Dexter New Democrats eyeing railroad subsidy
Posted Jun 24, 2010 02:55:56 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The provincial government is close to making a decision on railway subsidies and maintenance.
However it’s not on the section that’s been the site two recent derailments.
They’re looking at a subsidy for the section of railway between Port Hawkesbury and Sydney.
The railway’s five year, 10 million dollar agreement expired March 31. That deal was made to ensure that it stayed open after parent company Rail America started the process of abandoning the portion.
Minister of Rural Development, Percy Paris says maintenance concerns are not a problem on that line.
“The sections of the spur that have some issues around maintenance are not the sections of the spur between Port Hawkesbury and Sydney,” said Paris
That’s precisely the problem says opposition MLA Cecil Clarke.
“One of the things the government is missing right now with regards to transportation is they have an inspector who has not been inspecting the line that is flowing from Truro to Port Hawkesbury,” Clarke said.
Paris says the derailment prone part of the line is the federal Transportation Department’s jurisdiction.
