Getting on track
Cape Breton railway could be operational with two years work, but faces significant challenges
A significant amount of work will be required to get Cape Breton’s railway functional again to accommodate traffic from a possible container terminal development but it should be possible to do so within a two-year timeframe, a new study states.
However, serious challenges remain, including the limited resources that the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway has available to do the
necessary maintenance and the lack of local capacity to perform the scope of work required.
Port of Sydney Development Corp. CEO Marlene Usher had already indicated the costs outlined in the report, prepared by the consultant HATCH. It pegs the cost at $103 million to enable Cape Breton’s railway to handle the double-stacked containers necessary to support a container development.
The Port of Sydney Development Corp. posted the 45-page document to its website Thursday, a day after it held its first annual general meeting under its new board structure. Rail is seen as being a vital component of any future port development, particularly a container terminal.
The report notes that the railway company, “is not equipped internally to manage, oversee and provide track protection for large scale repair works occurring simultaneously over several locations.”
In addition, local structural contractors and steel manufacturers may not have the capacity to carry out the scope of work within the two-year time period.
The railway falls under provincial jurisdiction and therefore provincial environmental permitting.
“Ensuring the efficient and rapid award of environmental permits for all slope stabilizing and structural work over waterway will be a critical issue in completing work within two years,” HATCH stated.
Among the study’s recommendations are an extensive brush-cutting program, hiring a consultant to perform a geotechnical study on track stability at key locations, realigning the track and stabilizing some cliff erosion and performing a large tie replacement and resurfacing program.
HATCH noted that, as the Sydney subdivision is not currently functioning, the repairs won’t be impeded by train traffic.
The track surface over the entire
section inspected was found to be in poor condition, with a great deal of grass and small trees growing in-track between rails, with fallen branches, trees and overgrowth encroaching on the track, posing a risk of derailment and reducing sightlines.
While the rail itself shows a low level of wear, a layer of rust has coated the rails since is closed in 2014 and must be grinded off before reopening it.
Phase one of the work is estimated to cost almost $42.9 million, with the largest amount being $22.7 million to repair bridges, followed by $7.85 million for the track and $7.08 million for civil and geotechnical costs. That would allow the line to operate at Class 1, enabling trains to move
at 10 miles per hour.
“The rehabilitation of the swing span bridge at the Grand Narrows crossing … will likely represent the critical path in opening the track to regular service,” the HATCH study states
However, the amount of work required to the span is complex and long lead times for parts risk surpassing the two-year timeframe, HATCH wrote. Tugboats could be temporarily used to move the swing span until the work is complete, the report adds.
Grand Narrows would likely require an electrical and mechanical retrofit.
The exact scope of bridge structural work required would have to be established by carrying out detailed bridge inspections and capacity ratings, the study notes.
To bring the track up to Class 3 conditions — with 40 miles per hour operation — is estimated to take five years. Phase two would cost an additional almost $62 million, including almost $27.6 million for bridges, $21.4 million for the track and $13 million for signals and communications.
The study also details extensive work required to ties and the need to address several bank slides and track washouts.
“The general state of the crossings indicate that they have been effectively abandoned,” HATCH wrote. “The majority of the crossing signals do not have log books to indicate any recent testing or electrical drawings that would permit an adequate evaluation of the system.”
Geotechnical issues affecting track stability and safety that were noted that would need to be tackled in the short term, including bank slide, culvert collapse, washout repairs and cliff stabilization.
The assessment assumed that the proposed Novaporte container development would represent the only train traffic between the port and Truro, but the report notes that additional capacity for other customers will need to be investigated separately.
The report notes that two site visits were conducted in the course of the study — one to assess the condition of the track, track structure and signals equipment and another to evaluate the condition of bridges and structures.
“According to our estimations, although considerable, the work to allow the running of trains under at least Class 1 conditions from Truro to the Novaporte terminal should be feasible within a two-year time frame. The Grand Narrows span bridge work duration, which is likely to be the longest execution time item in this project, is difficult to estimate with precision, however, short term operating modes, such as opening/closing the span using tugboat, could be used to bridge the time between the opening of rail operations on the Sydney subdivision and the bridge being fully operational.”
The $87,300 cost of the HATCH study came from the trust fund comprised of money left over from the dredge of Sydney harbour. Funding applications by the port to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the province were turned down.
The full study can be found at http://www.sydneyport.ca/portofsydney/agm-documents/