WINDSOR, Ontario — Admitting that the government’s focus so far has been on corridor rail improvements east of Toronto, Canada’s transport minister announced Tuesday his agency will explore options to “improve passenger rail frequencies, on-time performance, and shorten travel times in Southwestern Ontario.”
Minister Omar Alghabra said Transport Canada “will seek an external advisor, who will analyze passenger demand and route options to deliver on rail service that best meets the needs of communities“ in the region, and look at “concrete options to enhance service …for potential future integration into the High Frequency Rail project.” The report from this outside source is due by the end of 2023.
The area is currently served by four VIA Rail Canada Toronto-Windsor round trips and one between Toronto and Sarnia, Ont., over Canadian national trackage. GO Transit last year added a round trip from Toronto to London, Ont., via Stratford, the same route used by VIA’s Sarnia train.
Commissioning a years-long independent study — rather than directly and immediately collaborating with stakeholders like VIA, GO Transit, and CN — is similar to the approach announced by Alghabra when he cut VIA out of evaluating the feasibility of creating a passenger-only Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City right-of-way [see “Transport Canada inches forward …,” Trains News Wire, March 10, 2022].
For that multi-billion-dollar project, the government is seeking third-party “expressions of interest” on constructing and operating the line. Proposals from qualified applicants won’t be due until fall 2024. Alghabra made no mention of studying a separate right-of-way or operator for the Southwest Ontario study.
He did note that government funds were appropriated to upgrade VIA stations at Chatham, Brantford, and Sarnia, as well as the introduction of new Siemens trainsets later this year.
It isn’t clear from Tuesday’s announcement if Transport Canada recognizes or will address recent track-condition and congestion delays while the study is being completed. On Monday, Aug. 29, nine of the 10 VIA trains operating between Toronto and either Windsor or Sarnia experienced delays ranging from 23 minutes to 1 hour, 22 minutes, according to data compiled by transportation analyst Greg Gormick. Tardiness was especially bad on Tuesday, Aug. 9: seven of 10 trains had delays ranging from 51 minutes to 2 hours, 47 minutes. Trip times are scheduled for 4 hours to 4 hours, 40 minutes on the two routes.
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