Decision on west-end diesel trains imminent
Residents in Toronto's west end will hear Monday afternoon if the Ministry of the Environment has approved a contentious proposal to allow hundreds of new diesel trains to pass by their neighbourhoods.
Metrolinx — the regional transit agency formerly known as the Greater Toronto Transit Authority — wants to expand the GO Transit line's south Georgetown corridor to link Union Station and Pearson International Airport.
If the project goes ahead, total traffic on the Georgetown corridor is expected to increase to more than 400 diesel trains a day from about 50.
Community groups have opposed the proposal, saying emissions from the diesel trains would hurt the health of thousands of people who live in the area around the tracks.
The Clean Train Coalition has organized a number of protests against the proposal, most recently a rally on Saturday that drew hundreds of protesters in Parkdale.
Many of the community groups want any new trains to be electric.
Metrolinx has said electric trains are an option down the road. But the estimated $1.5-billion cost to electrify the line is too expensive to implement immediately, the agency said.
Toronto's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David McKeown, has also said that the new trains could impact public health. He wrote to the Ministry of the Environment to say he is worried the expansion could cause air quality issues.
Diesel exhaust has been identified as a probable human carcinogen by several agencies, including the International agency for Research on Cancer.
Metrolinx, however, has said there is no increased risk of cancer for people living near the tracks. Any increased emissions generated by the expansion would fall within the limits defined by the ministry, Metrolinx has said.
The ministry, meanwhile, has previously said the exhaust levels would fall within acceptable limits.
CBC.ca