Category Archives for "Southwestern Ontario"

Station repairs promised for SW Ontario

By Transport Action Ontario | Southwestern Ontario

Masonry repairs should soon be getting underway at the Chatham VIA Rail station, together with other repairs to the stations in Sarnia, London and Brantford.

Speaking in Windsor on August 30, 2022 to announce the government’s intent to appoint an external consultant to study improvements to passenger rail services in SW Ontario, Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra confirmed that part of the $42.8 million of new funding over fours years announced in the spring budget would be allocated to repairs at these stations.

The frost and salt damage to the Chatham station’s brickwork is an issue that Transport Action brought to the attention of VIA Rail in 2019, and sadly the deterioration of the station accelerated significantly in the intervening winters. We have also highlighted the need to renew the flaking paint on the Woodstock station building before that cosmetic damage allows water penetration and costly masonry damage. 

Chatham station, built in 1879 and Woodstock, built in 1885, both by the Great Western Railway, are designated heritage stations, as in Sarnia, opened in 1891 by the Grand Trunk together with the inauguration of the first St. Clair River Tunnel. Treasury Board does a disservice to passengers and taxpayers if it does not allow VIA Rail to fully fund station maintenance each year, because maintenance deficits for heritage structures like these grows exponentially if left unaddressed.

Over the past decade, VIA Rail has invested in repairs and upgrades to the London station; carried out an interior refit to provide fully accessible washrooms in Chatham; and undertaken a restoration of the Sarnia station building.

More photos of the maintenance deficit at Chatham station:

VIA Rail “Fireside Chat” with London Mayor Ed Holder

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Southwestern Ontario

On June 15, the Canadian Club of London hosted a one-hour virtual fireside chat between VIA Rail’s acting CEO Martin Landry, and London Mayor Ed Holder.  Transport Action Ontario (TAO) listened in and also submitted questions to be answered later by VIA Rail.  Our colleagues at Rail Advocacy in Lambton also attended.

There were few surprises in Landry’s remarks.  London is VIA’s 4^th busiest station and VIA has invested $11M in it since 2019.  London is in a sweet spot for population density and distances.  Other remarks included:

• VIA recognizes that not all train service has been restored to pre-pandemic levels, including Trains 82/83 round trip through Brantford and Trains 85/88 through Stratford.
• Most of VIA’s ridership resumption is leisure travelers.  They are hoping for more business travel increase in the Fall when more train frequencies are planned.
• The new fleet enters into service in Fall 2022 and the new reservation system will launch early 2023.
• VIA is working with Metrolinx and CN on service improvements in southwestern Ontario.  In contrast to Toronto-Quebec City corridor, there are no opportunities for a dedicated right-of-way, hence VIA must leverage current infrastructure with the track owners.  VIA needs competitive travel speeds versus automobiles and reliable on-time performance.
• VIA wants to transform London into a regional hub, which would therefore provide more scheduling options for all of southwestern Ontario
• VIA is also aware of US interest on a Toronto-Chicago route, and are collaborating with Amtrak
• In response to a question about a late night departure from Toronto to accommodate sports/theatre attendees,  Landry indicated that new frequencies would have to be provided by the track owners.

Mayor Holder also made some interesting remarks:

• As chair of the Southwestern Ontario Transportation Task Force, and working closely with other regional mayors such as Mayor Bradley(Sarnia), he is very aware that passenger rail is a huge issue in the region.
• London is the fastest growing Canadian city east of British Columbia.

In summary, the chat was a reaffirmation of information already out there and promised.   TAO will continue to vigorously advocate for passenger rail improvements in southwestern Ontario.

Southwestern Ontario Passenger Rail – Another Broken Promise?

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Southwestern Ontario

Transport Action Ontario board member Ken Westcar has published an opinion piece on the confusing and seemingly uncoordinated federal and provincial statement on passenger rail in southwestern Ontario (SWO). There has been no apparent federal action on promises made in 2021 to improve SWO passenger rail, or responses to new Toronto – Chicago service proposed by the USA. Meanwhile the province has promised to invest $160M to improve service between London – Kitchener and Toronto.

Ken’s piece can be viewed below.

Ontario’s Budget 2022 – Transportation Highlights

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario , Urban Transit

The Ford government introduced its 2022 Budget on April 28.  As the Ontario legislature was dissolved one week later due to the upcoming provincial election, the budget was not debated or passed.  However, it does represent the election platform of the Ford government, and presumably will be re-introduced if the Progressive Conservatives win the election.

In the transportation area, the Budget has few surprises and largely represents a restatement of previous commitments.  Key items include:

• Highways, highways, highways.  Although more funds are to be expended to public transit, it is clear that this government’s top priority is highways.  A total of $25.1B over 10 years is slated for “planning and/or construction of highway expansion and rehabilitation projects” across the province, including the construction of new Highway 413, new Bradford Bypass and widening of numerous other highways across Ontario.  No cost breakdown is given for these projects.   (Independent experts have estimated a construction cost of $8 – 10B for Highway 413).
• Other driver benefits.  These include removal of tolls on Highways 412 and 418, removal of license fees, 5.7c/l reduction in gas tax from July – December, 2022, and changes in auto insurance rules to give consumers more choice and reduce fraud.
• $61B to public transit over 10 years.  The cited projects are well known and have been costed out.  The key committed projects are GO Expansion (see posting on this website January 13, 2022 for details) and the 4 GTA subway projects (Ontario Line, Yonge North, Scarborough and Eglinton West).  All these projects are moving forward.
• GO Milton improvements not funded.  Despite a federal commitment of up to $500M (50%), the Budget was silent on provincial matching funding to convert this busy line to all-day two-way service.
• Transit Oriented Communities (TOC).  Agreements have been signed to build TOCs at 7 stations on the Ontario Line and the Yonge North Subway Extension to provide new funding sources for the province for construction.
• New GTA Projects.  Continued planning on Sheppard East subway extension and on Eglinton Crosstown West extension to Pearson Airport.
• Discussion of three extension projects for GO Transit:
  • Bowmanville
  • London, where the province is “proceeding with planning work and investment for track improvements to support implementation of faster and more frequent service” (no details).
  • Niagara, where the province “continues to work with rail partners” (no details).
• Northeastern Passenger Rail.  $75M to support corridor, fleet and station upgrades for service between Toronto and Timmins, with a rail connection to Cochrane.  Although this is a good start, we note that this is insufficient to cover the full capital cost of $150M – $230M, as cited in the Updated Initial Business Case.
• Shortline railways absent. There was no discussion in the Budget on preserving shortline railways, such as the Barrie-Collingwood or Orangeville-Brampton lines.
• Coach Refurbishing.  $280M for funding to refurbish 150 GO Transit bi-level coaches in Thunder Bay and North Bay. 
• References to the GGH Transportation Plan with 100+ actions and to the Northern Task Force that will “inform the government of the most important local needs”.

As readers know, Transport Action Ontario is deeply involved in most of these projects and will continue to closely monitor, support or oppose them, regardless of who wins the upcoming election.

Transport Action Ontario – Annual General Meeting April, 2022 – Summary of Public Portion

By Transport Action Ontario | Events , Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario , Urban Transit

Transport Action Ontario’s (TAO) annual general meeting, held April 23, 2022, included a portion open to the public. This featured a guest presentation by Elizabeth May M.P., former leader of the Green Party of Canada. This was followed by a brief report by Peter Miasek, President, summarizing the organization’s advocacy efforts over the past year.

Ms. May discussed the importance of ground transportation (intercity rail and bus) to Canada, her Private Members Bill C-236 (“VIA Rail Canada Act”), VIA’s High Frequency Rail proposal and her efforts t for, a multi-party rail caucus in Parliament.

Mr. Miasek’s presentation summarized advocacy activities in the following areas:

• Northern and Eastern Ontario Rail
• Southwestern Ontario Passenger Rail and Intercommunity Bus
• Greater Golden Horseshoe Public Transportation
• Highway 413
• Eastern Ontario Transit and Rail
• High Frequency Rail
• Other Federal Interfaces including VIA Rail

A copy of the presentation can be viewed below.