Union Pearson Express - Public Opposition and Legal Challenges

Public Opposition and Legal Challenges

Residents living along the Weston section of the proposed route have objected to alterations to accommodate the trains. Concerns include the division of Weston from the closing of level crossings, noise levels, air quality and property values. In April 2009, the Clean Train Coalition (CTC), representing the communities along the rail corridor, formed to put pressure on Metrolinx and the province to immediately prioritize electrification of the densely populated Georgetown South corridor and Union-Pearson Rail Link on opening day. However, both the province and Metrolinx Chairman Rob Prichard have indicated that using diesel trains is the only way to prevent significant delays. "We believe the Greater Toronto Area needs this project as fast as possible, and that means going with the cleanest diesel technology in the world," stated Prichard.

In August 2012, the CTC took legal action against Metrolinx by submitting an application for judicial review. The application requested "quashing and setting aside any decision to implement or run Diesel Multiple Units along the Air Rail Link", on the basis that by taking direction from the Ontario government to complete the UP Express in time for the Pan American Games, a proper analysis between operating diesel and electric trains was not completed, running contrary to Metrolinx's legislated mandate. It also asserted that another review of air quality was warranted due to the World Health Organization's reclassification of diesel exhaust as a carcinogen.

However, since 1988 the WHO has classified diesel emissions as "probably carcinogenic to humans" and this classification (in part) has led to the new tighter standards on diesel emission (such as the Tier 4 emission standards of the UP Express). The carcinogenic classification is based largely on studies of high occupational exposure to diesel emissions, such as in underground mining. The WHO announcement on the change in diesel classification does not propose any changes to the WHO Air Quality Guidelines, which were used for the air quality thresholds in the 2011 Additional Review of Human Health Assessment for the UP Express (and noted to be more stringent than the guidelines used in earlier studies).

Saba Ahmad, the lawyer representing the CTC, described the application as a test of whether government agencies must obey their own legislation. "We have been left with no choice but to seek a legal remedy to stop this dirty diesel plan," said CTC Chair Rick Ciccarelli. "We tried to persuade the government and Metrolinx to do the right thing and build an electric air rail link from the start." On November 21, 2012, the Ontario Divisional Court turned down the the application, and ordered the CTC to pay $30,000 in court costs.