Not Again, DRTP's Newest Idea

ARRRRUUUGH, DRTP is back again.

It's pretty tough to talk about DRTP's new rail tunnel plans when they've been kept from public view. Oh, we have seen a few words about them on the Jobs Tunnel website but hardly enough to be able to say anything significant.

Before anyone gets too carried away with the exercise in any event and even if there are more people attracted to it than detractors, one has to remember that it will compete against the doublestack rail tunnel in Sarnia and CN will not sit idly by as a new competitor tries to take away rail traffic from them.

The major problem the DRTP has with respect to their new rail proposal is whether anyone believes that they are really going to do it. I suspect that very few people will be supportive of them and will believe that they have dropped their idea of building a truck expressway unless something stronger than Marge Byington's words are provided.

• "Since DRTP's truck plan was eliminated from consideration by a the binational study team, DRTP has turned its focus on rail, DRTP spokeswoman Marge Byington said.
  
  "Right now, we are going ahead with rail and there is no considering trucks," she said. "It's a very exciting project. The best part of the rail tunnel is it seems to have far more people attracted to it than detractors."

Here's what bothers me about what was said. Even though they were eliminated, DRTP still pushed forward on their truck road for quite some time. When did anyone ever hear that they were only interested in rail. You see the qualifier in what she said: "Right now." What happens later?

Perhaps what they've done is change their approach to the truck highway. Instead of building it first as they had originally proposed, perhaps they will build it after the new train tunnel is built. No one can take seriously the comment about using the old rail tunnels for Via and Amtrak trains. There just aren't enough of them to make that that idea sensible. So are we being duped?

What also troubles me about DRTP is that they're playing the game that they did before and which cost them in the end. What they're doing now is lobbying behind the scenes trying to get politicians and others onside to try and ram through their idea before the public is even clued in. If you go to their website, there is not a word about what they're proposing now. It's still the old truck expressway website.

When do they intend to make their plans public for people to take a look at them? Are they afraid again that there are holes in what they are proposing such that when it is viewed by Windsorites it will be shot down again?

I have found over the last few months that there have been several supportive articles published about a new DRTP high-capacity rail tunnel but they are published on strange websites by people who seem to know a lot about what DRTP is proposing but who don't seem to have any kind of a connection with it. It almost seemed as if some kind of a guerrilla marketing campaign was at work so that when people search DRTP they will see this new proposal.

I wrote before about the doublestack rail tunnel and the competition between Sarnia and Windsor.

• "We have had a battle with Sarnia before and lost. The issue then was the double-stack rail tunnel back in 1993. You should take a look at the Canadian Transportation Agency decision for some interesting reading
  
  http://www.cta-otc.gc.ca/rulings-decisions/decisions/1993/R/112-R-1993_e.html
  
  As an example:
  
  "the construction of a rail tunnel at Sarnia would have, among other matters, an adverse economic impact on the Detroit/Windsor area, shifting industrial, warehousing and intermodal transportation activities away from Detroit. According to the interveners, creating a double-stack corridor through Sarnia/Port Huron cannot rival a double-stack corridor through Windsor/Detroit in terms of creating primary and secondary industries as the Sarnia/Port Huron corridor would completely bypass the vital industrial centers of southwestern Ontario and southeastern Michigan."

Presumably, there is still a strong argument that we need such a new rail tunnel in Windsor if what was said in 1993 was correct. If that's the case, I have a question. If it is so important to build such a rail tunnel why haven't CP Rail and Borealis built it already? As OMERS CEO Michael Noberga said:

• "We invested $175 million in the Detroit River Tunnel Project, a rail tunnel between Windsor and Detroit. CP Rail, one of Canada’s two continental railroads, is our partner. We are committed to investing another $300 million of equity to significantly expand this corridor to create a one-billion-dollar trade gateway asset."

The Star story said that the cost of the tunnel would be $350 million. Wouldn't CP be prepared to invest the other $50 million or why wouldn't Borealis increase their investment if this is such a good idea. Instead here's what we read now, over a year after Nobrega made his comment about investing:

• "Once financial analysis is complete, DRTP will work toward launching an environmental assessment for its new rail tunnel, Byington said.
  
  "We have started the analysis and know it can be built. Engineering is sound. We are hoping to start (an EA) before too long."

It doesn't seem that much as happened during that time does it. But then again DRTP was always very good with concepts and ideas and proposals and artists renditions.

I can hardly wait for the new buzzword that will describe this project. I just hope that DRTP understands finally that Windsorites will not be railroaded.