Day 3 Article#2

Full speed ahead!
Airport train still opposed by residents
By BRYN WEESE, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 22nd January 2009, 3:15am

(Stan Behal/Sun Media)
Long-awaited train service between Union Station and Pearson International Airport is back on track -- make that the fast track -- despite opposition from residents who feel railroaded.
Metrolinx yesterday unveiled a revised $1-billion-plus plan for the controversial rail line, which could see shovels in the ground later this year and service up and running by 2014.
The plan incorporates changes to appease steadfast opponents: Turning Weston's GO stop into a full station, as well as making it a stop along the Union Station-Pearson line; tunneling tracks under Weston's Church and King Sts. to avoid excessive traffic delays; and building a pedestrian bridge over tracks at John St.
Metrolinx Chairman Rob MacIsaac said yesterday the plan will undergo an expedited environmental assessment, which should be completed by the fall.
"In relative terms, getting the EA done between now and the fall is moving at a very quick speed compared to other EA experiences," noted MacIsaac, whose agency is charged with developing a GTA transportation plan.
PREEM 'PLEASED'
Premier Dalton McGuinty gave the revised plan his blessing yesterday, saying he was "pleased" the province was taking the next step towards building the link.
"Metrolinx has revised that proposal and will be putting something forward that includes ... a stop in Weston community, which is something people in Weston have been looking for," he said. "We hope to get shovels in the ground at the end of this year."
But residents in the local Weston Community Coalition say they are not fooled by the province or the so-called "changes," which they insist have been included in past drafts of the plan.
"Everything that they've put forward (yesterday) was offered back in 2005," insisted Carlo Ammendolia, a Weston resident for the past 20 years. "It's not only us they're trying to dupe, they're trying to dupe all of Toronto by saying that this is some great world-class link to the airport when it's actually nothing more than 50-year-old diesel cars.
"I should have just moved right from the beginning, and not cared. But I don't want to move, I like the community, I like the people, it's different from everywhere else in the city," he added.
Local opponents object to the use of diesel trains -- preferring an electric line -- and that the service would be run by a private company even though more than $400 million in public funds would be used to build it.
The province -- through a public-private partnership with SNC-Lavalin -- is financing the capital cost through the company. It is not included in the $11.5 billion committed to Metrolinx through Ontario's MoveOntario 2020 transportation plan.
The plan also incorporates expanded GO services. The proposed services include two-way all-day service between Toronto and Georgetown, and Toronto and Bradford, as well as an all-day express service between Toronto and Brampton. The proposed expanded service will also include new peak-period GO service between Toronto and Bolton, and Toronto and Guelph.
The Weston Community Coalition contends the airport link and expanded GO services will result in 300 trains through Weston every day.
"If we have to live with a train every 21/2 minutes, okay we understand that the greater good of the City of Toronto is partly at stake here, but let's make it useful to the city of Toronto," said Mike Sullivan, chairman of the coalition. "Let's make it electric so we're not breathing the diesel fumes," and keep it public so it's kept affordable, he added.
MacIsaac said he is not surprised there is still opposition to the plan, adding, "I've been in the business of public projects for long enough that I know you can never keep everybody completely happy."