CP is a dick. No two ways about it. They overcharged Metrolinx up to 800% in the past. Awful.
CP is not above predatory manouevers, but don't let that cloud the issue. The original EA happened under a different regime at CP .... one that was turfed by CP shareholders because of underperformance and poor use of capital. Yes, the pendulum was then thrown waaaay over by Ackman and Harrison (and a whole lot of asset base was stripped out and misappropriated to investors), but a more moderate and respectably businesslike regime would still likely have revisited the original arrangement and insisted that CP get a better deal.
The original plan was to move CP out of the way of GO, but all that CP appeared to expect was to be made whole for the asset that existed at that date. The existing line is single track with (old-fashioned) passing sidings at Oshawa and Darlington, and a small amount of yard space at Oshawa. If that's all CP wanted, they were not looking far enough into the future or considering what investment they might face for their purposes in the future.
At the town hall, Verster alluded to a 50-75 years view of the business. If CP is shifted to the north, with GO taking their present line, the only option for CP to expand is to do a very expensive civil expansion. Whereas, if CP stays where they are and preserves the space to the north, and retains unused civil works (there are bridges built with two-track dimensions but currently only one track laid) for their eventual expansion, the long term cost to CP of any expansion is far less. The question is, how much of its future capacity can GO reasonably expect CP to provide, with or without compensation, given that CP's costs in the long term are considerably increased.
There is no "freebie" for CP in this.....they do not need more track in the short term. What they need is for GO to not constrain their future. That's why the new proposal says GO should build more of its own infrastructure on a different alignment.
One other thought. Some of us still cling to the hope that CP/CN can move to coproduction on this corridor, in hopes of freeing up an existing corridor for VIA in preference to the Peterborough HFR route. A shared CP/CN corridor would need to be at least double track and likely triple track within 50 years. Constraining CP at this point to get GO in place would put another roadblock in all that.
So some of us (perhaps with ulterior motives) will say, don't shortchange CP in this, even if they get greedy at times.
- Paul
