Monday 201 1/02/28. Office of the City Clerk, City of Oshawa. For Distribution to All Members of Oshawa Council

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1 Monday 201 1/02/28 Office of the City Clerk, City of Oshawa. For Distribution to All Members of Oshawa Council The extension of the Rail Commuter service to Bowmanville is an undertaking that I fully support. However, I do NOT support the way that the project is currently proposed by MetrolinX. ~ ~-~ ~- ~~ On Wednesday and following a PIC by MetrolinX in Oshawa, I submitted comments concerning the proposal to link the CN and CP lines as part of the plan to provide Rail Commuter service to Bowmanville. Unfortunately, I never even received the courtesy of a reply from MetrolinX to the comments that they had solicited. Subsequently, there was a presentation of Mr. Gary McNeil to Durham joint Planning and Works Committees on Thursday 201 1/01/13. In his presentation, Mr. McNeil identified the capital cost as $335 Millions for the service extension and $250 Millions for the Maintenance Facility. He pointed out that the E.A. was to be submitted on /01 and approval was expected 201 1/04/08. Through this letter, Iwant to express my grave concern, based on my solid credentials in the field of transportation, that this project is extremely ill conceived (A~~endix I). Although I support the extension of commuter rail service to Bowmanville, I totally disagree with the way MetrolinX proposes to do it. There can be no advantage to link the CN and CP lines in order to achieve this and, in fact, I see numerous drawbacks in doing so; there are far better and cheaper ways to achieve this, as I will outline below. Moreover, the proposed locations for GO Transit stations in both Oshawa and Bowmanville are sites that are unsuitable for the demands of a rail commuter service. This project, as envisioned by MetrolinX, will not be cheap in terms of capital and on-going operating costs, including dispatching and equipmentlcrew cycling times. Transportation monies would be better used if funds were channeled into genuine transportation issues. I am hereby bringing the matter to the attention of Oshawa Council so that the implications of the MetrolinX's proposal are fully appreciated and alternatives thereto can be assessed. If this project goes ahead, this would: ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~p -~ ---pp I) remove the M~lti-Modal GONia in Oshawa - this is an extreme y retrograae an0 shonsighted implication that goes againsr provinc~a guidelines ana world-wide recogn:t:on of the need to better integrate transit, irrespective of mode; 2) bring a high level of car traffic in Oshawa and Bowmanville and induce artificial road congestion as a result of the fact that many GO Rail users drive to the GO Station from outside Oshawa; 3) jeopardize future plans to provide GO Rail service all the wav to Toronto on the CP Line itself, something that would provide a welcome transportation alternative to the residents of North Whitby and North Pickering. Such an extension of the GO Rail service could eventually be done in conjunction with the proposed Peterborough service and such a dual usage of the CP line facility would enhance the justification for capital expenditures required at the CP Agincourt Yard - as well as benefit Durham residents;

2 4) be very expensive in terms of Capital Cost, particularly with respect to the likely double-track bridge over the 401 in Oshawa; 5) be particularly objectionable as there currently an unused single-track railway bridge and right-of-way that is eminently suitable to be used to bring GO Rail north of the 401 in Bowmanville; 6) be very expensive on an On-Goina Cost basis, as two rail dispatchers will be required and the charge-back from the - Railwayswill - reflect this; 7) the rush-hour-only service being contemplated for Bowmanville means that it wuld readily be provided, given the capabilities of Rail Trafiic Control Systems and available track capacity, using the existing CN double-tracks or at best, a single additional track. 8) go against all considerations of Service Optimization in the Rail Industry. In short, the MetrolinX's proposal to extend service to Bowmanville just does not make any sense, operationally, economically or transportation-wise. Funds allocated to Transportation should be better spent on real issues rather than on dysfunctional civil structures. The option outlined in this paper (Appendix II and Appendix Ill) would provide rail commuter service to Bowmanville at a fraction of the cost contemplated by MetrolinX, both in terms of financial requirements and construction time. Paul-Andre Larose, Ph.D. S. 14(1),Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

3 A~pendixI. MetrolinX's Pr0~0sed GO Transit Rail Service Extension to Bowmanville This Appendix lists some of the problems associated with the current MetrolinX's proposal to link the CNlCP lines in Oshawa. It should be stressed that this does not put in question the need to extend the GO Rail service to Bowmanville. This would have the following consequences 1) remove the Multi-Modal GONia in Oshawa -this is an extremely retrograde and shortsighted implication that would go against provincial guidelines, particularly at a time when we' are trying to integrate various transit modes and moreover, this is inconsistent with MetrolinX's ARL (Air Rail Link) project intended to integrate air travel (at Pearson Airport) into the commuter scene; 2) bring a high level of car traffic in Oshawa and Bowmanville, particularly since the service to Bowmanville will be limited to rush hour only; 3) the proposed stations, in both Oshawa and Bowmanville, would be much less visible and accessible from the 401 than would be the case if the CN line was used and consequently, access of many GO Rail users would be less convenient than it could be; 4) Oshawa residents along the CP line would largely not be the main beneficiaries of the system, but would suffer the side effects; 5) effectively lock-in Durham's access to Toronto into a single rail, whereas there are three such routes for the West of Toronto (e.g. OakvillelCN, GeorgetownlCN, MiltonlCP); 6) fails to recognize and later exploit the potential of the CP Line itself, thus jeopardizing future plans to provide GO Rail service all the way to Toronto on this mid-durham CP Line; 7) NOT contribute to a betterment of the transportation picture in the Region, particularly in the North-Whitby and North-Pickering area where people would likely continue to drive to Toronto - contrary to oft-stated Provincial objectives; 8) be very expensive in terms of Capital Cost, particularly given the fact that Oshawa would have a higher service level than Bowmanville and MetrolinX would likely build a double-track bridge over the 401; 9) be also very expensive on an On-Going Cost basis, as two rail dispatchers would be required and the charge-back from the railway companies will reflect this; 10) result in a longer distance to Bowmanville, as well as lower speeds because of both the horizontal and vertical curves;.- 11) necessitate civil works in order to avoid interference with the GM Spur track on the South side of the CP line; 12) such work would require deep excavation and would require pumping capabilities that is adequate for the worst-case precipitations as well as capable of coping with water table issues. (It is strange that VIA does says that intrusive water issues prevent it from digging 10' for sub-track tunnels in its new station, yet MetrolinX want to go 30' deep in the same area); 13) this would need to have the required vertical clearance for the proposed electrification and hence, a higher drop in vertical elevation;

4 14) in Oshawa and Bowmanville, the areas where stations are required are much more constrained in the case of the CP line running in an urban environment than they are in the case of the CN line running in a more industrial setting. In summary, this is a massively expensive undertaking that would not cost-effectively address the issue of transportation in the Region. Appendix II. This Author's Proposed GO Transit Rail Service extension to Bowmanville We should make use of the already existing infrastructure element over the 401 in Bowmanville in order to reach the area north of the 401. There is ample space at this location, on the North side of the 401, for a station and parking. This avoids bringing in additional traffic in the core portions of Bowmanville, as well as Oshawa. Thus, such service should be provided along the existing CN right-of-way with crossing of the 401 using an already existing railway bridge in Bowmanville. This would... 1) maintain Multi-Modality at the Oshawa Railway Station; 2) avoid additional vehicular traffic in Oshawa and Bowmanville; 3) avoid the parking space limitations in both Oshawa and Bowmanville; 4) maintain the proximity to the 401, both in Oshawa and in Bowmanville; 5) provide better access to the Energy Park at Courtice Road; 6) be unaffected and unrestricted by the proposed 407-East Link; 7) be very much cheaper in capital and operating dollars; 8) make use of the already existing single-track railway bridge in Bowmanville (Appendix Ill below) and thus, avoid extensive civil works at the crossing with both the 401 and at the GM spur in Oshawa; - - ~ ~ - - ~ -- ~ ~ -~- ~ ~--~---~p ~ ~-p 9) use the land near the 401 at Waverly Road (in Bowmanville) for an end-terminal and parking; 10) provide better space facilities for a station at HarmonyIFarewell and Courtice Rd; 11) avoid all underpassloverpass constructions, thus significantly decreasing the cost and elimination water pumping issues; 12) allow eventually creation of a mid-durham corridor in the CP right-of-way, with possible integration with the Peterborough line; 13) provide the option for alternate Stations (note the plural) in Toronto other than Union Station It is important that the GO Transit rail services in the eastern part of the GTA not be structured in such a way that could preclude multi-corridor operation; the western portion of the GTA already has three such corridors. If Durham continues to have only the Lakeshore line, this would ensure that much of the population of the northern part of Durham will not be served by GO Rail Transit and thus, will lariel; continue to drive to Toronto. In order to achieve this, we need to aim at having three different GO Transit Rail Corridors east of the GTA:

5 - South Line (Lakeshore): CN Kingston sld; - Mid-Line: CP Belleville s/d up to Oshawa (Thornton Rd and/or Simcoe SffRitson Rd); North Line: CP Havelock sld to Myrtle and eventually Peterborough. The current proposal to link the CP with the CN line would effectively negate this possibility. A~DendixIll. Rail Service to Bowmanville Usina Existina Railwav Bridae over the The extension of GO Transit service to Bowrnanville s h e u l r l t o reaches the existing railwav bridge over the 401 and then ~r0ceed North of the 401 for the ~t. The photo below illustrates the currently unused Railway Bridge at Bowmanville. This could be used to allow the 60 Rail service to terminate in Bowmanville on the north of the 401. This is a location that is adjacent to Waverly Road where there is sufficient space for the requirements of a terminal station with sufficient space for parking. m:given that the Bowmanville Station will be a Terminal station, capacity considerations indicate that Me single-track bridge with a Gauntlet Trackage arrangement is very practical.