Regional commuter train

MRC des Collines says no to Moose Consortium

Joseph Potvin, general manager of commuter-train company Moose Consortium, was stunned with the decision of the mayors of MRC des Collines, September 15, that participating in the commuter rail project is not in the MRC’s best interests.

“Moose Consortium was surprised with this resolution, since our development authorization would come from the federal level, not from MRC des Collines de l'Outaouais. The whole reason that railways are regulated provincially, and that interprovincial railways are regulated federally, is so that particular jurisdictions here or there throughout the network don't get a veto that obstructs the entire network across multiple jurisdictions,” Mr Potvin told the Bulletin.

No public consultation

“The MRC des Collines resolution is an expression of views, but it seems to have been tabled and passed without any consultation whatsoever with the general public or with the companies involved and, apparently, without any regard whatsoever for provincial or federal railway laws. So it seems to us that they have some explaining to do,” he added.

Moose, short for Mobility Ottawa-Outaouais: Systems & Enterprises (MOOSE), incorporated in 2016, is a private group of a dozen companies who would finance, develop and operate a commercial passenger rail service on 400 km of existing track in the National Capital Region; one node would link La Pêche to Ottawa-Gatineau, and another links to Bristol in the Pontiac.

“Moose does have an application with the Canadian Transportation Agency which is a federal level application, and the authority for the corridor is the Chemin de fer de l'Outaouais (CCFO) and that’s under provincial law,” said Potvin, a West Quebec economist. “The MRC (mayors) can express their opinion, but what they’ve done carries no legal weight whatsoever.”

Mayors favour Transcollines bus project

The resolution means the MRC will not pursue the Moose railway project and will pursue their Transcollines project, designed to provide “sustainable transport” for residents of its territory.

Transcollines is a bus transport company in the MRC serving the municipalities of Cantley, Chelsea, Val-des-Monts and La Pêche. The president of the board is Chelsea’s mayor, Caryl Green, who also sits on the MRC des Collines council. Transcollines is operated by the four municipalities and they rent buses through Transport Campeau.

“What the mayors wanted to say through that resolution is that we spent close to a decade working on the strategic plan and on cost and benefit studies for putting in place a bus system for public transit. Transports Quebec told us early on that we would need to select either rail or road (bus or train) because they would be unable to support both. The MTQ pays a third of our (Transcollines) operating costs. Given the density and geography of the MRC, a bus system seems more advantageous than having a railroad system,” Mayor Green told the Bulletin.

“With the train, there would only be a north-south corridor for Chelsea and La Pêche. I’ve seen his presentation and the trains do not serve the east side of the Gatineau River and, as an MRC, we need to make decisions in the best interest of the whole MRC, not only a portion,” said Green. “In the MRC’s Master Plan, the Transcollines is put as our method of transportation. We don’t have high density to support that kind of transit plan with trains. Our density is extremely low. With the bus system, we are able to go out into the villages.”

According to Potvin, “there’s no reason given as to why they don’t want Moose around. The same day Moose submitted its application to the Canadian Transportation Agency, we had made a submission to the Federal Competition Bureau. This is a case where the MRC des Collines has a transportation service and perhaps they see Moose as being in competition and the MRC is trying to restrict competition in the market, which is why we opened our case with the competition bureau.”

 

Green argues that by supporting another public transportation, the MRC would be weakening the system put in place and supported by the province and the MRC.

“To maintain and strengthen the Transcollines, we will not support the train option. We are not looking to dismantle the bus system. Having two public transit plans in place would definitely undermine the success of Transcollines,” said Green.

According to Potvin, "buses and trains are entirely complementary. Our common problem is over-dependence on cars. Once Moose rail is operational, bus services such as Transcollines will be able to provide even better service for passengers to more neighbourhoods.”

Green said that the rail to trail project in Chelsea had no impact on this decision.