantic commented: If the federal government is not interested in high speed rail, Quebec should be encouraged to just go ahead and put it in between Quebec City and Montreal. Might that be enough to capture people's imagination and help pressure the feds into extending it to Toronto. In other words, start with Quebec which has low-cost, emission-free hydro power.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/03/17/ot-090317-via.html

6 - VIA Rail's Windsor Plan

Transport 2000 reports people hoping for a complete remake of the VIA Rail services into Windsor will be half-disappointed by VIA rail plans for the line from Chatham to Windsor. Instead of spending a few hundred million dollars to go onto the CPR line into downtown Windsor, VIA will continue to use its old line into Walkerville, investing in the rails, signaling and security fencing on the Alexandria subdivision model.

The existing station will be replaced by a new one just to the east of the present location. An extensive study on the City of Windsor's future transport development had recommended a rail station at the airport, although later work produced a recommendation to go downtown on the CPR tunnel line.

7 - Trolleybuses may roll in Laval

"The STL said they could serve four major arteries: des Laurentides, Notre-Dame, de la Concorde and Curé Labelle Blvds. The trolleys, which would replace buses that run on diesel, would be given priority at traffic lights and in some sections would use reserved lanes. Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt said they would significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and improve public transit. Vaillancourt, who previously touted tramways, said he now prefers trolley buses," the Montreal Gazette reported on March 16.

"A commuter (advocacy) group said it would welcome trolley buses, which are in use in 340 cities, including Vancouver. "They offer the flexibility of buses, but the ... efficiency of tramways," said Transport 2000 spokesperson Normand Parisien. But tramways have a key advantages over trolley buses, he said: They move faster because they are less likely to be slowed down by car and truck traffic".

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Technology/Trollybuses+roll+Laval/1395061/story.html

8 - New York State High speed rail plan unveiled

"New York lawmakers today laid out plans for a $10.7 billion high speed rail line linking the major cities of New York State, the Albany Business Review has reported. The $10.7 billion plan would raise speeds between New York City and Niagara Falls, N.Y., over the course of the next 22 years. Gov. David Paterson said in his announcement today the state will compete for federal stimulus dollars dedicated to high speed rail to help with funding," trains.com reported on March 9.

"Under the plan, the state would spend $3 billion over the next 3-5 years raising track speed between Albany and Niagara Falls from 79 mph to 110 mph. Down the road, an additional $2 billion would raise speeds to 150 mph. (This would) slash transit times between Albany and New York City, Albany and Montreal, and add at least three ports and intermodal centres. It would also add connections in Utica, Syracuse, and Rochester, N.Y".

http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=4718

9 - VIA Rail's slow progress Ontario

Minister Baird's announcement marked the end of work on the Alexandria subdivision. Work continues on the Smiths Falls sub. The feds recently announced more funding to meet the objections of CN which was preventing VIA making progress with the Kingston subdivision, the capacity of which CN, seriously reduced post-privatisation. In the budget the Government came back with money for a third track along miles of the Montréal-Toronto line. The problem goes back to the Chretien government's decision to include no obligations to passenger operations when CN was privatised.

10 - Transport 2000's Harry Gow to address the National Association of Railroad Passengers

All are invited to attend the NARP Membership Meeting in Detroit, Michigan on March 21st, starting at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be held at the Cadillac Place Building (former General Motors world headquarters building) at 3021 W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit. Cadillac Place is two short blocks from the Detroit Amtrak station. Other speakers include Sharon Edgar, Passenger Services Division and Administrator, Michigan Transportation Department George Chilson, Chairman, National Association of Railroad Passengers.

11 - Nova Scotia stimulus: $1 billion for roads and bridges

Premier Rodney MacDonald today announced a $1.9 billion stimulus package. Details are scarce and the figure includes $800 million in federal funds.

$1.0 billion (or over half the package) involves roads and bridge infrastructure," Transport 2000's John Pearce reported from Nova Scotia on March 11, There is some money for hospitals, schools, and jails, but nothing significant for transit or public transportation.

12 - Quebec provincial network of rural transit bodies

Finally, the ATCRQ, a Québec provincial network of rural transit bodies, will meet in Québec City 20 - 22 May 2009. Its founder, Harry Gow (also Founding Pres. of Transport 2000) has been asked to report on enhanced safety and emergency measures for community transit vehicles, as applied in the United States.

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

www.transport2000.ca.