Paris says C.B. Rail Line Vital to Region
Province negotiating extension of $2m annual subsidy
By DAVID JACKSON (djackson@herald.ca)
Provincial Reporter – The Halifax Herald: September 30, 2011
The rail line in Cape Breton needs to be available in case future port developments in Sydney and the Strait of Canso create new traffic, says Economic and Rural Development Minister Percy Paris.
Paris talked about the potential Thursday as he said the province continues negotiations with Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway to extend a $2-million-per-year provincial subsidy.
“Cape Breton Rail is probably considered as very vital to the future of Cape Breton,” Paris said after a cabinet meeting.
“We want to make sure that we do not create any . . . problems for that particular region.”
Sydney Harbour will be dredged this fall in hopes of developing the port. Melford International Terminal plans a $350-million container terminal in Guysborough County on the Strait of Canso.
A provincial subsidy for the Cape Breton portion of the line runs out today, although the company has access to $500,000 in “transition funding” while negotiations continue on a further subsidy.
The subsidy covers the Cape Breton portion of the line. The entire line runs from Truro to Sydney.
Paris said the line in Cape Breton hasn’t seen any new traffic in the last year. In announcing a subsidy last year, the province said the line needed 10,000 railcar transports to break even, but in 2009 the number was 1,500.
The closure of the NewPage pulp mill in Point Tupper this month took about 25 cars a day off the line, but Paris said the mill’s closure doesn’t have an impact on the Cape Breton portion of the line.
He said he’d be “surprised and shocked” if the railway, owned by Florida-based Rail-America, settled for less than the annual $2-million subsidy it’s received since 2005.
Paris said maintenance on bridges and other parts of the line in Cape Breton are part of the negotiation.
