CP proceeds with Arbutus plan, will seek regulatory approval

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is intent on finalizing its plans to run trains along the unused Arbutus corridor in central Vancouver within weeks, and then it will seek regulatory approval.

Martin Cej, a CP spokesman, said on Thursday that the company is taking a few weeks to decide how to use the corridor, working through options that could include training runs, storing rail cars, and welding.

At the same time, CP says it needs to clean and upgrade the nine-kilometre track before running trains. It would be the first time in 13 years that trains have run.

"What we need to do is bring the railway up to operating standards, and then Transport Canada would have to say, 'You're good to go,'" Mr. Cej said.

"We're not going to sit around waiting. We're going to move forward and bring the corridor up to operating standards."

He declined to speculate on whether CP will have trains running in the corridor by the end of this year.

But he promised "all the appropriate regulatory steps to ensure the safe operation" of rail along the corridor. "All necessary steps on the regulatory end of things will be followed to the letter."

Mr. Cej's comments come after a B.C Supreme Court justice ruled CP was within its rights to bulldoze sheds and clear community gardens, which provided residents with personal green space that can be rare in Vancouver's expensive housing market.

The corridor has been a point of contention between the city and the transportation company, and Vancouver's management of the issue was a point of debate in the municipal election in the fall.

CP stopped clearance work along the corridor in November after the city sought an injunction to halt the clearance of garden plots and obstructions.

CP has said the corridor's potential real-estate value is $400-million, and offered to sell it to the city for $100-million, but civic officials have said $20-million is a more reasonable price.

However, the city has not contacted CP to talk about buying the line since negotiations broke down in September. CP says it's ready to resume negotiations at any time.

In this week's ruling, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson dismissed a city application to stop CP from resuming clearing work along the line.

"I find that the City will suffer no irreparable harm if the trains do not run until the required statutory approval is forthcoming. In contrast, CPR will suffer irreparable harm if it is unable to even begin preparations for the resumption of rail use in the Corridor," he wrote.

Mayor Gregor Robertson this week called the ruling "disappointing" and said the city will press its concerns through regulators.

In particular, Mr. Robertson referenced the Canadian Transportation Agency, an independent and quasi-judicial tribunal that makes decisions on various matters involving air, rail and marine transportation. In a statement, a spokesperson said the agency could not comment on Arbutus corridor matters at this point.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Mr. Robertson said there were no further comments on issues such as whether the city was interested in resuming talks on buying the corridor.

George Affleck, a councillor for the minority Non-Partisan Association on council, said Mr. Robertson should always be willing to talk to parties, including CP, about pressing issues.

But he added such an approach is not Mr. Robertson's style, although there may be a price for the corridor that all sides could agree on. Mr. Affleck declined to speculate on a specific figure.

Mr. Affleck said Mr. Robertson's focus on appealing to regulators "sounds like he wants to stall the whole process."