December 12, 2016

The Honourable Marc Garneau

Minister of Transport
330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5
E. Hunter Harrison
Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited
7550 Ogden Dale Road S.E.
Calgary, AB T2C 4X9

Minister Garneau and Mr. Harrison,

As Chair and Vice Chair, and the members of the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation along
the West Coast Express line, we call on Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) and the Minister of
Transport work with TransLink to avoid delays to the West Coast Express (WCE) caused by CPs
movement of freight during peak commuting times on the Cascade Subdivision between Mission
Junction and Vancouver.
Over the past 47 operating days beginning October 1 to December 8, there have been 69 trains
affected, generating 319 individual station delays to the West Coast Express. This totals more than
80 hours of delay and has serious impacts on riders, causing them to be late for work, miss
appointments or family commitments, which together has a negative impact on the local economy.
TransLink and individual mayors have repeatedly tried to rectify this issue through numerous calls
to senior CP officials and local operations staff. We recently received a letter from Mark Redd, Vice
President of Operations for Western Canada acknowledging these delays, but providing little clarity
on how CP plans to address these issues.
TransLinks customers are telling us loud and clear that they want CP to work with TransLink to find
a solution to continue this service that has been provided for 21 years. We hope and expect that CP
will respect its long-standing agreement with TransLink to facilitate the movement of both goods
and people in the region.
Every day 5,000 people use the WCE service to get into downtown Vancouver. TransLink
anticipates demand for this service will remain strong and grow. Our recently approved Phase One
Plan of the 10-Year Vision will improve and expand this service.
As you know, WCEs use of this rail corridor began in 1995 under agreement with CP and after the
region invested the equivalent of over $100 million in todays dollars, to increase the efficiency and
capacity of the corridor to mutual benefit. WCE is permitted the use of CPs railway for commuter
rail service. Based on the numerous delays recently experienced, we do not believe sufficient
access has been allocated to this important commuter rail service. We think we can do better as a
region.
/2

We fully understand CPs ownership of the track and its need to carry out other business. However
we feel that CP should respect the terms of its agreement with TransLink and, more importantly,
respect the members of our regional community a community of which it is also a member. We
hope you understand that these delays are having a serious and negative effect on workers,
employers, students and many others who rely on this critical public transit service.
The recent opening of the Evergreen Extension to the Millennium Line and more than $7.5 billion in
investments planned for transit, roads and bridges, cycling and walking in the 10-Year Vision are
together designed to cut congestion and improve mobility in the region. The Evergreen Extension is
a complementary service to WCE which will make WCE stronger. The 10-Year Vision will make
these substantial investments in part to improve the movement of goods in this region, because we
and our residents know this is a critical need for our economy. These investments will be great for
Metro Vancouver and for CP and its customers and clients too. We ask that CP reciprocates by
helping us keep the people in this region moving along the West Coast Express line.
Given that rail operations are a federally regulated industry, and that the federal government has a
responsibility to ensure rail companies operate in the public interest, we ask the federal Minister of
Transport to assist CP and TransLink to work collaboratively to respect their respective contractual
agreements, and to find solution to this issue, on behalf of the people of Metro Vancouver, and our
regions economic competitiveness.
Specifically, we ask that CP and officials from Transport Canada meet with TransLink CEO Kevin
Desmond and his team to resolve the issues causing these delays and announce a joint solution to
WCE customers as soon as possible.
Sincerely,

Mayor Gregor Robertson, Chair

City of Vancouver

Mayor Linda Hepner, Vice Chair

City of Surrey

Mayor Mike Clay

City of Port Moody

Mayor Richard Stewart

City of Coquitlam

Mayor John Becker

City of Pitt Meadows

Mayor Nicole Read

City of Maple Ridge

cc:

Mayor Greg Moore

City of Port Coquitlam

Mayors Council on Regional Transportation

TransLink Board of Directors
Minister Peter Fassbender, Minister Responsible for TransLink, Province of BC
Minister Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Province of BC
Members of Parliament and the Legislative Assembly along the West Coast Express route
Kevin Desmond, CEO, TransLink
Vivienne King, President & General Manager, British Columbia Rapid Transit Company