10 June 2010

CTA Asked to Save Rigaud Train

Train service between Montreal and Rigaud has been in place since the original
station was built in the late 19th century.

Montreal Quebec - A Montreal railway consultant is making a last-ditch effort to maintain commuter train service to Rigaud, which is scheduled to end on 30 Jun 2010.
 
Glen Fisher has filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency, asking the federal body to investigate the Agence metropolitaine de transport's decision to discontinue the service and to block the AMT from buying the tracks from its current owners, Canadian Pacific.
 
The service is to be cancelled after the town of Rigaud announced it cannot afford to pay about $300,000 annually, up from $160,000, that the AMT had demanded to keep the service alive. The AMT has said it wants to buy the tracks for possible future use.
 
Rigaud is currently served by one train in each direction, Monday to Friday. As of 1 Jul 2010, service on what is now known as the Dorion/Rigaud line will end in Hudson.
 
The AMT says only a handful of people use the Rigaud station, about 60 kilometres west of the line's terminus in downtown Montreal.
 
CTA spokesperson Marc Comeau said the agency has no jurisdiction over the AMT's operations, despite the transit authority's use of federally regulated CP tracks.
 
However, the CTA has jurisdiction over CP's tracks.
 
"There is a process to be followed for their transfer and discontinuance," Comeau said. "Someone can complain to the (CTA) if they feel the process has not been followed by a railway."
 
In an interview, Fisher noted that the route proposed to be disposed of is an interprovincial railway corridor that VIA Rail has preserved on the Ontario side for possible future use.
 
"The problem is that once the tracks are sold (to a non-regulated buyer), there is no regulation whatsoever and AMT can operate it, keep it for the future, or sell it to a developer now," Fisher said.
 
The rail link should remain in the ownership of a federally regulated railway company such as CP or VIA, he said.
 
The tracks must be preserved so service can be maintained or revived at a future date, he said. There have been cases in the past where the owners of tracks were compelled by the federal government to maintain passenger service, Fisher noted.
 
Breanne Feigel, a CP spokesperson, said Fisher's complaint is premature since there is no agreement in place to sell the tracks.
 
Discontinuance of any line of railway is regulated by the CTA but "CP has not initiated the CTA discontinuance process," she said. Fisher's application to the CTA "appears to reflect his personal opinions and concerns and is not part of any regulatory process."
 
Train service between Rigaud, population 7,500, and Montreal has been in place since the late 19th century.
 
The AMT did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.