Trains on track for Kanata.
Kanata could be seeing heavy rail sooner rather than later. Transport Pontiac Renfrew is working with Kanata councillors to save an existing rail line and bring commuter trains into the city.
Kanata
could be seeing commuter trains in the next couple of years.
Transport Pontiac Renfrew (TPR), along with members of
Parliament, businessmen and councillors, have been working hard to bring
freight and commuter rail to the west end.
In 2009, TPR, a federally incorporated non-profit
organization, conducted a study between the Pontiac and Renfrew counties about
commuter rail.
“We got over 600 responses from people who said they were
tired of driving to work,” said Harry Gow, chairman of the board at TPR. “They
were tired of the traffic jams and they wanted a good way to get to Kanata, Nepean and Ottawa.
“The trains, as far as they were concerned, would do it even
if it took the same time as driving. It would remove the hassle and they would
be able to relax and do work on the train. We had enough people committing to
ride it so we figured we had a case for this.”
TPR is not looking to the provinces to pay for the commuter
trains. Instead, they would be provided by the local populations for their own
use.
“It’s really up to the local country mice like us to provide
our own transit,” he said. “This has already been done with buses east of Ottawa. Municipalities in
the county of Prescott, Russell, both
Clarence-Rockland, Casselman and North Glengarry and La Nation got together and
improved their bus service immensely.”
West Carleton Coun. Eli El-Chantiry and Kanata
North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson are both
working with TPR to bring heavy rail to Kanata.
“They're concerned about losing the railway just as the
people out in the woods are,” said Gow.
“We’re trying to meet and be able to bring the issue to the
higher government to make sure we don't miss the opportunity to save those
tracks,” said El-Chantiry. “We have great support from the folks who believe
the heavy rail is a good economic way of supporting local business.”
Former management from Ottawa Central Railway (OCR), the
company that owned the tracks before being bought out by Canadian National Railway
(CN), is working with TPR. And Gow said they are ready to come back and operate
the railway again.
“The communities like this because of three things,” said
Gow. “One, local employment. Two, the emphasis placed on safety. And the third
element is this economic development that will be self-directed.”
TPR has not looked at where stations will be situated within
the communities, but the idea is to have them line up with the area’s local
transportation system.
“The idea is to provide service to the people along the line
and try to interline with OC Transpo so people can transfer in good conditions
and in the right places,” said Gow. “That means at each important destination
there would be some connection with local transit, which includes OC Transpo.”
The economic development bodies in Ontario
and Quebec
produced studies on commuter rail, freight and tourism.
“All these came up positive,” said Gow. “What surprised us
was that it looked like freight would pay for the passenger train.”
TPR is looking at breaking ground as soon as this summer.
“We want to be in there by this summer so we can do work on
the track,” said Gow. “The railway is currently set up for freight at 40 miles
per hour. For passenger you need higher speeds – about 70 miles per hour. We
want to get the track work done over the next two summers so you can be sure
people won’t be riding a slow train to hell.”
As for how long until Kanata
residents see passenger rail, Gow is uncertain.
“It'll take us a year to get the freight up and running and
a minimum of six months to do the work required for commuter trains,” he said.
“These things have a bloody habit of slipping in time. You say, ‘Our objective
is September 2011.’ Yeah sure. Then you forget that you have to get certain
permits; you haven’t done your environmental assessments; it goes on and on and
on. By the time you’ve dealt with all the red tape it’s been another year.”
jessica.cunha@metroland.com