Battle lines drawn over West Island mass transit could leave commuters out in the cold

MONTREAL — If you’re a West Island commuter who needs to use public transit to get to and from downtown there are only a couple of choices: The AMT train or an STM bus.

Both mass transit systems have been offering service for years.

Many commuters say the service has improved in recent years but not to the point where more people are ready to leave their cars at home.

Several options are on the table to improve mass transit mobility but none are happening fast enough to keep pace with the growing congestion motorists experience almost every weekday along highways 20 and 40.

READ MORE: Commuter train advocates banking on the Caisse to deliver more service

Advocates for improved and increased passenger rail service on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line are pushing for the Train de l’Ouest project – a proposal to build a set of dedicated railroad tracks that would be owned and operated by the AMT.

Currently, the tracks used by the AMT commuter trains are owned and operated by CP Rail.

The Calgary based rail company limits the amount of trains the AMT can run – especially outside of rush hour which is why there are few trains during those times.

The AMT has been negotiating for years with CP to allow more of its trains on their tracks but the private rail company gives preference to freight trains which is more profitable and the core of its business.

Maria Tutino, is one of the biggest advocates pushing for the $1 billion Train de l’Ouest project.

Tutino is the mayor of Baie-D’Urfé, a small town with a large industrial park just north of the CP tracks.

The industrial park alone employees more people than the number of residents who live in Baie-D’Urfé.

READ MORE: Could part of the Train de l’Ouest project be coming off the rails?

But the scope and size of a future Train de l’Ouest is coming into question.

Ridership on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line shrank in 2014 for the second consecutive year.

According to figures obtained from the AMT, there was a 2.1% drop from 2013 to 2014 and 0.6% fewer riders between 2012 and 2013.

But Tutino isn’t phased. The mayor says the low passenger numbers reflect the poor service. Tutino says there were 111 delays on the line in 2014 – double from the year before.

“Give us a crappy system,” and people won’t use it she told Global News Thursday.

Tutino argues AMT trains on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line serving the southern corridor of the West Island are the worst performing of the network.

It only reinforces her belief that a massive injection of cash  to build new tracks is needed to get cars off the road.

Recently, Quebec’s pension fund manager, the Caisse de Dépôt et Placements du Québec promised to spend up to $5 billion on two mass transit projects, an LRT (Light Rail Transit) on a future Champlain Bridge and train service to the West Island but only providing the projects generate a return on the Caisse’s investments.

READ MORE: Extend STM metro to Dorval: Montreal city councillor

The Caisse is eyeing building an LRT between downtown Montreal and the Trudeau airport with some passenger service to part of the West Island – but where exactly is unknown.

“What is envisioned is one project that would eventually serve both the west island of Montreal and also the Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport. It would be one project serving both services,” Macky Tall, senior VP in charge of infrastructure at the Caisse told Global News in early February.

The CEO of Aéroports de Montréal, James Cherry, also told Global News that he envisions an LRT running parallel to highway 20 and then stopping at the Trudeau airport.

Tutino says she would have to “wait and see” what her reaction would be if the Train de l’Ouest was an amalgamation of passenger rail service and an LRT.

However, Tutino insists the train would have to continue running along the A20 corridor West of Dorval to serve the other cities and towns that line the highway.

But pushing for a new Train de l’Ouest project isn’t being welcomed by all mass transit supporters.

READ MORE: Train de l’Ouest to link Trudeau Airport hotel to Dorval train station

Marvin Rotrand, city councillor representing Snowdon and Vice-Chair of the STM argues it’s not clear that the ridership numbers justify building new rail service to the southern portion of the West Island.

“It’s not clear to me from what I’m seeing that the Train de l’Ouest numbers are jumping off the page,” he told Global News Thursday when learning that the number of users dropped two years in a row.

The NDG councillor  doesn’t think ridership will significantly increase with a huge investment in new rail service.

But he adds the decision is not up to him and he’s not surprised Tutino is defending the project.

“Everyone beats their own political drum,” he said.

The STM does offer at least four buses from the Lionel Groulx metro that serve different parts of the southern West Island: 211, 405, 411 and 425.

Rotrand argues the STM has made significant improvements in public transit service to the West Island in recent years.

For instance, a new reserved bus lane has been added on A20 through parts of Dorval and Lachine but the buses are still hindered by traffic beyond that.

READ MORE: Dorval residents worry proximity to train de l’ouest will affect housing prices

The AMT’s own website talks about a “Plan de mobilité de l’Ouest,” referring to the need to improve mass transit to the West Island and beyond but it offers no details how that will be done.

What is known is the population is growing off island and the slow progress to dramatically improve rail service or other mass transit systems means current traffic headaches may only be exasperated in the near future.

Tutino points out that the southern portion of the West Island has the highest number of cars per family on the island of Montreal, 60% of households owning two or more.