‘We’ll make this work’
It’s not preferred route, but Cambridge mayor says GO service via Guelph is a good start
CAMBRIDGE — Don’t be surprised if you see Mayor Doug Craig wielding a sledgehammer along a little-used Cambridge rail line.
“I think if I have to put the spikes in the rails myself, we’ll make this work,” he said Friday.
That’s how keen he is to bring GO train service to his city, even if it means connecting to Toronto via Guelph instead of Milton.
“It is the preferred route,” Craig said of the long-desired rail connection via Milton. “At this point, what I need to do is get something running to the city of Cambridge.”
The Cambridge-to-Guelph option, running along a littleused corridor known as the Fergus subdivision or the Fergus spur, will be the subject of a twoyear, $200,000 feasibility study. The cost will be split between the provincial government and the Region of Waterloo.
Trains to Guelph could then connect to the existing GO line into Toronto. Among the issues the study will address is the condition of the line and the upgrades required to accommodate GO train service.
Track ownership is a key sticking point in the efforts to bring GO trains to Cambridge via Milton. Canadian Pacific owns the Milton GO corridor.
“We will continue our conversations with CP Rail to try and unlock the Cambridge-to-Milton line, but I feel looking at the overall picture that (the Cambridge-to-Guelph line) may actually be a much quicker option,” said Transportation Minister and Cambridge MPP Kathryn McGarry.
The Cambridge-to-Guelph corridor is owned by CN Rail and currently leased to GoderichExeter Railway. It still sees some weekly freight use, but McGarry described it as “minimal.”
Kitchener resident Ron Bowman, a former CP employee and rail advocate, said he doesn’t see CN’s ownership of the corridor as a barrier. “I think CN would be pleased to sell it.”
It’s been nearly half a century since passenger trains, courtesy of Canadian Pacific, have rumbled through Cambridge. Bowman said a restoration of passenger service is long overdue.
“It’s been known all along that more people go to the GTA from
Cambridge than from Kitchener and Waterloo combined,” he maintained. “It just seems to me that market should be served.”
In addition to providing Cambridge residents with a GO train link to Toronto, the Guelph option could connect with the high-speed rail line envisioned for Toronto to Windsor. The first phase of high-speed rail, between Toronto and London, is slated to begin service in 2025.
Regional Chair Ken Seiling noted that this is the third time the region has undertaken work to try to bring GO trains to Cambridge.
“This is probably the one that is most significant,” he said, adding that the agreement to share study costs came quickly.
“Hopefully, it will come to some positive result.”