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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Dalton buys us some rails

Metrolinx acquires key commuter-rail segment of CN's Kingston Subdivision east of Toronto Union Station

TORONTO, March 30 /CNW Telbec/ - Metrolinx has purchased a section of CN's Kingston Subdivision rail line, used primarily for commuter and passenger rail operations in eastern Toronto, for C$299 million.

The rail line acquired by Metrolinx from CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE:CNI) is composed of the two- and three-track rail corridor east of Union Station in downtown Toronto to a junction near Whites Road in Pickering, Ont., where the line connects with GO Transit's separate rail right-of-way.

Metrolinx President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce McCuaig said, "With today's announcement, Metrolinx gains full ownership of an important segment of GO Transit's Lakeshore East commuter rail corridor from Union Station to Oshawa, Ont., and a direct connection to GO's Stouffville corridor in eastern Toronto.

"Owning this rail corridor section better positions GO to improve service, better control operations and plan future service growth."

Metrolinx now owns 61 per cent of the rail corridors on which GO Transit operates.

CN President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau said, "We are pleased to have concluded this sales agreement to transfer a critical link in the commuter rail network to Metrolinx, while protecting CN's operating rights over this line to ensure continued service to its freight customers. CN has a strong partnership with Metrolinx and we will continue to support commuter rail as a sustainable mode of transport in the Greater Toronto Area."

Please visit www.cn.ca/kingston for a map of the Kingston Subdivision and CN and GO Transit rail corridors in the Greater Toronto Area.

Metrolinx is the Province of Ontario's regional transportation agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). For more information, go to www.metrolinx.com. GO Transit, a division of Metrolinx, is Ontario's inter-regional public transit system linking Toronto with the surrounding regions of the GTHA. GO carries more than 57 million passengers a year in an extensive network of train and bus services that spans over 10,000 square kilometres. For more information, go to www.gotransit.com.

CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - 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 metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.

8 comments:

Dan-1 said...

So now GO can't blame CN for track problems on that part of the line...it's their own fault now!

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for fall! No more blaming CN for not sanding the tracks to ward off the rogue wet leaves

Taylor said...

Now, does ownership of the rails = priority on the rails? Will we still hold for VIA?

pl said...

does this mean fares will not go up seeing as the cost savings of owning over leasing may be more? so the savings can be passed to us?

Dan-1 said...

At the risk of sounding like a "rail nut"...

CN will still dispatch the line, like all the others. That said, GO has been looking at the option of bringing dispatching of "their" lines in-house.

purple rain said...

What does that mean, rail nerd?

Bryan said...

Anonymous: Locomotives sand their own rails. There isn't a big CN truck that goes out and spreads sand on the rails.

TomW said...

Bryan: CN used to fail to clean the leaves off the rails - now it's up to GO.