QUEBEC – “We’re happy campers,” was how Baie d’Urfé Mayor Maria Tutino summed a meeting Tuesday between Transport Minister Pierre Moreau and a delegation of 12 mayors from Montreal’s West Island and off-island suburbs.
Clifford Lincoln, the former Quebec cabinet minister and member of Parliament, led the delegation, seeking assurances Quebec is committed to the Train de l’ouest, a proposal to upgrade commuter-rail service to downtown Montreal.
Tutino recalled that Moreau’s predecessor, Sam Hamad, made a commitment to the Train de l’ouest, and said Moreau did as well.
“Even the new kid on the block is giving the same message and actually a stronger message than we heard before because now there is money on the table,” she said.
Lincoln told reporters that Moreau pulled a rabbit out of his hat, in the form of a cash commitment the mayors did not know about.
“He confirmed to us that there was $874 million in the triennial program of the ministry, specifically for our project,” Lincoln said. “So we go home very happy.”
Moreau, meeting separately with reporters, said: “The government has a strong commitment to the Train de l’ouest.” He described the meeting as “very productive.”
But the government will not make a firm commitment until December when he receives the conclusions of a $22-million engineering study, weighing the possibility of building a shuttle to Dorval Airport, continuing to share the existing rail link with CN and CP freight trains or building a dedicated commuter rail line.
As an interim measure, Quebec is investing $20 million in improvements on the existing line.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Geoffrey Kelley, who is also MNA for Jacques-Cartier riding on the West Island, stressed he doesn’t know what the engineering study would recommend.
But he said a dedicated line would be the best solution, pointing out that with trains every 20 minutes at rush hour and every 30 minutes the rest of the day, ridership on the Deux-Montagnes line has “tippled.”
“It’s just my hunch,” Kelley said, but he thinks it is “just not feasible” to continue sharing with fright trains, at a time when the expansion of the Port of Montreal means even more freight trains, suggesting a dedicated commuter-rail line is the answer.
Lincoln noted that in addition to the mayors, all the Quebec MNAs and federal MPs representing West Island ridings endorse the Train de l’ouest.
“Once it’s completed it’s going to solve a huge problem for us.” he said. “It’s going to take off 5,000 cars from the roads. Some say even more, and the more trains we have, the more cars off the roads. The train is a mass transit par excellence.
“Buses don’t do it. So the trains are ideal.”
The minister noted there are 385,000 people served by the rail link and while it is “too soon to say” whether there will also be money for a rail shuttle to the airport as well, he said Finance Minister Raymond Bachand has set aside $200 million for the shuttle. But contributions from Aéroports de Montréal, the private sector and the federal government would also be required ann that money has not been committed, Moreau said.
Lincoln said Moreau told the mayors his priority is the Train de l’ouest.
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