A4 sec tion the gazette · montrealgazette.

com · F r i d ay, December 24, 2010

Transportation

A tale of two train shuttles Andy Riga Gazette Transportation Reporter

Both airports are 20 or so kilo-
metres west of their respective
downtown cores, and both are close
to train tracks used by commuter
trains. But that’s where similarities
end between planned airport train
shuttles for Montreal’s Trudeau and
Toronto’s Pearson airports.
Unlike Montreal’s, the $1.3-billion
Toronto project is actually under
way and due for completion in 2015
under the direction of Metrolinx, an
Ontario agency that runs regional
commuter trains. SNC-Lavalin was
to build and operate that shuttle,
but the plan fell through when it
failed to get the required financing.
Unlike Montreal’s, the Toronto plan
involves significantly boosting com-
muter service in conjunction with a
fast, frequent airport train.
In Montreal, a plan for a similar
combined commuter/airport project
collapsed amid bickering between
the airport authority (Aéroports de
Montréal) and the commuter-train
operator (Agence métropolitaine de
transport).
The ADM and AMT are now pushing
separate trains: One exclusively
for Trudeau users and run by the
private sector but financed in large
part by public funds; the other
exclusively for commuters and run
by the AMT, a provincial agency.
Quebec has set aside $200 million As for commuters, the AMT
for the airport train. That link would says it needs $600 million from
also require $200 million in federal Quebec to upgrade the Vaudreuil-
funding. Ottawa has not provided Hudson line so it can more than
funds for Toronto’s airport train but triple the number of trains. There
the ADM says it expects the federal are currently 27 train runs on that
government to contribute to Mont- line on each weekday, mostly dur-
real’s project. ing rush hours. Quebec has said it
supports the plan but has not set
Although Trudeau is a fraction of aside any money for it.
Pearson’s size, the ADM expects
Montreal’s train to carry significantly This chart compares the Montreal
more passengers than Toronto’s. and Toronto projects.

MONTREAL TORONTO
TWO TRAINS: One serves Trudeau Airport, the other West Island commuters Existing commuter train tracks
A: AIRPORT TRAIN:

Jane St.
400
Aéroports de Montréal is proposing a $600-million plan that would involve new, dedicated
tracks that would run from Trudeau airport to Central Station, running through St. Henri New spur 401
and Point St. Charles. The train wouldn’t stop between the airport and Central Station. to be built
Dixon Rd.
Airport rail
Pe

AIRPORT Airport Weston

terminal Central

Islington Ave.
el
St

Station

Royal York Rd.

Lucien
.

15
520 L’Allier
13 Eglinton Ave. W.
Dorval 2 km
Vendôme 720 427
B Point St.
Line neuve Charles 10 Route
Montreal n
would aiso St. Henri Toronto's Air Rail Link will
Lachine West de M ards operate on tracks used by a
St. Clair Ave. W.
run to ot y
Ste. Turc 15 20 GO Transit commuter-train
Anne de Lachine A line that serves Union
Belleuve 20 Nuns’ Station. A three-kilometre
Island spur will link that line to a Bloor Bloor St. W.
train station in Pearson
Airport's Terminal 1. The
B: MORE COMMUTER TRAINS: airport shuttle will stop at
commuter stations (Weston Gardine
The Agence métropolitaine de transport, which runs Montreal commuter trains, wants r Ex
and Bloor), one of which links
$600 million from Quebec for new, dedicated tracks between Ste. Anne de Bellevue and to the subway system and two y Union
p
downtown’s Lucien L'Allier. This would allow the AMT to run 86 trains per day on its streetcar lines. Lake
Vaudreuil-Hudson line, up from 27. Ontario
THE GAZETTE SOURCE: GO TRANSIT NATIONAL POST

Montreal’s Aérotrain would run, non-stop,
between Trudeau Airport and downtown’s
Central Station.
OVERVIEW
Aéroports de Montréal says Trudeau lacks
efficient, rapid and reliable public-transit
access, especially at rush hour and during
winter storms. Highways near the airport are
often congested.
Toronto’s Air Rail Link will run between line to the airport.
Pearson Airport and downtown’s Union
Ontario says the train will be in place by spring
Station, with two stops at commuter train
2015, in time for the July 2015 Pan American
stations. It is being built in conjunction with
Games, expected to attract 10,000 athletes
an upgrade of a GO Transit commuter train
and officials and 250,000 tourists.
line. A three-kilometre spur will connect that

Trudeau is Canada’s third-busiest airport,
after Toronto and Vancouver.
Travellers: About 12 million annually
Number of flights: About 580 daily
Parking: 11,500 spots. Most people reach the
airport by car
THE AIRPORTS
Getting there by ...
Taxi: $38 to or from downtown
Transit: In March, the STM made the trip by
bus much easier with the 747 Express Bus
($8 for those without a transit pass).
Highways: By 2018, the addition of a dedi-
cated reserved bus lane on part of Highway 20
should speed up the 747 bus. Some highway
traffic around the airport will be cut thanks to
a $224-million reconstruction of the Dorval
Interchange, to be finished in 2015.
Pearson Airport is Canada’s busiest airport.
Travellers: About 30 million annually
Number of flights: About 1,100 daily
Parking: More than 22,000 spots. Most
people reach the airport by car
Getting there by ...
Taxi: $52 for a 25-minute trip from downtown
Private bus: The Airport Express costs $22
and takes 40 minutes
Transit: $7.70 for a combination of commuter
train and city bus (in about 70 minutes),
according to The Toronto Star. The Toronto
Transit Commission operates the 192 Airport
Rocket bus from the end of a subway line; it
costs $3 and takes about 70 minutes to and
from downtown.

THE PROPOSED TRAIN SHUTTLES

Distance between airport and downtown:
20 kilometres
Train frequency: Every 20 minutes
Number of trains per day: 120
Schedule: 4 a.m. to midnight (20 hours a day),
seven days a week
Length of trip: 20 minutes
Cost of trip: Fares are not set yet, but in May,
ADM chief executive James Cherry suggested
$12 to $15.
Timeline: Construction is to take 24 to 36
months. The ADM says it could be launched
by 2016.
Who’s in charge? Aéroports de Montréal,
the private non-profit company that runs the
airport. It plans to work with a private partner
that would operate the train service.
Ridership projection: 3 million in first full year
of operation. The ADM says one-third of Tru-
deau passengers head downtown after flights.
Number of cars removed from the road:
1.7 million fewer vehicles per year would make
the trip to the airport, the ADM says.
Stops along the way: Unlike all other airport
trains in North America, the Aérotrain would
be non-stop from Trudeau to downtown; the
ADM has said it may one day consider stop-
ping at a commuter train station used by the
AMT’s Vaudreuil-Hudson line. That would
allow West Island residents to use the airport
shuttle to reach the airport and return home.
Distance between airport and downtown: Ridership projection: About 1.8 million after
27 kilometres five years of operation.
Train frequency: Every 15 minutes Number of cars removed from the road:
1.2 million fewer vehicles per year would make
Number of trains per day: 140
the trip to the airport, Metrolinx says.
Schedule: Hours not announced but it is to run
Stops along the way: The Air Rail Link will
20 hours a day, seven days a week.
stop at two commuter train stations on the
Length of trip: 25 minutes GO Georgetown line: Weston and Bloor, the
second of which is connected to the subway
Cost of trip: Fares are not set yet, but officials
system.
have said it would cost about $22 a ride.
Timeline: Due to start rolling in spring 2015.
Who’s in charge? Metrolinx, the provincial
body that operates the Toronto region’s GO
Transit commuter trains. The Greater Toronto
Airport Authority is providing land for the
tracks and the station at Pearson.

Cost to build: $600 million
Requirements: New dedicated tracks between
Trudeau and downtown, mostly along CN
tracks, through the Sud-Ouest borough.
Two bridges will have to be widened over the
Lachine Canal, two level crossings will be
moved underground, and seven overpasses
will have to be widened. The train terminal at
the airport would be under the U.S. departures
area that opened at the airport last year.
Equipment: Four trains of three cars each,
with cars equipped to accommodate pas-
sengers with luggage. The ADM says the
trains will be “energy-efficient” and “perhaps
electric.”
THE INFRASTRUCTURE
Access to public transit: Central Station is
linked to the Bonaventure métro station via
walkways and escalators. Central Station is
also used by the Deux Montagnes and Mont
St. Hilaire commuter trains and is to become
the terminal for the new Repentigny/ Mas-
couche line, and possibly the Blainville/St.
Jérôme line. Via Rail and Amtrak also run
inter-city trains from Central Station.
Who pays to build it: The ADM and private
investors together would put up $200 million.
Quebec and Ottawa would each be expected
to put in $200 million. Quebec has said it is
ready to pay its share. Ottawa has not weighed
in yet.
Who will own it: The privately operated Aéro-
ports de Montréal.
Cost to build: $300 million for the Air Rail
Link, plus $1 billion to upgrade infrastructure
along the commuter corridor. Without that
work, the line couldn’t handle all the airport
trains. Critics say the province is underesti-
mating the cost of the airport train by shifting
expenses to the commuter-line work.
Requirements: A three-kilometre spur must
be built to connect the commuter train line to
Pearson. Other work required includes adding
tracks, widening bridges and building one new
bridge and six new overpasses and under-
passes. The improvements will allow for 10
new commuter train departures per day, with
more expected later.
Equipment: Trains would have two cars each.
Metrolinx is buying diesel-powered trains but
has said it may switch to electric power later.
Access to public transit: Handling as many
as 65 million passengers annually, downtown
Toronto’s Union Station is Canada’s busiest
passenger train hub. It is served by commuter
trains, the subway, city buses, as well as inter-
city trains from Via Rail, Ontario Northland
Railway and Amtrak.
Who pays to build it: The Ontario govern-
ment is paying for the project, apart from
$16.6 million that Ottawa is contributing via
its infrastructure fund to rebuild six bridges on
the commuter line.
Who will own it: Metrolinx, the Ontario prov-
incial agency that operates commuter trains.

CONTROVERSY
The project has the backing of Montreal, Quebec and business leaders. But critics argue the
airport shuttle does nothing to cure problems afflicting Montreal transportation, such as poor
service on West Island commuter trains. The fact SNC-Lavalin dropped out of the Toronto project
because of financing difficulties should make governments wary of bankrolling a private train
shuttle in Montreal, says Avrom Shtern, a transit activist with the Green Coalition. Critics also
worry that if money is poured into a Trudeau shuttle, little will be left to improve commuter trains.
Critics such as Greg Gormick of the Clean Train Coalition contend Toronto’s Air Rail Link should
be electric for the sake of the environment and people who live near the tracks. Though regular
commuter service will improve on the GO line, Gormick notes airport-train fares will be high and
trains will be small, making them useless to commuters. Instead of an airport train some say is
not needed, critics want all the money poured into commuter service.