Rail line needs to be upgraded

The provincial government now has a contract with Genesee & Wyoming, a rail company which I feel has nothing beneficial to offer to contribute to bringing a container port to Sydney.

First of all, let me say when CN was the operator of the line east of Truro, both freight and passenger, the speed restrictions were in most cases in the range of 50 to 80 kilometres per hour and sometimes higher.

At the time this placed Sydney in a position where they could not only compete with Halifax for a container port, but serve the whole of the American continent by at least seven hours ahead of Halifax. This was a real plus for convincing the powers that be to set up shop here.

We now have a signed contract with Genesee & Wyoming to once again take over the rail line and because of the lack of maintenance on the tracks and roadbed the rail line restrictions I assume will be 16 kilometres per hour.

Because of these restrictions on most parts of the rail line due to the lack of maintenance over the years it will take seven to eight hours just to travel to Port Hawkesbury, which now means we can no longer compete with Halifax.

Also, the rail line would no longer be a viable option to most businesses.

In my opinion, this could dash all the hopes we may have of a container terminal being built in Sydney. Let’s hope that the provincial and federal governments will demand Genesee & Wyoming bring back the speeds so that we can compete.

Charlie Palmer

Sydney