NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Canada’s two national railways and civic and Ontario government officials held a “spike-pulling” ceremony here yesterday to mark the end of freight trains travelling through the city’s busy downtown and tourist area.
Rail crews will begin lifting track on December 20 in a 6.6-mile (10.7-kilometre) railway corridor that cuts through the city. The track removal — a key municipal objective for more than half a century — will help to spur redevelopment of prime real estate in the tourism and downtown areas, eliminate traffic congestion and improve road safety, and generate new rail efficiencies at an important international gateway for Canada-United States trade.
Today’s ceremony was made possible by a trackage rights agreement between Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, and the acquisition of CN’s and CPR’s jointly owned rail corridor through the city’s inner core by the City of Niagara Falls and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLGC), an Ontario government agency.
CPR trains that used the downtown line now take CN’s track to and from the United States via a new connection near Brookfield Road in Welland, Ont. The connection moves CPR trains onto a 12-mile (16-kilometre) section of CN’s Toronto-Buffalo main line to reach CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern and other railroads in Buffalo via Fort Erie, Ont., and CN’s International Bridge.
The city and OLGC have purchased the downtown Niagara Falls rail corridor – formerly owned by CN’s and CPR’s jointly held Canada Southern Railway Company (CASO) – for $23 million. The purchasers are also providing the railways with $12 million for track and signal system improvements to accommodate the extra traffic on the new route. Falls Management Co., operator of the permanent casino development, assisted the financing of the acquisition.
A portion of the downtown line south of the proposed casino development will remain in operation as auxiliary trackage under a running rights agreement between the city and CPR to preserve freight service to local industries.
Niagara Falls Mayor Wayne Thomson said: “On behalf of council I am exceptionally pleased that after many years of effort the part of the rail line that cuts through the heart of our city will be removed. Vital rail service will continue without any effect on local rail customers. At the same time, our community has an opportunity to be safer, promote development and realize our potential as a world-class tourist destination.”
Keith Heller, senior vice-president of CN’s Eastern Canada Division, said: “CN and CPR worked hard to reach an important track-sharing agreement that permits the removal of the CASO line through the downtown of Niagara Falls. Both railways will generate new efficiencies from operating over CN’s Toronto-Buffalo line, and will derive meaningful returns from the sale of non-core railway real estate that is key to the redevelopment plans of the City of Niagara Falls and the permanent casino.
“The agreement between the railways is also important because it shows they can generate market-based solutions that meet the needs of the industry, our customers and the communities we serve – without regulatory interference.”
John Walsh, CPR’s vice-president real estate, said: “Through determination, persistence and a willingness to work together, the Province, the City, OLGC, CN and the CPR have created something beneficial to everyone.”
The Niagara Falls trackage rights agreement is the latest in a series of CN and CPR “co-production” initiatives first launched last year. Under a three-year agreement, CPR gained access to CN’s direct and efficient Toronto-Chicago main line via CN’s St. Clair Tunnel. The two railroads also signed a “directional running” agreement covering train movements in the rugged Fraser Canyon west of Kamloops, B.C. CN and CPR trains now move west over CN’s gently-graded line in the canyon, while all eastbound CN and CPR freight movements in this corridor travel on CPR track.
Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.
Calgary-based CPR is North America’s first transcontinental railway and the only transcontinental carrier with direct service to the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. Its 14,000-mile network serves the principal centres of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, as well as the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. Alliances extend the CPR’s market reach into Mexico and throughout North America.