June 25, 2007

Halifax too small for commuter trains: HRM official

Stéphane Massinon

The Daily News / The Nova Scotia Business Journal

For now, it's a dream - and not a new one, mind you. But still, the idea is intriguing. A commuter rail line, combining both the environmental do-goodness of getting cars off the road and the romance of train travel, has some municipal politicians again wishfully thinking it might be feasible. A debate at Halifax regional council last Tuesday on what to do with some CN rail lines re-ignited hope in the dreamers who envision a commuter rail line carrying people from the suburbs - Tantallon or Bedford-Sackville - to downtown Halifax's Via station.

With CN abandoning the Chester spur line, a freight line running from Bayers Lake Business Park to downtown, Clayton Park West Coun. Mary Wile said it's a good way to get moving on commuter rail. In an interview, Wile said her fast-growing district needs ways to get people moving. The Chester spur line presents an opportunity for commuter rail. "Yeah. Many people feel that," Wile said.

But the chances of that particular line becoming commuter rail are slim. HRM's transportation manager, Dave McCusker, said it wouldn't be used by the public. With a 24-kilometre-per-hour speed limit, lines designed for freight traffic and no places to stop along the way, it doesn't make much sense, he said. "Riding on trains is nice, and a lot of people do it, but that's when they get a real time-saving advantage," McCusker said. "For us, the best we can do is replicate a bus trip, and nobody's going to get on a train to take the same time getting to where they need to go as they could on a bus, which is far, far longer than it would take you to drive."

If not that line, could commuter rail happen elsewhere? Mayor Peter Kelly has long been an advocate of commuter rail. "I know there's potential at some point in time, whether it's on the Dartmouth side of the harbour feeding into the ferry operations, or looking at other opportunities in going from the outskirts of HRM in terms of other communities coming here to work," Kelly said. He's been told that in coming years, HRM could have to make room for an additional 10,000 downtown workers. While he likes the idea of commuter rail, he said it's important not to hurt the container port business, which is trying to double its volume.

McCusker said Halifax's population is too small to support commuter rail, and the money would be better spent on the proposed Bedford fast-ferry service. When Halifax's population gets to the right number - he figures one million - there is one line that is feasible. "The only one that has any potential is really the main line that goes from Bedford, through Rockingham and to downtown," McCusker said. "There's one along the Dartmouth waterfront as well. It's nice because it goes through downtown Dartmouth and goes by some other potential destinations. But it's the same thing, it's a freight line that's designed for low-speed freight traffic."

Saying there are many advantages to taking cars off the road, Bedford Coun. Gary Martin said the issue comes down to heeding public demand. "If we get a demand, then, hey, let's pursue it with CN and see what they tell us," Martin said.