(The following editorial appeared on the Telegraph-Journal website on August 21.)
NEW BRUNSWICK — Canada was built on the vision of coast-to-coast rail service. Unfortunately, it hasn’t always worked to Atlantic Canada’s advantage.
Rising fuel prices are making railways cost-competitive again. Canadians have an opportunity to make the rail network what it should have been all along: a faster, more efficient and more competitive link to growing markets.
That was the dream the country and the railways were founded on. In the 19th century, rail was a unifying force – connecting communities across this vast land and allowing them to create a national economy. But it carried a high price tag in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Maritime leaders who agreed to join Confederation could not have guessed the impact the railway would have. It opened central Canadian markets to goods from the east coast, but also changed the balance of power. Federal policies shifted the flow of commerce from north-south to east-west, cutting the Maritime provinces off from lucrative U.S. markets. Coast-to-coast rail service reduced this region’s share of global trade along with the economic and political clout prosperity confers.
The Maritime region was dealt a second blow in the 20th century, as railroads fell out of favour, replaced by trucking and air freight. Competition and efficiency were reduced as local railways shut down. Today, most of the region is served by one large rail line – the CNR – its operations augmented by a few short lines.
But a new vision of railways is emerging. Port authorities are looking at rail’s potential to provide faster, more cost-efficient transportation. They see rail as a competitive way to reach the hungriest market in North America – the U.S. Railways are responding, seeing initiatives like the Pacific Gateway and proposed Atlantic Gateway as the new anchor points of transcontinental trade. CN and CP are preparing to invest $300 million to improve lines in eastern Canada. If governments, ports and industry co-ordinate efforts to improve infrastructure, that could be just the beginning.
It’s time to make rail a national and regional priority again – and this time, let’s get it right.