rail service

‘Huge potential’ in commuter rail link from QC to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré: Blair

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Only a few months after getting the financially troubled Chemin de fer Charlevoix (CFC) tourist train back on the rails, company president and transportation lawyer David Blair is working on a plan to bring commuter train service to the east of the city using the same tracks.

“The tracks are already there,” Blair told the QCT. “Tomorrow morning we could run a train from [the] Gare du Palais to Sainte-Anne de Beaupré. It wouldn’t go very fast, but the rail infrastructure is there.”

The main shareholder of CFC, Groupe Le Massif, the owners of the ski resort in Charlevoix, also owns the 150-kilometre-long right of way from Quebec City to Clermont along the Saint Lawrence River, what Blair describes as “one of the most beautiful railway lines in North America.”

The key to the plan, Blair said, is to upgrade the track to be able to increase the speed of the train from the current 30 km/h to 60 km/h, making it much more attractive to potential commuter traffic.

Blair said he has already met and had positive responses from potential players in such a project, including Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand, VIA Rail, and officials from Canadian National (CN) which controls the tracks entering the Gare du Palais.

Another key player, Blair said, could be the Commission de la Capitale Nationale du Québec (CCNQ) which recently unveiled ambitious plans for Phase 4 of the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain waterfront redevelopment in the Beauport area. “It would be a perfect time to be part of that,” Blair said.

He also sees an interconnection between the commuter train and the eventual Phase 2 of the tramway project which foresees a line to D’Estimauville.

At the moment, CFC uses only the section of the tracks from a station for the tourist train at Montmorency Falls with stops at Sainte-Anne-de- Beaupré, Petite-Rivière-Saint- François, Baie Saint-Paul, Les Éboulements, Saint-Irénée and La Malbaie.

Blair said some 90,000 passengers took the tourist train last year, but the attraction ran into financial problems and there was a serious risk the train would not operate this season. A partnership with tourism company Groupe Voyages Québec, which took over management of train packages, allowed the excursion to start up operations again in June.

Blair said. “Everyone thinks it’s a good idea,” but the project, which he acknowledges is “an embryonic idea,” needs financing and partners. He said the plan would need “some kind of equivalent” to the Exo public transit operator in Montreal, which manages commuter trains and bus routes.

A city spokesperson said, “We have indeed had constructive discussions with the developer. We remain open to studying projects that help combat congestion in the greater Quebec City area.” Another key partner, Blair said, could be the Quebec ministry of transport which has “invested heavily to upgrade infrastructure” on the railways it owns, notably the Gaspé line and the former Quebec Central Railway line from Lévis to Thetford Mines (see article in this edition). Blair said the commuter train project, as preliminary as it is, would be but the first of other possible uses for an upgraded line. “If we get the speed up, all of a sudden taking a train from downtown Quebec to the ski hill would be a different perspective.”

He said, “The guy from VIA Rail was so excited” when discussing possibilities for new rail ventures. “This is fantastic. You could get off the train from Montreal, cross the platform and get on the train for Charlevoix.”

Blair said, “In order for the tracks to be viable, we really need to find other uses for them. There’s potential there, huge potential.”

Blair said he hopes to meet again with CN Rail in the coming weeks to discuss how to move forward with the plan.