RAIL SERVICE VIABILITY CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN

The contribution of the railroad to Cape Breton should not be forgotten as it will be necessary if we really believe that a container port will be part of the infrastructure to provide a service to all of North America and beyond.

Let’s look at the history of Cape Breton.

In Sydney we could start at Kings Road at a lumber yard moving through the city to Chappells Ltd., Masons Ltd., Scotia Wholesale, Swift Canadian, Canada Packers, Progressive Wholesale and later Hashems Scrap Yard, which were all serviced by the railroad.

As a spinoff, all the towns were serviced by the Canadian National Express right from Sydney to Prince Rupert, B.C. The rates of both express and freight were protected by tariffs. Passenger service in Cape Breton was provided with the finest of dining services as well as overnight service and regular coach service.

Then the government started systematically cutting services, first in the passenger service, followed by freight and express. Of course, the federal government, in doing so, took away the viability of the services, which they used to eventually get rid of most of the passenger services, especially in Cape Breton.

Now we all know railways are responsible for their own maintenance where the federal and provincial governments are responsible for highways. Even today it is hard to find people who are against the railway. But for some reason, once politicians are elected, they seem to forget we still need the railroad. The decision rests completely on their shoulders to bring the rail service back to Cape Breton with the connecting service to the rest of Canada.

Don’t forget to contact our politicians. We need their support.

Together, we can make it happen.

Charlie Palmer

Sydney