Toronto’s Clean Train Coalition has lost its bid for a judicial review of Metrolinx’s decision to order diesel trains on the new Pearson to Union Station rail link.

An Ontario Divisional Court dismissed the application Wednesday, ordering the CTC — a group of residents living along the Georgetown GO line where the train from Pearson to Union Station will run — to pay $30,000 in costs.

The CTC argued that Metrolinx exceeded its authority in buying diesel multiple units for the air-rail link (ARL) before it had completed a feasibility study of electrifying the line.

It also said Metrolinx made the decision to proceed with diesel trains based on the government’s instructions to complete the ARL in time for the Pan Am Games in 2015. Even though Metrolinx is an agency of the provincial government, it is obligated to act based on transportation planning principles first, argued Saba Ahmad, the Clean Train Coalition’s lawyer.

But at the court Monday, Metrolinx’s lawyer, John Laskin, said the agency was legally bound to follow the government’s direction. It also argued that Metrolinx was authorized to proceed with an order for diesel multiple units based on government approvals and the identification of the ARL as a priority in Metrolinx’s Big Move regional transportation plan.

“The air-rail link service will use leading-edge technology to provide the cleanest passenger diesel trains available in Canada,” said a statement from Metrolinx on Wednesday.

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