SPANISH, ON -- April 19, 2009  ------   About 30 mayors and community leaders attended a railway infrastructure round table here Thursday to hear Huron Central Railway`s Sault Ste. Marie-Sudbury short railway line will close unless Ontario provides immediate funding.
Huron Central president Mario Brault said the request has been into the Ontario government since 2006 and with the line deteriorating each year a decision to close could be made as early as July. The project would cost approximately $33 million with $13 million needed from the province.

 "This is a project that is shovel ready and which the rail industry has prioritized among all the short-line rail lines in Ontario, " said Sault MP Tony Martin who hosted the meeting with MP Carol Hughes (Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing), East Algoma Mayors, Reeves and Chiefs Association and Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains.

"It will contribute to the profitability of rolling stock operators in our area. If we lose Huron Central, then we lose the potential for passenger service to be there and it will have a detrimental impact on our Northern Ontario industries."

Martin is hopeful that a strong coordinated voice will emerge from the meeting to lobby the provincial government that the infrastructure investment must be made.

The short-line railways serve the transportation needs of local businesses located along branch lines, with shippers sometimes preferring the lower traffic option on these branch short-line railways. Short-line rail was neglected after de-regulation of the industry.
CP government director Randy Marsh told participants that the provincial government in Quebec has partnered with Ottawa to finance short-line rail there.