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The Omnifarium - Politics/Peterborough-Toronto-rail-line.html

Resurrection of the Toronto to Peterborough Rail Line?

Category: Politics
Wed, 27 Feb 2008, 17:43

One interesting item in the Conservative federal budget presented in the House of Commons yesterday was money to improve the rail line between Peterborough and Toronto to allow the resumption of VIA passenger trains. For public transit advocates this came as a big surprise since there are so many other transit priorities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Clearly, politics has something to do with this decision. Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro, a Conservative, had been lobbying for the rail line for the past two years that the Conservatives have held power in Ottawa. Furthermore, the rail line runs through the riding of Whitby-Oshawa, currently held by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Couldn't the Conservatives have done something smart instead? Like consult with public transit experts to see where the real needs are? Communities closer to downtown Toronto are struggling under increased road traffic. What about some federal money for Toronto's Transit City plan? Or grade separation for the busy rail lines running through heavily populated communities? There are at least half a dozen level crossings along the CN mainline in southern Scarborough alone!

But no. We get more of the same partisan politics we've come to expect from Conservatives.

Hans

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