County must take lead in CP rail discussions, says mayor
Posted Jan 15, 2010 By Theresa Fritz
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Tweet ThisEMC News - The future of an Ottawa Valley rail line was the subject of discussions between Canadian Pacific (CP) and area politicians last week.
The discussions, initiated by CP, were prompted by an announcement Dec. 18 in which Rail America Inc., the parent company of Ottawa Valley Railway (OVR), stated it has terminated its lease of the OVR line with Canadian Pacific (CP). As a result, Canadian Pacific has 60 days from the end of the lease, as per the Canadian Transportation Act, to decide if train service will be restored on the line once OVR has cleared its remaining cars off the line.
Depending on what it decides, the rail line, which stretches from Smiths Falls to Sudbury, could be abandoned by CP.
The Chalk River subdivision is the track that comes right through valley towns like Carleton Place, Arnprior and Renfrew.
According to a press release, RailAmerica Inc. received $73 million (Canadian funds) in gross proceeds as part of the terms of the agreement.
"The OVR operation consists of 342 mainline miles of track and primarily transports bridge traffic, chemicals, and pulp and paper products," stated a RailAmerica Inc. press release.
In an e-mail to municipalities through which the rail lines pass, CP stated it wanted to met with municipalities the first week of January to discuss its position and answer questions.
The Town of Arnprior met with representatives of CP Jan. 5 and then the next day, mayor Terry Gibeau attended a meeting involving representatives from various municipalities and CP in Petewawa.
"It is obvious from the meetings and from the presentation, CP plans to abandon the rail line. They will offer it for sale first," Gibeau stated.
Gibeau said municipalities - from those in Lanark County all the way to North Bay - are concerned about the potentially negative economic impacts of losing the rail line.
"Whether it is being used to its full capacity is not the real question. The question is, what happens if you don't have it," Gibeau told the EMC.
He noted that if the line is abandoned and tracks removed, pretty soon one will see pieces of land being sold to municipalities and once that happens, rail is really dead.
"That is, literally, the end of the line," the mayor noted.
During the meeting in Petawawa, it was decided the County of Renfrew must take the lead for its municipalities and the County of Lanark must do the same for its municipalities.
"This clearly is a county issue. The warden and staff are to call another meeting," Gibeau stated.
The potential of losing the CP line would mean there would likely no further commercial rail service in the Valley. CN Rail has already announced its plans to abandon the Beachburg Subdivision.
Currently, Transportation Renfrew-Pontiac is looking to take over and operate as a community, tourism and freight line. A business case is being put together and should be completed by the middle of the month.
Back in December, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister responsible for the Outaouais and Member of Parliament for Pontiac, Lawrence Cannon announced that the federal government will provide Transport Pontiac-Renfrew with a contribution for a feasibility study under the National Infrastructure Knowledge Component (NIKC) of the Building Canada Fund (BCF).((This study will include a business case on the feasibility of a commuter train service between the regional county municipality of Pontiac, Renfrew County, and the City of Ottawa.((
As for the CP line, Gibeau said the potential of losing it definitely "focuses your thinking" and must not be ignore.
"You take it for granted that the tracks are there. That might not always be the case," he concluded.
