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Page 6., Why Fiee Pme, Wednesday, Dombor 28,1994 rViwBU vva The Phantoms By Grant StgIsworth GO passenger -and Whltby Gênerai Hospital user I'm thinklng of calling the Elgin Theatre in Toronto with -' my idea for a new show. l'il Cati it 'Phantoms of the GO Train.! It wiIt feature a song-and-darice by our beboved Durham Centre MPP, who on the occasion of certain past key votes has been the 'Phantom of the Leglisiature.' He sponsored the voter-grabbing petition to restore ait-day, fuit trainC4 service to/from Whitby and recently presented i: to his colleagues. The petition contains the names of some 5,000 people afthough ridership leveis suggest that many of them rarely use GO beyond the rush- hour trains. Fuil train service for Phantoms, 1ndeed. - 1 commute daily by GO train, and over recent months have had numerous occasions to use the Pickering-Whitby train-bus connection, in mid-mornings and ait hours of the __ evening. From my observations, this connection is quite adequate for the tevel of passenger demand. The buses to Ajax and Whitby are setdomn fitted by___ disembarking passengers at Pickering -- hardly a reason to__ mun a train of Up to 2,000-passenger capacity through to _ Whitby. On occasion, a few may have to stand on the bus ___..... -- but anyone who uses the late attemoon rush-hour trains knows that standing room on the trains is a dally fact-of-life, ______________________________________ and nobody seems 10 be petitioning about that. ____________________________ The underlying premise of the petition seems to be that if _____________________________________ fuil train service once was availabte, then It should remain inviolate. Frankly, nione of the arguments 1 have heard for fui-service stands up to close scrutiny as overwhelming justification for what 5,000 petitioners are demanding. Some may dlaim there is latent demand, and that lower ridership on the bus connection reflects that Whitby passengers are driving to Pickering GO 10 avoid the allegedly Inconvenlent bus. If so, t say let them drive - there aren't that many because Pickering's parking lot lsn't overflowing and why shoutd we att pay more taxes to subsîdize more trains 10 Whitby for their convenience? Time-Wise, the bus service 10 Whitby is expedient, arriving within several minutes of wMen the train would., Granted, the off-hours bus from Whitby 10 Pickering teaves about 17 minutes sooner than a train would, but that should not ho singted out as a great inconvenience. After ail, anyone who, like me, takes Whitby Transit 10 the rush-hour trains is used 10 arriving at our local GO station up to 15 minutes before the train departs. And anyone who may want full train service from Whitby so they can waik straight 10 the waiting train here and not have to stand on the cotd ptatform at Pickering untit the train cornes in -- forget RI In January, we'ii ail begin waiting on the cold piatform since 'rush-hour trains will ho starting/ending in Oshawa. One woniders how many of the 5,000 petitioners know that the GO train fares are subsidized by the Ontario government and therefore contributing 10 the horrendous Canadian debt load now saddting our economy. This may not ho an important consieration for a MPP from the NDP MEMBERS 0F WHITY BRASS BAND 1885 as an election looms, but anyone who asks GO empioyees Thie is one of three pictures taken by Whitby photograp;her W.E. O'Brien of the would learn that reduced train service has resuted in real band, because ail the members could not fit into one photo. P'rom left to right are: Peter economies. Waram (leader), Frank Byran, William Smith, James Ayers, Richard Wolenden and One aiso wonders whether some of the 5,000 petitioners William Wilkinson. Whitby has had a brase band for nearly 140 years. have bought into local politicians' argument that fuît train Whltby Aamhiveu photo service is required 10 spur devetopment locatty. Hey, neighbours, now there is something Whitby realty needs -- 10 YEARS AGO an even faster rate of devetopment. Prom the Monday, December 24, 1984 edition of the After ail, when's the last time we saw a new house WHMTY FREE PRESS beinq butIt here? Just think, that unpopular proposed 0 There will b. ne increase in local taxes in 1985 because of the town's subetantial housing development down by Lynde S hores wiil be only 0 Whitby's Joe Nieuwendyk je playing hockey for Corneli University in the United a couple of minutes from the GO station. Fuît train States service would help those houses 10 seIt like hotcakes. 0 Handi-Traneit is celebrating its lOth year of service in Whitby. i expect there is a smali fraction of potentiat GO 0 Whitby's population je nearly 41,000. passengers in Whitby who indeed f id iR physicalty inconvenient, urpleasant or impossible 10 use a bus, and for 35 YEARS AGO themf the lack of fuit train service is regrettable. But the Prom the Wednesday, December 23, 1959 edition of the same appiies 10 similar ipassengers from Bowmanville, PrW*FrmrWhty ay rPrdR WE eoec. 1 N Ea f 5 Soinrlaio 0 vral asege emn, hecrrntPodrte heNewDeocatic P marty. _1n1 .I l r>n q 1 b