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Federal Court of Appeal ruling allows massive CN Rail hub in Milton to proceed

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    Federal Court of Appeal ruling allows massive CN Rail hub in Milton to proceed

    The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a challenge to the construction of a massive rail-and-truck hub in the Greater Toronto Area, allowing the project to proceed.

    In a unanimous ruling Friday, a three-judge panel found that a decision by the federal government to let Canadian National Railway Co. build the terminal despite “significant adverse environmental effects” was reasonable.

    The $250-million project aims to double CN’s existing line of tracks in Milton, Ont., and construct a hub for containers to be transferred between trucks and trains.

    The court case pitted CN and the government against Halton Region and its four municipalities as well as the Halton Region Conservation Authority.

    In March, a Federal Court decision scuppered the green light given by the government in January 2021 and sent the project back to Ottawa for reconsideration — a ruling that has now been overturned.

    The lower court decision highlighted health concerns around air quality, noting the 800 diesel-powered trucks that would make daily round trips to the hub. Four freight trains hauled by locomotives that also run on diesel — the fuel contains toxic pollutants, the judgment noted — would also steam through the terminal each day.

    On Friday, the appeal court found the government approved the undertaking — with more than 300 conditions attached — after giving due consideration to protecting human health, in line with environmental legislation.

    Justice Monica Biringer said the Federal Court adopted a “formalistic ... line-by-line” approach to determine whether then-environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson took all adverse effects into account. Instead, it should have mulled the question from a more rounded perspective, she said.

    The lower court had ruled that cabinet failed to “meaningfully grapple” with the project’s harmful effect on human health, particularly through its impact on air quality. But on Friday, the judges deemed that conclusion “unreasonable.”

    Milton Mayor Gordon Krantz said he was “disappointed” with the ruling.

    “This decision doesn’t change the fact that what CN is proposing is in the wrong place,” he said in a statement that stressed the project’s health implications.

    He also claimed the undertaking will cost the town and Halton Region more than $70 million in prospective revenue from development charges as well as $7.4 million per year in non-residential taxes — “meaning local property taxes will need to increase.”

    “Development charges and non-residential property taxes are paid on the buildings constructed, and CN are planning very little building construction,” said Milton spokesman Andy Scott of the 1.6-square-kilometre site. The project will create only 130 jobs, he added.

    CN said the logistics hub underwent a rigorous environmental review process to ensure it meets high standards.

    “With 325 conditions in place, CN is committed to upholding these, as they are critical to protecting both the community and the environment and making this is a state-of-the-art facility,” said spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski.

    By reducing the number of trucks on the road, the terminal will also reduce emissions, she said.

    CN has stressed that the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area comprises one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, upping the need for freight service.

    The Montreal-based railway first submitted its proposal in 2015, triggering an environmental assessment.

    The project would include a railway yard with more than 20 kilometres of fresh track as well as large cranes for moving shipping containers.

    Earlier this year, a separate Federal Court of Appeal ruling issued a stay of a lower court decision that had halted construction, pending the appeal that wrapped up on Friday.

    Justice George Locke wrote in May that while a halt to work would have no effect on CN’s long-term viability, any delay is “detrimental to the public interest.”

    Some community members felt differently.

    “It’s going to be a nightmare,” said Milton resident Lorna Mackie in a phone interview. “All these trucks are diesel.

    “There’s all kinds of houses within a block away. There’s all kinds of schools,” she said, pointing to congestion and traffic snarls as other issues.

    “You’re going to have these great big trucks going by schools where kids are crossing the street.”

    Mackie said she and her husband John plan to move out of the area in the next few years, largely in response to the rail hub.

    “We won’t stay,” she said. “It’s already congested and we’re getting frustrated with the traffic already.”

    Halton Region said it is “considering legal options” and encouraged residents to contact their local member of parliament.

    “We remain committed to protecting the health of our community from the significant effects of the project and are deeply concerned that the federal cabinet has approved this project,” said spokeswoman Lindsay Di Tomasso.​
    Toronto Mainline Trains
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    #2
    I like Trains but I don't agree that they affect the environment because they harm the World
    I Like Classic Freights Diesel Locomotive GMD SD40-2W I Like Classic Passenger Diesel Locomotive EMD F40PH-2M and I Like Metra NS GALLERY Car and Cab Car

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      #3
      What's your local take on this, TorontoMainlineTrains ???

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        #4
        A great loss for the environment. This can only lead to increased traffic congestion with the associated increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Railroads are truly dangerous to the safety of communities.

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          #5
          Well... the trucks delivering goods to the GTA have to pick those loads up from somewhere.

          How is this worse for the environment than having an intermodal yard a further 50km away, and all those trucks driving an extra 100km round trip?
          If you like what you see here at Trainsim.com, be it the discussions and knowledge in the forums, items saved in our library or the ongoing development of our TSRE Fork, I hope you'll consider a paid membership to help support keeping the site operating.... Thanks!

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            #6
            With any major project these days you get the "NIMBY" element who become vocal and that's usually fair enough. I mentioned in another thread recently about the massive level crossing removal project that has gone on in Melbourne for the best part of a decade. That has been hugely disruptive for a lot of residents and businesses while work went on 24/7 at their local crossings and many of them have probably had their properties devalued by the ugly "sky rail" bridges that were built when crossings went over rather than under roads. We have the same thing currently happening with our inland rail project. Most people in Australia would agree our railways are underutilised and we have too many trucks on the road. Inland rail will allow trains up our eastern seaboard to double stack for the first time but for farmers and towns in the path of the new line it's generally not been great news. Interestingly there have been some farmers/companies with silos that won't be on the new line who are also complaining that they'll be disadvantaged by longer times to get their products to markets/ports so the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" factor has also come into play. Regardless of what it is, while the majority usually benefit from major projects, some people probably do finish up worse off and some of these Toronto residents no doubt will be.

            That said, I was interested to read only 4 trains a day for such a large scale project. Does 4 a day sound right for a yard of that size?
            Cheers!
            Pete



            https://flic.kr/ps/3eahXD

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              #7
              Originally posted by eric View Post
              Well... the trucks delivering goods to the GTA have to pick those loads up from somewhere.

              How is this worse for the environment than having an intermodal yard a further 50km away, and all those trucks driving an extra 100km round trip?
              Trucks are beginning to morph to electric and hybrid. North American railroads refuse to electrify. Plenty of research to support this.

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                #8
                I'm sure some companies will eventually commit to EV's for local drayage, but the technology doesn't seem to be quite there just yet.

                In a world of best bad choices, I'd think it's still more environmentally sound to have trains hauling freight cross country from the seaports with Tier 3 or Tier 4 locomotives than it would be to have that going via OTR trucking.
                If you like what you see here at Trainsim.com, be it the discussions and knowledge in the forums, items saved in our library or the ongoing development of our TSRE Fork, I hope you'll consider a paid membership to help support keeping the site operating.... Thanks!

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by eric View Post
                  I'm sure some companies will eventually commit to EV's for local drayage, but the technology doesn't seem to be quite there just yet.

                  In a world of best bad choices, I'd think it's still more environmentally sound to have trains hauling freight cross country from the seaports with Tier 3 or Tier 4 locomotives than it would be to have that going via OTR trucking.
                  Spot on Eric. The company I work for have a large transportation division and EV's aren't close to being viable, especially for long haul work. The major issues at the moment as it was explained to me is that we are years away from having the required infrastructure to allow EVs to pull in and recharge whenever and wherever necessary and even if we did have them every 100kms or so, the time it apparently takes to recharge the huge batteries trucks require would add hours to a trip between Melbourne and Sydney (for instance). Under current conditions that would more than offset whatever savings you were making on electric vs diesel.

                  I saw some figures a while back that said your trucking industry still carries 70% of the goods transported in the US, but GHG emissions from those trucks accounted for less than 10% of your overall emissions or less than 20% of your vehicle based emissions. Factoring in trains, even if that figure rose another 15ish% (which I doubt), the idea of replacing trucks and locomotives with electric power and adding all the infrastructure necessary to support them might still sound like a good idea to some people until their next Amazon or FedEx delivery or weekly grocery bill doubled in price. I can't imagine any company in the world is going to absorb those transition costs rather than pass them onto the customer. Mine certainly wouldn't.


                  Cheers!
                  Pete



                  https://flic.kr/ps/3eahXD

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                    #10
                    Sounds more like they're worried about a noise complaint from the locals.
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                    Cory Duguid
                    US NAVY VET

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