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Re: 'Rail-link: let's have an open mind and make sure Weston benefits,' Letters, Aug. 1

Mr. Parry has obviously not been following the facts of this proposed air-rail link as closely as the Weston Community Coalition (not Weston Coalition as he stated). In fact, we were told that all our crossings (four of them) would close to facilitate the high speed train going through the neighbourhood and cutting off the residential from the commercial main street. That is fact number one. It was only after vehement protest by the community (over 2,500 attending one meeting alone) in April of 2005 and subsequent meetings and conversations with the proponent over the course of a year that the WCC was able to get that modified and only half the streets will be closed. We sat on the Public Liaison Committee to ensure that the community interests were being addressed in the Environmental Assessment Terms of Reference which have sat with the government for over 20 months without response.

Fact two: the original proposal for this project was no stops except at possibly Woodbine and at Dundas West other than Union Station and Pearson Airport -- no benefit to any of the 12 communities it would fly through. The reason why they, the proponent, coined the phrase 'Blue 22' is because it would only take 22 minutes to go from top to bottom on a blue retrofitted 55-year-old "Budd" diesel car. If they added all the stops we requested along the route, 10 in fact besides to the two destinations, it would no longer be a 22 minute ride.

Fact three: what we have protested is not more trains through the corridor or through our community but the fact that they were not going to stop. They are diesel and were going through at high speeds. We have also protested the fact that this is definitively NOT public transit, it is a private-for profit link, was never destined to be a 'commuter' train and that all the communities along the corridor would be adversely affected by the pollutants formed by the trains. Commuter implies that it picks up and drops people off in various locations - Blue 22 does not do that by its own definition.

If Mr. Parry truly believes that 209 private, for profit diesel trains running by his house every day is acceptable, more power to him - some of us are very concerned by this and are working towards a solution that will benefit not only Weston but all of the GTA. And to be fair, Mr Parry's house is 25 metres from the tracks. Many residents are much, much closer, including the schoolchildren at St. John the Evangelist who are merely five metres away.

If Mr. Parry has some intimate knowledge he wishes to share with the community, he should do so instead of slamming the organization who has been tirelessly working on behalf of Weston residents and business owners - facts speak for themselves. If it weren't for our collective efforts, the trains would already be running without stops, spewing diesel smoke and Mr. Parry could wistfully watch them whiz by his backyard without stopping.

Suri Weinberg-Linsky