Rail line link: Increasing freight rail in York Region

NRU
Jan. 13, 2016
By Geordie Gordon

York Region staff, concerned that an increase in freight rail traffic will produce unwanted impacts for many communities in the region, want to make sure the region is consulted about any decision Metrolinx makes.

The feasibility of completing the so-called missing link was assessed in a report by the IBI Group that was commissioned by the municipalities of Toronto, Milton, Mississauga and Cambridge. The link would connect the Canadian National Railway bypass line in Bramalea with the Canadian Pacific Railway through line near the Milton-Mississauga border.

The IBI report concluded that construction of the link was feasible, and that Metrolinx should be engaged in a discussion.

Meanwhile, York Region staff worry about the implications of closing the gap that could substantially increase the amount of freight rail traffic travelling through Markham and Vaughan north of Steeles Avenue on the east-west CN Rail line.

Construction of the rail link is intended to facilitate the separation of heavy freight rail from passenger rail service corridors, important for the implementation of Regional Express Rail in the GTA. While the Metrolinx initiative is generally supported, closing the gap, as recommended by the IBI report, would move would move the CP line that currently runs through the City of Toronto north to the CN rail corridor that runs through Peel, York and Halton regions.

York infrastructure management director Stephen Collins told NRU that while the region hasn’t had any discussion with the province about the proposed link, the purpose of the transportations services report is to ensure that the council is aware that the IBI feasibility study has been completed. The report also makes council aware of the potential impacts of moving the CP line into York Region: noise, vibration, air quality, safety, and the increase in volume of dangerous and hazardous goods travelling through the region.

“[The staff report] is creating awareness for [council], and to request that whoever the proponents are for any further planning studies that are done as part of this work, that York Region be engaged. If the idea is that some of the freight traffic is going to be re-routed into York Region, that is of interest to us and we would want to understand how that might benefit and impact our communities,” he said.

The staff report is also part of an eff ort on the part of the region to keep track of all projects that may be undertaken as part of the Regional Express Rail implementation.

“Our council and staff have been very supportive of the Metrolinx RER program, we see it as being a real transformation in the mobility choices that people of this whole GTHA have. And we also understand that separating the passenger and [freight] rail traffic is desirable,” Collins said.

Mississauga transportation and works commissioner Martin Powell said that support for the IBI feasibility report goes beyond just the municipalities that commissioned it.

“The project helps a number of the GO lines, and allows [Metrolinx] to use the capacity of the existing lines more for increasing GO service and that is really beneficial to the passengers, people commuting within the GTA,” he told NRU.

Powell said that while the main benefits are to the Milton and Kitchener lines, there are benefits to other lines as well.

The main benefit of filling the missing Link for Mississauga is that it would reduce the need for the expansion of the Kitchener line as all-day service if implemented. However, to accommodate the increased rail traffic, the line would need to be expanded by at least two additional tracks, which would mean the expropriation of many older buildings, which Powell says would be difficult to do.

“We basically turned [the IBI study] over to the province and Metrolinx and asked that they consider [it], as well as looking at other options to increase the service on the Milton line to provide two-way service... The Ministry of Transportation has indicated that it will have a serious look at it,” he said.

Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Bob Nichols did not indicate whether the ministry is actively considering the missing link option specifically as a way to separate freight and passenger rail corridors in responding by email to a request for comment by NRU.

Metrolinx media relations and issue specialist Kim Johnson said in an email to NRU that while Metrolinx is reviewing the IBI report, it is not able to comment on the findings contained within it while it’s under review.

The York region transportation services report will be considered by the committee of the whole January 14 and council January 21.