I am very mixed on Blue 22. I will try to summarize how I feel about specific issues.
The loss of level crossings: I tend to fall into the 'suck it up camp.' If the community is seriously upset about this, there isn't much I can say that would lessen that. But, looking at this issue in isolation, it is a NIMBY issue. These crossings will have to be closed no matter what if the city is even remotely serious about bringing rail transit anywhere in the NW. Doesn't Metrolinx plan to run 'REX' services along here to Brampton that will inevitably require the exact same thing? In the long term, local walk in retail traffic will just migrate to different locations.
The high (22$) fare: No doubt it is high, but that is pretty much inevitable. The Heathrow Express costs 16 quid. The Narita Express costs ~20$ (1450 yen), more for it's competitor the Skyliner. An express train to the airport is expensive to operate. I can appreciate that some people don't like this, but presenting it as fat cat capitalists screwing the consumer is wrong. If GO operated the same service, provided there were no subsidies, it would have the same cost. An express rail isn't meant to serve 'priority neighborhoods' nor as a way to work for airport employees most of whom live nowhere near any CBD-YYZ alignment, anyways.
That they are DMUs: Yea, this is hardly the sexiest option. A bit of my jingoistic side tells me that Toronto deserves better (insert picture of sexy Euro train here). But beyond the argument of 'it's diesel, eww' there isn't really much to say about it. I hope in time that corridor is electrified, but until then we are stuck with diesel no matter what. In time the rolling stock will presumably be upgraded to an EMU. Also, I have no sympathy for Weston residents complaining about this. That rail corridor has had diesel trains running down it longer than anybody who currently lives in the area. If you buy next to an nonelectric rail corridor, I really can't say I am sorry when diesel trains come through. And, hypothetically, I bet local residents would also complain about the support towers needed to string electrical wires along the corridor.
Private Public Partnership: I don't really know what the financing structure behind Blu22 is. If the SNC-Lavalin group intends to basically operate the service without subsidy in return for some signaling and grading upgrades, I am all for it. As it is though, I don't really know how much money the public sector is intended to contribute to this, though. Normally these schemes include some kind of 'public sector competitor' to asses what the cost savings are, if any, involved with using the private sector. I have no idea what this study suggested. Simply not liking the project because the private sector is involved is juvenile, but I don't think the government has done a good enough job of proving this wil in fact save money.
The lack of 'local' service: Once again, I don't understand why people should expect something that's entire reason d'etre is to be a limited stop express rail service to make local stops. Maybe Weston does deserve some kind of GO service. That is a GO issue, though. If SNC-Lavalin feels it can make a business of a Blu22 service, they should have every right to try. The corridor is wide enough to accommodate future GO service should Blu22 go ahead, so it's not as if Blu22 precludes local transit. As far as an EA is concerned, the lack of local transit is not a legitimate concern. If the residents wanted to lobby GO for better transit, sure. They aren't though. As far as I am concerned, it isn't SNC-Lavalin's responsibility to provide the Weston area with any service if they don't want to. Maybe the government should change it's RFP to something like Crossrail or RER instead of the express rail it asked for.
