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Union-Pearson rail link moves forward as private company bows out

Posted by Robyn Urback / July 30, 2010

9 Comments


The fine folks bringing Toronto new Bombardier streetcars will be delivering diesel emissions without any private help.

The province has failed to reach an agreement with SNC-Lavalin, the private company expected to build and operate the rail link between Union Station and Pearson airport, so Metrolinx will move ahead with plans. SNC-Lavalin said "market conditions" prevented them from reaching a deal with the province.

Diesel trains will run along the Georgetown GO corridor providing the air-rail link since electric would be too expensive, says provincial transportation agency Metrolinx. The rail link should be ready for the Pan-Am Games (...who's excited?!) in 2015.

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9 Comments

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Jacob / July 30, 2010 at 11:34 am
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Good news. Diesel aside, here's hoping they do the smart thing and integrate it with GO Transit. Even if it uses different trains, there's zero reason for it to be a third service.
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Dr. Tits / July 30, 2010 at 11:39 am
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Thank you for your personal opinion in this commentary, Robyn.

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Langford / July 30, 2010 at 12:04 pm
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If we've waited this long for the link, why not wait til we have the cash for electric? But indeed, it is good news if it actually gets built.
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Jacob replying to a comment from Langford / July 30, 2010 at 12:28 pm
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We've been waiting and waiting and waiting. Decades. There's finally some initiative to get it done, initiative which may not be there in the 3 or so years they will take to figure out an electric plan.

The saying goes "Strike while the iron's hot." Diesel is far from ideal, I'd prefer electric, but it's something, and something is what we need. Further meddling will just delay it another ten years. (If this is indeed the Ontario that I know and grew up in. (I've grown used to lowered expectations.))
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Pius Agius / July 30, 2010 at 07:43 pm
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Please let me know where the people who think, and I am making that assumption, having diesel trains spewing all that garbage into the air is progress. In China they have an airport link that travels at 300kph and it is electric. Obviously its too expensive for those corporate fat cats and their government stooges here in Canada to be in the 21st century. Those citizens of this great province that live along this line just do not matter. Well I personally will not take this very easily. By the way in the future we should change the name of GO transit to Government Oppression Transick.

Sincerely,

Pius Agius
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Rob / July 31, 2010 at 12:55 pm
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I prefer electric too, but here's the thing with electricity - it's not magic. Most electricity production in Ontario is generated from nuclear or coal. So, until we have most electricity generated from renewals, then "anything electrical" is simply a charade....
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John replying to a comment from Rob / July 31, 2010 at 02:19 pm
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Thank you for pointing this out, everybody seems to think electricity generates no pollution.
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Mark Dowling replying to a comment from Pius Agius / August 3, 2010 at 10:33 am
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Pius Agius said: "In China they have an airport link that travels at 300kph and it is electric."

Which airport? If that's the Shanghai Maglev you're talking about (the 431km/h train which is proposed to be extended underground due to pollution (electromagnetic) concerns, you got a spare $5-10bn+ in your pocket? The Shanghai one cost $1.33bn at Chinese construction and regulatory costs, and is incompatible with GO and VIA trains as the trackage is completely different.
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Pius Agius / August 3, 2010 at 03:19 pm
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You know I used to go to school when they actually taught something. I learned so much there and I know how to build robots. One of my greatest pleasures is taking things apart for , well parts. One of the most intersting things I have collected are the super magnets that are found in hard disk drives. I have handled them , used them and have them laying about. They have no adverse affect on me. So when you say that electromagnetism is a pollution your credibility is a bit diminished.

Why do we insist on placing DEISEL trains that spew so much filth into the air, yards away from hundreds of thousands of people , many of them children. If I sit by someone who smokes I cough and the smell is bad. So instead of solving the problems and make the route more viable let us take the easy way, the cheaper way, the most stupid way. Have sat beside a NOGO train and listen to the noise??. Have you seen the old Via traind rumble by your home??? If you want to talk money that is fine. However I place people just above a looney?

I also consider those who support this plan as is, as 'One Canadian Dollar".

Sincerely

Pius Agius
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