Island-Sity

That new level of service -86 weekday trains, up from the current, mostly rush-hour 26 -moved one step closer to reality yesterday when Quebec Transport Minister Sam Hamad announced a $22-million, 18-month engineering and design study.

Hamad said the eventual improvements -installing new, dedicated commuter tracks, improving stations, adding parking and upgrading the Lucien L'Allier terminal downtown -are to be completed by 2015 or 2016.

"This isn't an idea, a dream, a concept," said Joel Gauthier, head of the Agence metropolitaine de transport, the provincial agency that runs commuter trains. "This is a concrete step."Over the last five years, ridership has risen steadily on Vaudreuil-Hudson, which is used for 15,200 trips daily.

In the past, the cost of the AMT's planned improvements have been estimated at $600 million. Yesterday, officials said the study will determine the final price tag. But as of yet, no money has been set aside for the actual improvements.

"We feel like Egyptians in the square -we're happy but at the same time vigilant to make sure the follow-up happens," said Clifford Lincoln, head of Train de l'Ouest. The coalition of mayors, organizations and transit activists collected 13,000 names on a petition about the train.

Lincoln, a former federal and provincial politician, said that at this point the project appears irreversible. Once engineering studies are under way, governments normally don't back away. But he said the coalition will continue to press the government to ensure that the funding materializes and that the work is completed faster than now planned. Lincoln said it could and should be finished by 2014 so trains can alleviate traffic caused by the $3-billion Turcot reconstruction between 2012 and 2018.

He said the train improvements could take about 4,000 vehicles off the road.

But Gauthier said 2015 is the earliest the new infrastructure can be ready.

The AMT, however, is currently spending $77 million on Vaudreuil-Hudson so it can soon add about six new trains per day during Turcot work, Gauthier said. Bus service will also be boosted and

new park-and-ride lots will be set up to cut traffic, he added.

The Vaudreuil-Hudson line is currently hampered by freight trains operated by Canadian Pacific, which owns the tracks. Under the AMT plan, commuter-only tracks would run between downtown and Ste. Anne de Bellevue. But many questions remain about the proposal.

Montreal West Mayor Beny Masella said the extra trains envisaged would cause major problems at the Westminster Ave. rail crossing, already jammed at rush hour.

Avrom Shtern, of the Green Coalition, said Vaudreuil-Hudson, now powered by diesel, should be electrified. More expensive up front, electric trains are cheaper to run and produce fewer greenhouse gases, he noted. They are also quieter.

Gauthier said the AMT is reviewing the Montreal West crossing. Tracks in that area may be dropped into a trench to remove the level crossing.

As for electrification, the AMT and Hydro-Quebec are studying the idea of making all commuter trains electric. But the AMT runs on more than 200 kilometres of track so it will have to be done in phases, Gauthier said. One option is to start by electrifying part of Vaudreuil-Hudson, between downtown and Montreal West, he added.

While buoyed by the news, McMurchie, mayor of Pointe Claire, said there's always a chance the government will balk at the project's cost.

"I'm not so bold as to say any announcement is cast in stone, (but) there was an impressive array of political support and it has tremendous support from the population," McMurchie said.

Hamad was accompanied by several MNAs who represent Montreal-area ridings. "It helps when you have 13 or 14 colleagues (in the Liberal government caucus) on-side directly supporting your project," said Aboriginal Affairs Minister Geoff Kelley, MNA for the West Island's Jacques-Cartier riding.

"But I'm not here to say it's done. The 13,000 people who signed the petition, if another petition is needed, I may need their signatures again."

On the Deux Montagnes train line, which also covers the West Island and is used for 29,000 trips daily, the AMT is to boost service and add double-decker trains by early next year. First, the AMT needs new locomotives that can work on the line, which is powered by electricity.