Quebec-montreal monorail? More of a Shelbyville idea

Philippe Couillard doesn’t look a lick like boater-hat-wearing huckster Lyle Lanley, but you can bet dollars to Homer’s donuts, many folks instantly thought of a famous episode of The Simpsons when the premier recently revealed his dream to see a highspeed monorail connecting Quebec City and Montreal.

No one can fault the premier, getting himself revved up for next year’s election, for “thinking big, ‘sti,” as Elvis Gratton would have it. To be fair, Couillard did not specifically say a monorail is the ticket, but he did let it be known he is fond of the concept one Dr. Pierre Couture has been pitching for years, and which had excited a previous Parti Quebecois government. The video depiction of the doctor-inventor’s monorail de grande vitesse ran with news reports of the premier’s announced dream.

In the episode of The Simpsons, the monorail promoter bedazzles the citizens of Springfield who are debating what to do with a $3 million windfall the fine Mr. Burns had to pay for spilling toxic waste from his nuclear plant. In Quebec’s case, the windfall is the sea of cash the Couillard government finds itself with after three years of austerity, and more importantly, a red-hot economy.

The current surplus is $4.5 billion, with about half of that being poured back into the economy through tax cuts and increased spending on health and education, according to Finance Minister Carlos Leitao’s recent financial update.

In the Simpsons episode, Marge tries to make the case to spend the money on fixing up Springfield’s Main Street, fallen to ruin and riddled with gigantic, popcorn-truck-swallowing pot-holes. This practical suggestion - much like fixing roads and bridges in Quebec - is quickly rejected once the slick salesman starts singing - literally - the praises of a project as sexy as a monorail.

What many observers have found puzzling about the brain surgeon premier’s monorail brainstorm is there already is a plan in the works to provide fast and efficient transport between le grand metropole and le village.

VIA Rail president Yves Desjardins-siciliano must have felt Marge’s chagrin upon hearing Couillard’s pronouncement. Under his leadership, VIA has advanced a project for high frequency rail (HFR) service between Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto. In Quebec, it would run on the north shore of the St. Lawrence on the former Canadian Pacific line now operated by the Quebecgatineau Railway, a subsidiary of the American-owned Genesee & Wyoming Inc., which operates 120 short-line railways in five countries.

The $6 billion project, whose precise route has not been drawn yet, depends on funding from the federal government’s infrastructure fund plus investments from pension funds such as Quebec’s Caisse de depôt et placement, which is already an investor in Montreal’s REM project and the new Champlain Bridge.

With a bit of luck and initiative from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose papa Pierre created VIA Rail in 1977 from the wreckage of failing rail passenger lines, the government-owned carrier could get the green light and start building in the spring.

(At the same time, the federal government is reportedly negotiating with CN to buy back the Quebec Bridge, so the100-year-old wonder of the world finally can get repainted.)

But high frequency is not high speed. VIA wants to get passenger trains off cargo tracks and on to new dedicated ones to improve speed and reliability of passenger service. The new electric trains would have a top speed of about 160 km an hour, fast for sure, but no match for the ultra-rapid land rockets you find in Europe and Asia - China recently unveiled a bullet train called the Fuxing that tops 400 km an hour.

DEAR EDITOR;

SOne thing is for sure, the process to come up with plan for a viable monorail system or other such system will not be at très grande vitesse. Observers say it could take as much as 10 years to even get to the stage of a pilot project. Well before then, politicians and taxpayers may decide, as Lyle Lanley taunted the citizens of Springfield, that a monorail “is more of a Shelbyville idea.” t. Francis Elementary School held its first ever Christmas Market on Saturday, November 25th. The Christmas music rang out from the speakers and the ambiance was festive. Over 500 people stopped in to visit and start their holiday shopping where they had over 30 artisans to buy from along with freshly made baked goods, Scholastic books, crafts made by students and more. There was an abundance of things to choose from! Many visitors warmed themselves up with a hot bowl of pumpkin soup at the St. Francis Café and indulged in some delicious sweets.

At 12 :30 p.m., Geneviève Manseau and Mandy Hinds (aka The Elf) had over 30 children join them for a special Christmas storytime and at 1 :00 p.m., Santa himself arrived to greet all the children, take pictures and hand out candy canes.

This was one of the most successful events ever held at our school, helping us raise over $3000 for our school. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in our Christmas Market whether by baking, volunteering, renting a table or coming out to shop. Our community came together to make this Christmas Market a huge success!

MANDY HINDS (PPO CHAIRPERSON AT ST. FRANCIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL)

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