GO Rail Expansion in the GTHA – the Path Forward

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

In November, 2021, Metrolinx released an important update on their $27B + GO Expansion Program, announcing that two proponents had submitted proposals in response to a tender request.  The successful proponent is to be announced in 2022.  This Program is vital to the future of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), but has received relatively little publicity and public scrutiny versus the more notorious subway projects. 

The attached article summarizes the status of the Program and identifies some best practices, largely listed in a Toronto Region Board of Trade report of March, 2022,  that hopefully will be incorporated in the Program or in future expansion projects. 

The article can be viewed below:

Response to Mandate Letter to Minister Alghabra

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

Prime Minister Trudeau released his mandate letters to all cabinet ministers in mid December. Transport Action Ontario has written to Minister of Transport Alghabra providing several critical perspectives on the letter he received. They are

-Full due diligence needed

-Improve transparency/reliability/accountability/communication

-Execution skills and talent are a concern

-Rail offers domestic industrial benefits

-Must account for externalities

The letter can be viewed below.

Ontario Pre-2022 Election Briefing Note – Short Line Railways

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

In anticipation of the upcoming Ontario provincial election in June, 2022, Transport Action Ontario has issued a briefing note on an important transportation-related issue that has not currently received the visibility it warrants. This issue is the Preservation and Revitalization of Ontario’s Short Line Railways.

The briefing note can be viewed below:

Ontario’s 2020 Penalty Relief for 407ETR

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Latest News

With the news that Ontario provided $1 Billion in penalty relief to 407ETR for 2020, Transport Action Ontario has written the Minister of Transportation indicating our concern of a repeat forgiveness for 2021. Instead, we urged the negotiation of a strategic tolling framework, especially for trucks. This could eliminate the need for Highway 413. Our letter is given below.

Boosting Intermodal Truck/Train Freight to Reduce GHG Emissions

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

With the conclusion of the COP26 conference, the issue of Canada’s Greenhouse Gas transportation emissions, from both personal and freight transportation, is front-and-centre. Transport Action Ontario has written a letter to the federal government discussing the alternative of truck/train intermodal freight versus continued highway expansion, and the need for federal involvement in what is largely private enterprise.

We felt that policy-driven publicly-funded incentives to build and expand state-of-the-art intermodal services in the Windsor-Quebec corridor are needed.

Our letter can be viewed below.