Under VIA's plan, Quebec-to-Windor travel would involve the REM
Passengers travelling from Quebec City to Toronto may have to take three trains to get to the final destination according to VIA Rail’s current plan to build a dedicated rail in the Windsor corridor.
The proposed $4-billion project to have dedicated tracks along the Quebec-Windsor route would allow the crown corporation to boost the number of trips in the corridor. However, VIA’s heavy rail passenger trains will likely be incompatible with the planned transformation of the Mount Royal tunnel as part of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s
$6 billion Réseau électrique métropolitain.
Under that project, which has received funding from both the federal and provincial governments, the Caisse would take possession of the Mount Royal tunnel from the
Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM), which is now part of the Deux Montagnes train line. Under the terms of the deal, the pension fund is likely to be granted sole possession of the tunnel. The Caisse project calls for driverless electric trains running every six to 12 minutes on the line, 20 hours per day, and would require converting the track for light-rail trains, thus making it incompatible with the heavy rail cars that VIA would use.
Jean-Vincent Lacroix, a spokesperson for the Caisse, confirmed to the Montreal Gazette
the Caisse’s plans would preclude VIA Rail’s trains running on the track, at least in the near term. However, Lacroix said it is expected that in the future new technology will allow VIA to adapt its cars.
“But until the adoption of this technology, we have proposed a transitory solution,” Lacroix said. “The HFR can connect to the REM through a new intermodal station planned for the northeast of Montreal, near Highway 40.”
For VIA Rail passengers travelling from Quebec City to Toronto, that would mean taking three trains to get to their final destination: one from Quebec City to the north end of Montreal, transferring onto the REM to get to Central Station, and then getting on a different VIA Rail train at Central Station to get to Toronto.
Lacroix said having VIA Rail passengers disembark on the north side of the city could have its advantages, since the REM would connect to Trudeau airport, the métro’s Blue Line at the Édouard Montpetit station and the Green Line’s McGill station.
That same station north of Highway 40 in Ahuntsic—Cartierville will also be the new end of the line of the RTM’s
Mascouche Line. Built in 2014 at a cost of roughly $700 million, the newest commuter rail also won’t be compatible with the converted tracks, so its users will also have to get off and transfer to the future REM to access Central Station.
The federal government confirmed last spring it would contribute to build the REM,
matching the province’s $1.283 billion.
VIA has also requested federal government funding for its high-frequency rail project. The project calls for the government-owned rail company to replace its aging fleet of 160 cars and 40 locomotives. A proposal was submitted to Transport Canada in December 2016, and a detailed analysis is underway. However, Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau has said he’d like the project to be compatible with the REM to minimize inconveniences for passengers.
“We want to make sure we keep all options open,” Garneau recently told the Montreal Gazette. “That includes compatibility through the tunnel; it includes a station north of the tunnel. Compatibility of the use of the tunnel is the biggest issue that both parties are working on to make sure both can use the tunnel.”
Garneau said he’ll let the experts complete the analysis, but he expects a decision to be made on VIA’s project in the next few months.
The High-Frequency Rail project is said to be key to securing VIA’s long-term future, and to positioning train travel as a viable alternative to driving or flying. Currently, roughly one out of every four VIA Rail trains arrives late because passenger trains have to give way to the increasing flow of freight trains that own the lines on which VIA runs. Having a dedicated track would also allow passenger trains to increase their top speed to 160 kilometres per hour from the current maximum limit of 100 km/h,
VIA CEO Yves Desjardins Siciliano has said, cutting the commuting time significantly.
Via’s HFR proposal would see 18 trains per day between Montreal and Quebec City. Of those trips, 10 would be on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, going through Trois Rivières, which is about
50 minutes faster than the southern route that goes through Drummondville, making the trip time between the two cities a little more than two hours. However, that northern route is the one that would require VIA trains to use the Mount Royal Tunnel.
Lacroix said there is technology available to allow heavy rail cars to be adapted to a light-rail track. However, he did not say how much this new technology would cost. Because VIA’s proposal is not yet public, it isn’t known if it includes adapting heavy rail trains to run on the Deux-Montagnes Line.
The other issue for VIA is that even if its trains are adapted to run through the tunnel, the company will once again have to contend with using a track it doesn’t own. As such, its trains will have to work around the schedule of the REM, which will be transporting thousands of people every six to 12 minutes through the tunnel.
In other words, even if VIA’s $4-billion proposal is approved, VIA will never be able to have a truly dedicated rail between Montreal and Quebec City.
http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...quebec-to-windor-travel-would-involve-the-rem
