Local railroad gets support. North Sydney Forum iconic.
SYDNEY — The cause for revitalizing Cape Breton’s railroad infrastructure now has the support of the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce.
And the umbrella group representing business organizations across Canada’s four Atlantic provinces is calling on the Nova Scotia government to follow suit.
In a letter sent this week to Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines, Infrastructure Minister Geoff MacLellan and Premier Iain Rankin, Atlantic Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Sheri Somerville stated that a rejuvenated Cape Breton rail line is a key and necessary component of the Novaporte container port development proposed for Sydney.
“Rail is a key piece of connectivity within the scope of the Novaporte project and will be a necessary contributor to its success,” wrote Somerville.
“Resumption of reliable freight service across Cape Breton Island would be a significant development to the expansion of international trade within our region. The restored line will position Nova Scotia as a gateway to the rest of Canada and the United States that will facilitate new international market access for a wide range of local products and the potential to dramatically increase multilateral bulk trade.”
The call to get the island’s long-neglected railway infrastructure back on track echoes the stance of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP), whose chief executive officer Albert Barbusci indicated last autumn that a rehabilitated rail system is the last remaining obstacle before work can begin on the Novaporte project.
“All the pieces are now in place, all the heavy lifting is done – this is a call to action, it’s rallying the community,” Barbusci said in an interview with the Cape Breton Post in September when SHIP launched an online campaign in hopes of influencing the provincial and federal governments to help preserve the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway between Sydney and Port Hawkesbury.
America-based Genesee & Wyoming Inc., former owners of the railroad, was acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure and GIC in 2019. The tracks in Cape Breton have sat idle since the last train rumbled out of Sydney in 2015 while the owners have received monthly subsidies in return for not dismantling the infrastructure.
The renewed call to revitalize the line is being applauded by the Cape Breton Regional
Chamber of Commerce. CEO Kathleen Yurchesyn agreed that re-establishing a rail link between the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and Truro is a key component of enhancing economic development in the CBRM.
“The chamber believes that strategic public investment in significant infrastructure upgrades in Atlantic Canada will not only help to spur economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will also help modernize our communities and protect our environment,” said Yurchesyn.
“A revitalized rail service throughout our region will allow us to realize generational economic development opportunities for the Island which will directly contribute to job creation, population
growth and an increased tax base, all three in which are critical to our future growth and prosperity.”
According to SHIP, a $500-million private sector investment in Novaporte’s first phase would create more than 12,000 jobs, $896 million in wages and $139 million in regional, provincial and federal taxes during construction. The firm also suggests that annual operations of the first phase would create 2,647 jobs, $137 million in wages and $61 million in taxes for the three levels of government.
The proposed three-phase Novaporte undertaking would be capable of handling more than three million containers annually and would include a 33,000 ft. of on-dock rail connecting to the Cape Breton line.