by Transportation Minister Geoff MacLellan’s rail advisory committee has released three consultants’ reports on the future of the rail line in Cape Breton. The first report analyzed the Sydney to Point Tupper portion of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway, finding that the line will need about 31 million dollars’ worth of investment over five years, plus about another five million for bridge upgrades. The second report concluded that rail would be more economical than trucking when goods are transported over long distances, assuming that the line gets the required upgrades. The third report identifies a number of possible opportunities to get more traffic on the line, but concludes that it won’t be possible to attract enough traffic without a major development like a container terminal and infrastructure investments to facilitate intermodal traffic. Commenting on the report, CBRM Chief Administrative Officer Michael Merritt says that the municipality continues to be focused on developing the Port of Sydney and the rail line is critical to that goal. The line’s owner, Genosee and Wyoming, stopped running trains in the area in December. The company wants to have the line torn up, saying that it’s too unprofitable.
The three reports can be viewed at the following link: http://novascotia.ca/tran/rail/
