WATCH: Is John Tory’s SmartTrack plan off the rails? Dave Trafford reports.
TORONTO –Olivia Chow and Doug Ford are ramping up the criticism of John Tory’s SmartTrack transit plan.
Both Chow and Ford scheduled press conferences at 9:30 a.m. Monday morning: Chow near Kennedy Road and Sheppard Avenue and Ford at the Danforth GO station near Main Street and Danforth Ave.
Tory’s transit plan relies on running trains both ways, every 15 minutes on existing GO Transit tracks in the city.
But Chow said Monday many of the tracks are single tracks which couldn’t employ the increased frequency.
“There is one track,” Chow said pointing to a railway crossing behind her. “And he said he needs to do it both ways, every fifteen minutes. Obviously we need at least another track on here in order for it to work.”
Tory admitted as much during a press conference Monday morning suggesting he’s been forthright with the need to lay more track.
“We talked specifically on the day we launched SmartTrack about the fact there’d have to be some double tracking done in order to make sure these trains can move properly on the east side,” Tory said. “Mr. Ford and Ms. Chow are trying to find every reason they can to say no. It’s a political competition so they’re trying to discredit my platform.”
WATCH: Olivia Chow says ‘a 5-year-old’ could tell John Tory’s transit plan isn’t feasible
Chow suggested Tory would have to rip up the tracks and lay new ones, or demolish nearby homes for space to lay new tracks.
Tory’s campaign has not responded to whether any homes would have to be expropriated in the process of building SmartTrack.
Doug Ford also joined the attack Monday at the corner of Danforth Avenue and Main Street, near the Danforth GO Station. He attacked Tory for allegedly “misleading” Torontonians about how his plan connects with the TTC.
“He misled the people on his map, making it look like the Main Street and Danforth GO station and the train connect,” Ford said. “Well we’re here at the Danforth GO train station, and I want to know how John Tory – is he going to tunnel, is he going to build a bridge, is he going to get a jetpack?”
Despite the increased frequency of attacks, Tory continues to lead in the polls with a new poll released Monday showing him hovering above 40 per cent approval.
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