Waterloo Region is about to finalize an agreement with CN Rail to purchase, for $1.1 million, 20 kilometres of rail line and lands that will eventually link Elmira, Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.
"This was an opportunity to acquire the lands at an exceptionally reasonable price," Region Chairman Ken Seiling said of the agreement that was discussed by council behind closed doors prior to last night's council meeting.
The announcement was made by Coun. Tom Galloway, head of the region's finance committee. "We have entered into an agreement in principle with CN," Galloway said.
The agreement, which will put the lands in the region's hands by May 31, means CN will still use the line for freight, and will continue with maintenance and repairs. The region, in turn, will get a reduction in railway property taxes and other revenues which will result in a break-even position within seven years, according to the finance report.
In an interview after the meeting, Galloway said one benefit could be a resumption of the privately operated tourist train that ran between Waterloo and St. Jacobs for a couple of years before its Hamilton-area owners ran out of cash and CN repossessed the line.
Late last year the city of Waterloo purchased the Waterloo station and the small piece of land it's on for about $250,000, but the tourist train was removed.
Pulling up the rail lines and putting in bus routes may be one option the region will look at, as part of a long-term transportation master plan to reduce motor vehicle use and the emissions it causes, Galloway said.
"The plan has identified the importance of and the need to protect a central transportation corridor linking Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and Elmira. The corridor could be used for future high or intermediate capacity transit service as well as pedestrian bicyclist trails," the finance report says.