Stittsville is not part of regional rail plan after all

Well, it seems we weren’t the only ones who were wondering what Mayoral candidate Clive Doucet had in mind when he outlined his regional rail transit plan, which seemed to indicate that Stittsville would be served by the old CP Carleton Place Subdivision.

Stittsville Central took a look at the same map we did and wondered whether Mr. Doucet indeed intends to connect the exploding western suburb via the old CP line, which is now part of the Trans Canada Trail.

It turns out, that the old CP line between Bells Corners and Stittsville will remain a trail. In response to Stittsville Central’s question, Mr. Doucet’s campaign has suggested that Stittsville be served via a connection to Kinburn via the Renfrew Spur rail line.

This also seems to solve a similar geographical issue in the city’s east end, where Vars and Navan are connected via a non-existent rail line.

Getting back to Stittsville, I have to say that I don’t see the logic to suggesting Stittsville will be served by a connection in Kinburn. Any quick look at a map of Ottawa’s west end will know that Kinburn is by no means a neighbour to Stittsville, since it is closer to Carp. That begs the question why the Doucet campaign would link Stittsville with Kinburn. Of course, it’s politically convenient to suggest to Stittsville residents that they will be first in line to be connected to a regional rail system, but a connection via Kinburn makes little sense, since it’s not exactly located between Stittsville and downtown Ottawa, which would make the most sense to a commuter.

If anyone is expecting passenger rail to return to Stittsville via the old Carleton Place Sub, think again. Plans to connect the suburb do not include this old rail line, pictured in 1972 when it hosted CP Rail's Canadian.

In a radio interview this week, Mr. Doucet also backed off some of his planning for regional rail connections in Gatineau. His map shows connections as far away as Chelsea, which would require a rail line be re-established on the old CP Maniwaki Sub. Mr. Doucet said the regional system will go as far as Place du Portage in downtown Hull. Since I now work in downtown Hull, I can say that the terminus will be much more likely be Terraces de la Chaudière, which is not the same as Place du Portage.

This is about as far as Clive Doucet's regional rail will go, according to his latest comments. The brown buildings on the left are realistically the end point of his Quebec connection.

This is all academic, of course. I would be shocked if Mr. Doucet was all that close to incumbent Jim Watson.

Still, I have to give Mr. Doucet for being the first politician to champion regional rail. It was nice while it lasted.

Forward thinking in Gatineau

As part of my railway wanderings in Hull recently, I came across the old Hull West station, which still stands on avenue Montcalm. The modest wooden station has seen better days. The roof definitely needs to be replaced, but a few businesses have made use of the building since it was last used for rail purposes. Right now, an arts store calls the station home. Before that store, a restaurant was located in the building.

The trip to see the station was an interesting little walk for me, because it revealed a couple of surprises.

As many people on this side of the river know, the City of Gatineau used the old Lachute Subdivision right-of-way through the city to construct its RapiBus express commuter service. This is the same approach that the City of Ottawa used to build part of the first phase of the Confederation Line LRT service (part of the new Confederation Line uses the bus Transitway, which was once part of the old CP Carleton Place Sub in the west end).

What I found to be really refreshing in Gatineau’s case was that, when the work on the bus road was done, the city reconstructed the old Lachute Sub. The line is now owned by the city, having most recently been used in 2007 by the Quebec Gatineau Railway, which used the sub to access the Eddy Spur and its last remaining customers in old downtown Hull.

Last used in 2007. This is what has happened to the Lachute Sub near the Ottawa River. The rest of the right-of-way has been rebuilt through Gatineau proper.

With this rail line in good shape, I would imagine the city would have a much easier time of realizing its light rail goals to connect downtown Hull with Aylmer in the west and the old City of Gatineau in the east. This is a forward-looking approach that has been in short supply in this region of late.

I don’t mean to harp on this again, but I can’t help but wonder what might have been possible had the City of Ottawa considered buying the portion of the old Beachburg Subdivision from Nepean Junction into North Kanata. As it stands now, the second phase of the Confederation Line will not reach Kanata, which is where the largest commuter demand is in Ottawa. North Kanata is an area that is bustling with technology businesses and has a sizeable amount of newer subdivisions. As it stands now, this area will continue to be served by buses for the foreseeable future. Had the city taken a forward-looking approach like Gatineau, who knows what might have been possible?

However, this is the same city that, until it was essentially forced into a corner, was prepared to convert the Prince of Wales Bridge into a pedestrian and cycling path over the bridge. This is also the same city that will not entertain working with CN to get light rail operating on the existing Beachburg Subdivision past Federal junction, a stretch of track that is essentially unused save for two trains on Wednesday. And let’s not forget that before the city, the old Regional Municipality sat on its hands as the old CP Carleton Place Sub was converted into a recreational path (albeit, a wonderful piece of the Trans-Canada Trail). Now, with the explosion of residential development in Stittsville, light rail would provide a welcome option for an area where the roads are at capacity, to say the least.

Where the Canadian used to roam. This is the old Carleton Place Sub in Stittsville, a suburb of the city that now numbers more than 30,000. How useful would this be for light rail now?

The plans for Gatineau’s light rail system are still very much in the early stages, as the environmental assessments and other early legwork need to be done. However, given that the Lachute Sub is in such good shape and the old remnants of the Waltham Sub right-of-way appear to be there for the taking, you have to think that Gatineau is in a much better position than Ottawa was, partly due to planning smarts and partly due to luck.

Either way, there’s a lesson to be learned here. Maybe old rail lines are worth keeping after all.

Side note: While checking out the old Hull West station, I noticed there was a nearby sign that said “CP parking only,” which was obviously overlooked when CP stopped using the Lachute Sub back in the late 1990s. Next to the tracks, there’s a no trespassing sign that asks people to report any untoward activity to CN Police. I wonder why. It’s my understanding that Gatineau owns these tracks. I can’t imagine why that sign would be there. As a contrast, if you go to the entrance to Walkley Yard in Ottawa, you’ll see a no trespassing sign that lists a private security firm’s name and number.

As far as I know, CN’s police has no presence here, which has me wondering about this sign.