(The following story by Peter Geigen-Miller appeared on the London Free Press website on January 11.)
LONDON, Ontario — Last week’s derailment of a London-Stratford-Toronto passenger train underlines the urgent need for more federal spending on rail lines and equipment, says a transportation lobby group. Via Rail train 86 was eastbound on the northern line near New Hamburg Thursday morning when it it derailed.
One female passenger was slightly hurt when when she was splashed by coffee.
Diesel fuel spilled from the engine but Via said it was quickly contained.
Service on the line resumed Friday after track repairs were completed.
Train 86, which travels from London to Toronto by way of Stratford and Kitchener, was carrying 30 passengers and four crew members.
Police said the accident was caused by a broken rail at a level crossing.
Via spokesperson Catherine Kaloutsky said the accident will be investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Paul Langan, a spokesperson for lobby group Transport 2000 Canada, said the accident shows that the northern line is inadequate for passenger service.
“We’re not talking about rumbling along at 40 kilometres an hour like a freight train, wobbling from side to side,” said Langan. “This derailment is pretty evident of underlying problems with this line.”
Because of the condition of the line, passenger trains are limited to a top speed of 90 kilometres an hour, he said.
By comparison, Via trains can travel up to 140 kilometres an hour on the main line running from London to Toronto through Brantford and Oakville, said Langan. “We are trying to get improvements on the northern line so we can get train speeds up to a decent speed of 140, just like on the London-Brantford-Oakville line.”
Improvements would allow faster and more frequent service on the northern line, he said.
Transport 2000 is worried that Prime Minister Paul Martin has backed off on a promise by the Chretien government to spend nearly $700 million on rail improvements.
The spending would have laid the groundwork for high-speed rail service between Windsor and Quebec City.
“This is not some kind of luxury money. If you had a sinkhole on highway 401, they’d fix it. Rail infrastructure needs to be upgraded.”