Metrolinx acquires CN line for regional rail service

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

In Toronto, ON, Canada, Metrolinx purchased a segment of Canadian National rail line principally used by GO Transit passenger trains in the Georgetown-Kitchener, ON, area west of Toronto for CA$76 million (US$68 million).

 

Metrolinx is acquiring the segment of CN’s Guelph Subdivision from a point west of Main Street in Georgetown to a location near Park Street in Kitchener; CN will retain freight operating rights over the line segment sold to Metrolinx.

Since beginning service in 1967, GO Trains have operated on tracks owned primarily by Canada’s two major commercial railways: Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway. Over the past several years, Metrolinx has been acquiring segments of the rail lines on which GO Trains travel. Ownership of the tracks and adjacent property allows for control over maintenance and expansion work.

Currently, Metrolinx owns 80 percent of the GO Train corridor network and work is already underway to prepare the infrastructure for more passenger rail service in the coming years.

 

 

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