It has been touted as a transformational rail expansion. But some Mount Dennis residents aren’t happy so far about the impact of the new Union-to-Pearson rail line on their neighbourhood.

Those living beside or near the tracks say Metrolinx, the agency in charge of expanding the 20-kilometre Georgetown South train corridor, is “clear-cutting” — levelling all the trees and shrubs that have grown wild along the tracks for years.

Simon Chamberlain, secretary for the Mount Dennis Community Association, says the spoilage of foliage is eliminating a natural air filter, canopy and visual screen in preparation for the new service that will see trains running all day by the time the Pan Am Games open in 2015.

He also expects that graffiti will show up on buildings and fences abutting the corridor once there is no greenery to screen them.

Metrolinx says it is clearing the rail line completely, not only to eliminate leaves from falling on the tracks and slowing trains, but more importantly to make room for four tracks where now, in most sections, there is only one.

For every larger tree being removed, three new trees will be planted somewhere else. The pay-off, say Metrolinx officials, will be an express train from Union Station to Pearson and all-day, two-way service to Brampton and Georgetown.

Chamberlain stresses the residents aren’t against the trains. In fact they welcome their potential to help revitalize the neighbourhood. But there’s plenty of room for more train tracks without clearing the entire corridor, he said. Planting young trees in other areas — near new stations and in parks — doesn’t replace what is being lost in the immediate vicinity.

In a letter to Metrolinx last year, Chamberlain acknowledged that the greenery is an aesthetic consideration rather than a necessity. But the trees are, nevertheless, a vital part of the neighbourhood’s character and shelter birds and urban wildlife.

“Although their effect in reducing the noise is quite small, trees and shrubs put the (trains) largely out of sight, which makes it less oppressive,” wrote the retired planner.

To prove there’s room for vegetation along the tracks, Chamberlain points south from the top of the bridge that rises over Eglinton near Jane.

“You could put 12 tracks through there,” he says of the expanse.

At the bottom of Nickle St., the shrubs and trees that created a “living fence,” which blazed brilliant colours just a few weeks ago, are gone. Now the man-made barrier is lined with stumps and twigs. Chamberlain estimates the growth has been cleared a good eight metres from the nearest track.

Metrolinx officials say they plan to clear the entire 20-kilometre corridor from property line to property line. In addition to adding three tracks, there are ditches and sub-drainage systems that have to go in, said Stephen Lipkus, executive director of the Georgetown South Project.

Already, in the section south of Lawrence Ave., crews have removed about 200 trees. About 70 of those were at least 30 centimetres in diameter. At that size each has to be replaced with three new trees. The location of the new plantings will be determined in consultation with the city and residents, said Lipkus, who mentioned the new Weston station as one possible site.

North of Lawrence, 101 trees have been cut but only 16 of those were 30 centimetres or bigger. There were no rare or endangered species, said Metrolinx.

An arborist has been hired to inventory the trees along the track, but it will be spring before the count is available. Where homes abut the corridor, residents will probably get new trees to plant on their properties.

“In some cases you’ve got a strip of city land abutting the corridor. That’s an easy one to say: ‘Let’s put back the trees there,’” he said.

Chamberlain says there’s no reason to remove them in the first place: “Trains have been running on that corridor for decades without taking out all the vegetation.”