They came with questions, mainly about electrification.
Hundreds of people curious about the Metrolinx expansion were at a public forum Monday, March 22, but the resounding response was they would have to wait for answers.Every seat and then some in Toronto City Hall's council chambers was filled for a forum concerning the proposed Metrolinx expansion of the Georgetown South transit line and the rail link from Union Station to Pearson International Airport.The forum, hosted by councillors John Filion, chair of the Toronto board of health, and Paula Fletcher, chair of the parks and environment committee, consisted of a panel discussion, with Gary McNeil, the executive vice-president of Metrolinx and managing director of Go Transit, Dr. David McKeown, Toronto's medical office of health, and Prof. Christopher Kennedy, transportation infrastructure expert. Kathleen Wynne, Ontario minister of transportation, was at the meeting to observe but chose not to answer questions or participate in the conversation.Short presentations by the panelists were followed by a question-and-answer period.Residents from Scarborough to Etobicoke and all points in between posed questions, mainly to McNeil, regarding the use of diesel trains.Although the plan is currently to use diesel trains, McNeil said if there is a case for electrification, the study will show that and work currently underway would have to be completed regardless of the kind of trains used.Metrolinx is doing a study on the electrification of its entire GO Transit rail system as a future alternative to diesel trains currently in service. This study is expected to be completed by the winter of 2010.McNeil responded to most of the questions regarding electrification by indicating residents would have to wait until the study is complete for the answers."You can always change technology at any time in the future and that is one of the reasons we are protecting for electrification," he said. "I have also heard people talk about hydrogen trains that are coming in the future - engine technology is changing at a lightening pace and speed."McKeown said electric trains are desirable from a public health perspective because they do not produce direct negative health impacts."I am concerned that the proposed expansion by Metrolinx and the Government of Ontario may in fact make air quality worse for some residents," he said.By going forward with the plan as is, McKeown said it could send the wrong signal that diesel is the preferred technology and undermined any impetus to invest public funds in electrification for other rail expansion in the region."I appreciate very much what Metrolinx and the Government of Ontario are setting out to do to improve our transportation system," he said. "But the expansion of public transit that we so badly need should improve air quality for everyone.""We are all in favour of a better transit system and for this everybody is on board," continued McKeown. "But no one should be asked to trade public health for public transit."Although Metrolinx initially said the expansion would see around 400 trains a day travel the rails, McNeil said by 2015 that number would actually be closer to 200, adding he didn't believe they would ever need to run 400 trains daily along the track."Our plan is not to operate that number of trains first thing," he said. "Go Transit operates its service, always has and always will, in an incremental fashion based on demand."