Southwestern Ontario Transportation Alliance

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SW Ontario communities speak up for better bus services

September 9, 2016 by swota

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation held well-attended public consultations on intercommunity bus services in London on August 23rd and Sarnia on August 24th. SWOTA and RAIL members joined a wide range of voices from across the region speaking up for decisive action to tackle the crisis caused by the loss of services to more than 100 communities since 2009.

Concern about proposed deregulation of inter-city bus services in Ontario was voiced by many, and better coordination of services was a consistent theme, including coordination between rail and bus. The Ontario government will receive a strong message from these meetings: protect services, restore services, integrate service, and provide green options for passenger travel all over the province.

Intercity Motor Coach routes in Ontario in 2009 and 2015.
Intercity Motor Coach routes in Ontario in 2009 and 2015.

Participants at both sessions were adamant that deregulation alone would not restore the services that so many of our communities have lost, and challenged the MTO policy team to produce evidence to support this assumption. Ontario has had a licensing system for intercommunity bus services since the 1920s, with operators requiring a license from the Ontario Highway Transport Board before entering the market, in contrast to the western provinces where ‎the abolition of market exit controls led to the loss of hundreds of services.

SWOTA’s submission to the process emphasised the absolute necessity of restoring access to the public transportation network in order ‎to ensure the long-term viability of smaller Ontario communities. To this end, we are calling for adequate investment by the province to support a core network of essential routes, as envisioned in our Network Southwest report. This submission was supported by the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus and Transport Action Ontario.

The challenges faced by Southwestern Ontario communities have a great deal in common with those faced in Eastern Ontario and Northwestern Ontario, where communities have also been stranded by the collapse of the intercommunity bus network.

Strong participation from a variety of interested parties was noted by all who attended the London meeting: an energetic mix of municipal, healthcare, social services, bus industry, and passenger advocacy groups. The lack of a central repository of route and schedule information to help passengers plan their trips was noted as a significant problem, while the integrated ticketing partnership between Robert Q Airbus and VIA Rail was cited as an example for ‎new routes and operators to follow in order to provide convenient door-to-door journeys.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: MTO, Network Southwest, Ontario

London: Future Hub – Public Forum

March 11, 2016 by swota

Network Southwest Public Forum

A practical plan for an affordable
and convenient public transport
network for Southwestern Ontario

A public forum to present Network Southwest, our action plan for rapid solutions to our region’s transportation challenges and need for car-free mobility, will be held at Fanshawe College in London.

Wednesday March 23, 2016
4.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m.

Lecture Theatre D1041
Fanshawe College

Open to all – Free admission

Map - Fanshawe College

 

Southwestern Ontario Transportation Alliance
Transport Action Canada

Filed Under: Events, News Tagged With: London, meeting, Network Southwest, Ontario

Newsflash: VIA Rail testing additional trains for SW Ontario

February 19, 2016 by swota

RDC 6105 at London

VIA Rail has repositioned three recently refurbished Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) to the region to begin compatibility testing with Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) signalling with grade crossing protection equipment on routes in Southwestern Ontario. The first series of tests is scheduled to take place on Saturday February 20th between Chatham and Thamesville.

Should the tests be successful, the additional equipment may provide the capacity needed for VIA Rail to reverse some of the 2011 cuts to Sarnia and Stratford services.

RDCs usually operate in pairs, with a driving position at each end so that they do not have to be turned at the end of each run, and would be an ideal way to economically supplement services until VIA Rail receives the investment needed to replace its oldest passenger cars with new equipment.

Canadian National and VIA Rail regularly used RDCs on London-Stratford-Kitchener-Toronto services up until the service cuts made by the Mulroney government in the early 1980s. CTC signalling has recently been installed on both the Chatham and Kitchener routes, hence the need for thorough compatibility testing before returning RDCs to service in the region.

The eight RDCs remaining in the VIA Rail fleet have all been rebuilt with more environmentally friendly engines, improved passenger seating, and new heating and air conditioning equipment. Some of these units are in regular service between Sudbury and White River in Northern Ontario.

Photo: Walter Pfefferle / Railpast.com

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chatham, VIA Rail

VIA Rail improves connections to Kitchener, Stratford, and St. Marys

December 2, 2015 by swota

IMG_20151202_084114_hdrVIA Rail has responded to a common request at SWOTA public meetings across the region by restoring the connection at London between the two early morning trains to Toronto via Brantford and via Kitchener-Waterloo.

Passengers from Windsor and Chatham can once again reach St. Marys, Stratford, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Guelph before 10 am, making same-day round trips possible. This connection had been lost following federal budget cuts in 2012.

Using both station platforms at London to provide convenient connections increases the number of possible city pairs for passengers at minimal cost, and is an important step in implementing VIA Rail’s ‎vision of London as a hub for Southwestern Ontario, a vision shared in our Network Southwest plan for a fully integrated, easy to use, public transport network.

This will be a boost to regional tourism, and a boon for students at the three universities, as well as providing a vital alternative to driving on the 401 and into Kitchener at rush hour for business trips.

The schedule change also preserves the connection ‎for Sarnia passengers to the Windsor-Toronto train that provides an earlier arrival time in Toronto, one of the first moves VIA Rail made to enhance services in response to suggestions from local passenger advocacy groups.

Recent schedule adjustments to improve connections through Toronto also allow passengers from Southwestern Ontario to reach Ottawa and Montreal up to 90 minutes earlier.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Guelph, Kitchener, London, St Marys, Stratford, VIA Rail

The Ghost Train Returns

October 22, 2015 by swota

VIA6420_20150507_Chatham

Saturday morning train from Windsor and Chatham to return on Halloween.

VIA Rail Canada is reinstating the early morning train from Windsor and Chatham to Toronto on Saturdays starting on October 31st. The early evening service from Toronto to Windsor on Fridays will also be reinstated, providing extra capacity at this peak travel time.

Both services had been suspended since 2012 as part of a series of austerity measures to cope with a cut to VIA Rail’s operating budget made by the previous federal government, with the train idling in London on Friday nights instead of continuing to Windsor. The restoration of these services was one of the low-cost measures to improve mobility options for local communities proposed in the Network Southwest report.

The restoration of the early morning train on a Saturday once again makes it possible for local families to visit Toronto for the day, without spending hours in highway traffic or staying overnight, to visit the Ontario Science Center, the Royal Ontario Museum, the new aquarium, or to attend major league sporting events.

Train #70 will leave Windsor at 05:30 and Chatham at 06:18, arriving in Toronto just after 10am, and the last train back from Toronto to Windsor leaves just after 7pm.

VIA Rail has also recently refreshed its onboard catering menu to include breakfast wraps and improved dinner options, and has been refurbishing coaches to improve the on-board experience. VIA Rail is also working on three crossing safety improvement projects in the Bothwell area that will reduce speed restrictions on the route, making journeys to London and Toronto faster.

Once fully implemented, the recommendations of the Network Southwest report would reduce journey times by thirty minutes, allowing train #70 to leave Windsor after 6am.

A train ticket to Toronto and back costs around $90 for adults and $50 for children. VIA Rail posts discounts to its website and Facebook page every Tuesday, and has offered deep discounts for families travelling in the summer holidays.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chatham, VIA Rail, Windsor

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  • London: Future Hub – Public Forum
  • Newsflash: VIA Rail testing additional trains for SW Ontario
  • VIA Rail improves connections to Kitchener, Stratford, and St. Marys
  • The Ghost Train Returns
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