Toronto Air Rail Link: Olivia Supports Push for Clean Trains
Federal, Provincial and Municipal Representatives Join Forces for Electrified Airport Link
August 17, 2012
TORONTO – NDP Transport Critic Olivia Chow is supporting the renewed efforts to keep Diesel trains off the tracks from Toronto’s Union Station to Pearson Airport. Co-signing MPP Jonah Schein’s letter to Premier McGuinty, Olivia is joining the call for electrifying the airport link and keeping hazardous pollution out of residential neighbourhoods.
Local residents have been fighting for clean trains for years, supported by New Democrats on the provincial and federal level. As the New Democrat Transport Critic, Olivia has been pushing for federal support in getting Torontonians clean, sustainable transit.
The letter, which asks Premier McGuinty to appear at a town hall meeting with the local community, was authored by the provincial NDP Urban Transportation Critic Jonah Schein and co-signed by MPs and City Councillors in areas adjacent to the Air Rail Link.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reclassified diesel exhaust as a Group 1 carcinogen. Within one kilometre of the ARL tracks, there are 30,000 children attending local schools, 96 daycare centres and four long term care facilities, including a respiratory illness care centre. The fumes from these trains pose a serious health hazard to our communities.
It’s time for the provincial and federal government to act and provide clean, sustainable transit that respects the health of local communities.
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