OTTAWA — The Harper government has touted nearly $1 billion in new infrastructure investments announced over the past two years for passenger train service as a key part of its economic action plan, but it is unable to estimate the impact of its spending on job creation.

“Canada is in a better position than many countries to face this new economic era, precisely because of the preparation that we took and the investments that our government has made,” Transport Minister John Baird said last week at the Ottawa train station as he highlighted some of the new spending for Via Rail, a crown corporation that operates at arms length from the government.

The money is being used to modernize stations across the country, as well as to increase the speed, quality and frequency of Via Rail service through improvements on locomotives, passenger cars and tracks.

For example, a third track to be built in strategic spots west of Brockville, Ont., would shorten the trip between Montreal and Toronto to three and a half hours by reducing delays and traffic that plague the route when freight and passenger trains must share the same track.

When asked to explain how the spending translated into the number of jobs created, Baird’s office referred questions to Junior Transport Minister Rob Merrifield who was unable to provide a ballpark estimate of direct and indirect jobs from all the different projects and contracts recently signed by Via Rail.

Christopher Hilton, a spokesperson for Merrifield, said the collective investments would create hundreds of jobs in several provinces.

He cited one example where a 2007 contract signed with a Montreal firm, CAD Railway Industries, to rebuild 53 locomotives created at least 130 direct jobs and possibly many more indirect jobs, on top of improving service. This five year contract, worth $100 million, was also expected to result in a 12 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Via Rail President Paul Cote said he could not provide many specific numbers on new infrastructure work resulting from $407 million in additional funding for the corporation in the 2009 federal budget since contracts are under negotiation. He added that there would be increases in the number of departures and new jobs as a result, but that he also wanted to maximize the efficiency of existing staff on the crown corporation’s payroll.

Via Rail is anticipating an increase of its ridership from 3.8 million to 4.8 million passengers in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor once the new infrastructure projects are complete.

But a railway industry consultant said the crown corporation should get more policy direction from the government to ensure that new funding is not “just a gift for whatever suppliers happen to be around.”

“If it’s $400 million or $1.5 billion (in new funding) it doesn’t matter,” said Glen Fisher, president of CPCS Technologies Corporation. “It’s just a gift to those suppliers because there’s no long range policy.”

He said the contract to rebuild aging locomotives in Montreal was working well, but that it might have been better to spend money to buy brand new locomotives that could also be manufactured in Canada to last longer and create even more jobs in the process.

Source Link: By Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service, The Vancouver Sun

mdesouza@canwest.com

Over $13 million of improvements to Via Rail have been completed, allowing faster, more reliable services to passengers in Ottawa.

Advancements to Ottawa’s rail service included infrastructure improvements to the Montreal route through Alexandria and a similar undertaking for the Toronto route through Smith Falls in the near future, as well as upwards of $500,000 for renovating the Ottawa station.

“We have modernized key customer areas,” said Paul Côté, president and chief executive officer for Via Rail Canada, of the station that in some areas dates back to the 1970s.

“We have enlarged the Panorama lounge to accommodate increased passenger demand and we used new environmentally responsible technologies to respect our commitment to both the environment and to the comfort of our customers,” he said.

According to Canada’s Transport Minister John Baird, improvements like the ones seen throughout the Ottawa region allow for more trains, decreased travel time, and reduced emissions, as fewer cars are on the road. These upgrades provide “safe, reliable, sustainable passenger rail service” for all Canadians while boosting the Canadian economy.

“We (were) investing in Canada’s infrastructure and in Via Rail long before the economic downturn,” said Baird.

“In fact, Canada is in a better position than many countries that face the new economic era precisely because of the preparations we took and the investments our government has made.”

Station funding
The $13 million was a portion of a $516-million investment announced in 2007 by the Government of Canada to upgrade key passenger stations.

Source Link: JESSICA PERREAULT, FOR METRO OTTAWA metronews.ca