Union-Pearson rail in time for PanAm games as things look now

Eric Morse —

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAround 40 members of the public attended the fourth and last Union-Pearson Electrification Project public open house at Lithuanian House in Bloor West Village last month.

Three previous open houses had been held during January and February in other neighbourhoods along the proposed right of way including Liberty Village, Weston and North Etobicoke. The right-of-way runs from Union Station along the existing GO Kitchener corridor with a 3 km elevated spur southwards to Pearson airport, now under construction.

Constructed and operated by Metrolinx, the Union Station-Pearson Airport express route has been promised to open using diesel locomotion in time for the PanAm Games in July 2015. It is to have two stops at Bloor St W. in the Junction and in Weston at Lawrence Ave.

The second phase of the proposed project, to be implemented by Metrolinx and Hydro One, is to be the electrification of the route, planned for a date following the PanAm Games, but not yet firmly scheduled as funding for it has not been found.

The electrification requires three main additional components; the power distribution network itself, consisting of some 560 gantries spaced about 65m apart along (and 7.6 to 12 m above) the right-of-way supporting overhead power cables (the trains will draw power from these by pantograph as streetcars do), the proposed construction of a dedicated Hydro One substation, and the upgrading of track-related infrastructure (bridges, stations etc.). Parallel Hydro One and Metrolinx environmental assessments are under way. A final review and ministerial decision are scheduled for April to June 2014 if a spring provincial election doesn’t intervene.

According to Metrolinx project executive director Karen Pitre, assuming all approvals are received, and funding found, a reasonable target date for commencement of construction might be toward 2017. The ongoing environmental assessment included special attention to a proposed Hydro One paralleling (booster) station at Ordnance St just north of Fort York to ensure that any objects of archaeological significance are preserved.

The project has attracted some determined opposition from an assortment of activist groups and from the Ontario NDP. The fact that the events were not organized as town-hall consultations  but as displays of information placards with communications staff from the principals on hand to answer questions attracted ongoing irritation from a segemnt of public opinion (one Metrolinx spokesperson commented that they had tried the town hall format last year “and got shouted down.”)

Long-term Bloor West Village resident Don Schmidt said, “We would have liked a presentation and a question and answer session a lot better. We are almost led to believe that electric trains are coming in the very near future but I want to see that happen before I believe it.”

Several attendees pointed out that most similar projects around the world begin as electric locomotion systems; Calgary was mentioned several times. “This is the only big project in the world where they’re using big diesels.”

Pitre feels that public concerns boil down to about two major points aside from funding: why could the project not have been done all at once rather than in two (diesel/electric) phases and what the comparative noise levels will be. “People think that the electrics will be quite a lot quieter than the diesels but in fact there isn’t much difference. Trains make noise regardless.” A Metrolinx representative noted that studies have shown there is likely to be only about a two-decibel difference in operating noise.

Public concerns have become something of a local political issue since the riding of Parkdale-High Park through which the route runs is held both provincially and federally by the NDP.

Interviewed by The Bulletin, MPP Cheri di Novo commented, “The bottom line is, we want electrification by 2015 before the PanAm Games. We want to do it right the first time and not put in diesel trains which are clearly bad for our health and then replace them with electrification somewhere down the line. Now we’re hearing from (Infrastructure Minister) Glen Murray that they’re going to electrify by 2017, but he refuses to give us budget details and target dates.”

DiNovo acknowledges that the diesels may go into service but says, “Then we will have a whole lot more supporters and instead of thousands of signatures on our petitions we will have tens of thousands.”

For further information on the project, visit www.gotransit.com/electrification.