STUART PEDDLE The Chronicle Herald
Published October 17, 2017 - 8:04pm
Last Updated October 18, 2017 - 8:28am
Coun. Tim Outhit says commuter rail for the Halifax Regional Municipality has “never been closer.”
Frustrated commuters may get some relief in the near future if Outhit’s prediction is correct, as the city is set to consider commuter rail as part of the overall
Integrated Mobility Plan study.
Outhit, who represents District 16, Bedford-Wentworth, said the study is coming to council’s committee of the whole in the first week of December.
The IMP touches on many aspects of municipal transportation in general but also will include data on rail service along the corridor from downtown to Windsor Junction.
“It’s going to look at active transportation, cycling, bus rapid transit, bus lanes, and I’m pretty confident that it’s going to recommend commuter rail in this corridor,” Outhit said.
Commuter rail has been discussed and studied for years as a potential means to mitigate traffic snarls into and out of downtown Halifax. A feasibility study completed in 2015, conducted by CPCS, suggested how it would work through several scenarios, including how far the system would extend and what rail cars could be used. It concluded the concept would be feasible but was too expensive.
But in 2016,
Via Rail approached HRM with a proposal that would bring both the startup and operational costs down.
“Via’s come along and said, ‘Listen, we can work with you and get that pricing down significantly,’ so that is the opportunity with Via,” Outhit said, adding that he and Mayor Mike Savage went to a recent meeting of Via Rail’s board of directors.
He said the studies are basically done. The proposal just needs data on access capacity and the pricing from CN, which owns the existing rail structure. He expects that will come sometime early in the next year.
While Outhit couldn’t say it’s definitely going to happen, he sounded confident that the data will point in that direction.
“It’s never been closer,” Outhit said. “I can’t tell people we’re going to have commuter rail. I can tell them there’s never been better support from a willing partner like Via, we’ve never had more council and public support. And staff support. We’re going to have the IMP recommending that it’s probably the best way to go in this area.”
He said once everything gets a green light, it could be up and running within a year to a year-and-a-half.
Tim Hayman, webmaster and board member for the public transportation advocacy group Transport Action Atlantic, welcomed the news that commuter rail may be going forward.
“Certainly on our part, we’d be very happy to see that.” Hayman said. “The commuter rail thing is something that we’ve been particularly supportive of, partly because of the clear benefits that come from that as something that provides potentially a much more efficient and environmentally responsible form of transportation. And certainly (it’s) an option that is far superior to all of those cars that are plugging up the Bedford Highway coming in.”
