Bratina pushes for new Via station
Councillor likes site across from LIUNA Station
A model train buff with a seat on city council has been scouting locations for a new Hamilton Via Rail station.
It comes after Bob Bratina, radio man and downtown councillor, also struck a task force to try to restore Via passenger service Hamilton lost in 1992.
The lifelong model-maker was frustrated by the city's lack of progress in wooing Via back, after it fell to drastic cutbacks. He heard rumours of a possible Via station in ... Copetown?
"It's an urgent matter to me," said Bratina, whose model of an 1880s train that delivered the Globe newspaper is on display in St. George, Ont. "And I'm saying, 'Move (the station) back where it was.'"
He has already taken photos of a site where he'd like to see a station, a piece of land on the west side of James Street North across from the old CN station, which is now LIUNA Station.
"My vision is to have a three or four-storey structure: the bottom devoted to passengers and ticketing, then three storeys on top of that which could be a hotel or other commercial property."
Of course, the task force -- with two councillors (Bratina and Brian McHattie) and members from the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Hamilton and civilians -- has a quixotic quality.
It's the latest in a long string of efforts to restore Via. Bratina's motion notes a 2003 pledge by then transport minister David Collenette to spend $435 million on rail service in southern Ontario -- and bring Via service to Hamilton.
Hopes rose again when Tony Valeri, MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, took over as transport minister. But the power struggle between Jean Chretien and Paul Martin may have crashed Via's expansion plan.
The Martin government froze capital spending to rein in promises Chretien made in 2003. "Unfortunately, when the government changed hands, that ($435 million) was taken back," Via's Catherine Kaloutsky said.
Still, she says Via met with Hamilton city staff as recently as November 2004 but hasn't decided if it will restore service. "We're still mindful of where we once had service," she said.
Via's meeting in Hamilton did not put a price on a future station, she said, but dealt with how federal investment is made, the information Via must show the government and who must be at the table for decision-making.
"Definitely, location is an aspect to be reviewed and decided upon. But we're not at a stage where we've made a decision either way," Kaloutsky said.
McHattie, who led an earlier push to get Ottawa to deliver on promises of a station and more trains, said the fall Via meeting, which he attended, revealed indecision on whether Hamilton deserves service.
"We're getting a little nervous about (the restoration push) and want more control," McHattie said. "This may be happening at the staff level, but that's why we want to intervene as nosy councillors, to get our finger on this."
Via passenger trains currently travel through Hamilton to New York, but city residents have to go to Burlington to catch Via. Bratina says rail is becoming more important to Hamilton, with GO Transit planning to add a third track by 2007 to clear the bottleneck between Hamilton and Aldershot.
Bratina wants the Centre for Community Study to study Via's recent history here and update 1992 passenger numbers to reflect trends such as increased commuting.
Bratina will also talk with LIUNA, which owns the land he's eyeing for a station. He has already set a firm one-year deadline in which he wants to see a Hamilton station under way.
"That doesn't mean shovels in the ground but could mean a site determined, planning developed and a potential inaugural start-date, whether it's two or three years down the road," he says.
The task force will have its first meeting later this month.
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Councillor likes site across from LIUNA Station
A model train buff with a seat on city council has been scouting locations for a new Hamilton Via Rail station.
It comes after Bob Bratina, radio man and downtown councillor, also struck a task force to try to restore Via passenger service Hamilton lost in 1992.
The lifelong model-maker was frustrated by the city's lack of progress in wooing Via back, after it fell to drastic cutbacks. He heard rumours of a possible Via station in ... Copetown?
"It's an urgent matter to me," said Bratina, whose model of an 1880s train that delivered the Globe newspaper is on display in St. George, Ont. "And I'm saying, 'Move (the station) back where it was.'"
He has already taken photos of a site where he'd like to see a station, a piece of land on the west side of James Street North across from the old CN station, which is now LIUNA Station.
"My vision is to have a three or four-storey structure: the bottom devoted to passengers and ticketing, then three storeys on top of that which could be a hotel or other commercial property."
Of course, the task force -- with two councillors (Bratina and Brian McHattie) and members from the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Hamilton and civilians -- has a quixotic quality.
It's the latest in a long string of efforts to restore Via. Bratina's motion notes a 2003 pledge by then transport minister David Collenette to spend $435 million on rail service in southern Ontario -- and bring Via service to Hamilton.
Hopes rose again when Tony Valeri, MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, took over as transport minister. But the power struggle between Jean Chretien and Paul Martin may have crashed Via's expansion plan.
The Martin government froze capital spending to rein in promises Chretien made in 2003. "Unfortunately, when the government changed hands, that ($435 million) was taken back," Via's Catherine Kaloutsky said.
Still, she says Via met with Hamilton city staff as recently as November 2004 but hasn't decided if it will restore service. "We're still mindful of where we once had service," she said.
Via's meeting in Hamilton did not put a price on a future station, she said, but dealt with how federal investment is made, the information Via must show the government and who must be at the table for decision-making.
"Definitely, location is an aspect to be reviewed and decided upon. But we're not at a stage where we've made a decision either way," Kaloutsky said.
McHattie, who led an earlier push to get Ottawa to deliver on promises of a station and more trains, said the fall Via meeting, which he attended, revealed indecision on whether Hamilton deserves service.
"We're getting a little nervous about (the restoration push) and want more control," McHattie said. "This may be happening at the staff level, but that's why we want to intervene as nosy councillors, to get our finger on this."
Via passenger trains currently travel through Hamilton to New York, but city residents have to go to Burlington to catch Via. Bratina says rail is becoming more important to Hamilton, with GO Transit planning to add a third track by 2007 to clear the bottleneck between Hamilton and Aldershot.
Bratina wants the Centre for Community Study to study Via's recent history here and update 1992 passenger numbers to reflect trends such as increased commuting.
Bratina will also talk with LIUNA, which owns the land he's eyeing for a station. He has already set a firm one-year deadline in which he wants to see a Hamilton station under way.
"That doesn't mean shovels in the ground but could mean a site determined, planning developed and a potential inaugural start-date, whether it's two or three years down the road," he says.
The task force will have its first meeting later this month.