People who
don’t take trains regularly may not realize that gridlock has come
to the rail system just as it has descended on our roads. Drivers
seeing an increase in truck traffic on 400-series highways have a
lot in common with GO Transit and VIA Rail passengers getting caught
behind freight trains. Across North America, goods movement is
reaching such levels that both the rail and road networks can be
very congested, and not just at border crossings.
Passengers on
commuter and especially on long-distance trains are feeling the
pinch, as their trains arrive late more and more often -- and there
is no easy solution. Thousands of GTA auto commuters would switch to
transit if there were more GO Trains, and while the provincial
agency will buy more cars and locomotives, it needs to find space to
run them. GO owns only small sections of the busiest rail corridors,
so it must negotiate for time slots with the private railroads
Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP). A strong economy
means the two railways increasingly need the tracks for their own
trains.
To fix some of
the worst bottlenecks on the busy Lakeshore route and in Brampton,
GO plans to lay new rails. In some cases a third track will act as a
bypass, and elsewhere new bridges may separate GO commuters from
freight lines -- if the money can be found. This will help, but not
head off the growing competition for space and time on the GTA’s
rail network -- the majority of which will still be largely
privately owned.
Both CN and CP
are very profitable, and these taxpayer-funded improvements help
them as well as GO commuters. CN has not contributed, says
spokesperson Mark Hallman, as freight trains already have the space
they need. Yet commuter lines in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal
face real challenges in adding trains and keeping existing ones on
schedule. VIA Rail, which does most of its business ferrying riders
between Toronto and Montreal, went from a nationwide on-time average
of 85% in 2001 to 73% last year, although cold weather was also a
factor.
This week, GO
chairman Gordon Chong raised the flag on another complication in the
long-standing relationship between commuter rail providers and the
private railroads. While the two parties have been able to
continuously add service in recent years, GO pays a large,
undisclosed sum for access to CN’s services. Chong says Canadian
commuter transit “should have better and fairer urban corridor
access, the rates should be competitive and at the same time (give)
a reasonable return to the railways -- and not the huge markup that
they are placing on us.”
The amount of a
the contracts are secret, but Chong contends they are much higher
than what it costs the railways to provide service. Canada’s three
commuter rail agencies had thought the issue of disclosing the fees
and gaining easier access to private rails would be addressed by the
federal government last year, but the necessary law never got final
approval. Their crusade took them recently to meet with new
Transport Minister Jean Lapierre to ask for help. Spokesperson Irène
Marcheterre says the minister intends to act quickly on the issue,
but is still consulting with all the parties.
CN’s Mark
Hallman says “We run a good service for GO”, having worked with the
agency to increase the number of trains by 25% in recent years. As
for passing a new law, he says, “Our view is that the current regime
works,” adding that “GO receives value for its money from CN.”
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