Municipalities want rail traffic in the valley
http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/Artic...aspx?e=1656590
TRAIN TRAVEL: Trying to keep the tracks
Posted By STEPHEN UHLER
SUHLER@THEDAILYOBSERVER.CA
Posted 37 mins ago
Municipal councils and interested people on both sides of the Ottawa River agree they don't want the railway tracks running through the Ottawa Valley scrapped.
Representatives of both Renfrew County and MRC Pontiac councils, the City of Pembroke, along with staff, VIPs, economic development people and other interested parties gathered Tuesday morning to meet with members of the joint rail transport committee, which has been working to get a commuter train in the region.
While acknowledging there remains a lot of work and millions of dollars in investment to make it happen, the committee's top priority now is to convince the Canadian National Railway not to tear up the 130-km stretch of track linking the region to Ottawa.
This section, known as the Beachburg subdivision, has been placed on the list of lines the railway wants to abandon.
Louise Donaldson, executive director of SADC Pontiac Community Futures, who, with its counterpart the Community Futures Development Corporation of Renfrew County, are spearheading the effort, said the news CN was looking to abandon the line within six months caught the group off guard, forcing it to scramble in order to head off the attempt.
In order to do that, she said, the committee needed to show interest it wants to purchase the rails and to get that kind of clout, has applied to Industry Canada to form the Transport Pontiac-Renfrew corporation.
"It is the threat to economic development for our regions and the commuter train which is the prime motivation for this meeting," Ms. Donaldson said, stressing it is important to preserve the tracks and not just for the potential future of a commuter train.
"It is very difficult if not impossible to sell an area to industry without rail," she said.
Ted Barron, the chairman of Renfrew County's Community Futures and the head of the rail committee, said no one wants the line to become abandoned, as once it is gone, it will never come back.
"It took a hundred years to get the rails laid down and I hope we don't lose them now," he said. "That's our life and breath."
The joint rail committee pushed ahead with this because of the tight 90-day time-line to respond to the abandonment announcement. It was hoping for both county councils to officially endorse the efforts to enter talks with CN by passing a resolution before the end of Tuesday's information meeting.
However, neither county was comfortable with this, feeling they needed to bring the matter before their full councils for endorsement.
MRC Pontiac Warden Mike McCrank said he knows this is an urgent matter, but said they need to take this back to their respective councils before they approve it.
"Here, we're a group of concerned citizens" attending an information session, he said, with no authority to make such a decision.
Warden McCrank said MRC Pontiac council is meeting Thursday to discuss other matters, so he can present this motion then.
Admaston/Bromley Township Mayor Raye-Anne Briscoe said there is no way she can support this before bringing it before Renfrew County council, agreeing with deputy clerk Jim Kutschke they didn't have the mandate to do so.
"We only have three out of 17 county council representatives here now," she said. Mayor Briscoe said she is concerned if the majority of council decides to reject this endorsement, the county would be forced to withdraw, perhaps damaging the effort beyond repair.
"I don't want to bring grief to the project," she said. "I'm just asking for the time to do this right."
The next scheduled meeting for county council is the end of August, before which the matter has to go through the development and property committee.
Warden McCrank said he feels that isn't a problem, as he expects MRC Pontiac to back the resolution this week. Renfrew County can join in later.
The idea of a commuter rail service has been gaining steam since last fall following a successful pilot run between Beachburg and Ottawa on Oct. 5, 2008, which led to local municipal leaders on both sides of the Ottawa River signing a joint statement with Ottawa city council.
This began the planning process for the project, as well as urging the federal and provincial governments to help by smoothing out regulatory approvals and seeking funding which might be available.
An online survey was also launched to gauge interest in a regular commuter service.
Harry Gow, the founder of Transport 2000 in Canada and a technical advisor for the project, told those gathered at Tuesday's meeting the interest is definitely there. Out of an estimated 6,000 who commute regularly to Ottawa, more than 600 took the time to answer the survey, with the majority of them in favour of a regular train service.
He said if done in conjunction with a nightly freight service, this can be made viable, with ticket prices kept to levels comparable to a regular bus route, with single one-way tickets ranging from $10 to $15 depending on where the rider boards the train.
To get it going won't be cheap. Based on the initial pilot project study, it is estimated start up costs will be $6.8 million in the first year, including operational expenses and upgrading infrastructure and the rail stations. In the second year the cost could be $3.3 million and in the third year $3.5 million to finish things up.
James Allen, president and CEO of JDA Consulting, who is another member of the rail development team, said this investment is considerable, but one has to remember the assets themselves will last 20 to 40 years.
If sufficient freight customers can be secured, these revenues will be of help in keeping the rail service running, he said, and securing government funding will also help make this a reality.
The exact cost it will take to do and what will be required from both counties hasn't been determined.
Mr. Gow said the next step once the body of the new nonprofit corporation is sorted out is to develop a business plan, looking into everything from auditing the tracks, switches, signals and crossings, figuring out how viable it is and marketing the system to determining the best way to attract tourists into riding the train.
All of this will have to be co-ordinated to link up to create a train system serving both Eastern Ontario and West Quebec.
"Lots of work has to be done," he said. "There is a place for regional carriers," but they will have to work hard to get and keep the business.
Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant, invited to attend the meeting, said she feels this is a historic day, when the councils of both Renfrew and the Pontiac sat together to work things out for the betterment of both.
MP Gallant said the Pontiac's federal government representative MP Lawrence Cannon is also a strong supporter of this rail project and together she is sure they can lobby hard on its behalf.
The new Transport Pontiac-Renfrew was to have contacted CN Tuesday afternoon.
Stephen Uhler is a Daily Observer reporter
Article ID# 1656590
Prev
Linear Mode
