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| GO owner buys rail line between T.O. and Pickering |
March
30th 2011 | Source: CTV |
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Canadian National Railway has
sold a rail
corridor between downtown Toronto and Pickering, Ont., to
Ontario's regional transportation agency.
Metrolinx, which
operates GO Transit rail and bus services, is paying $299
million for the Kingston Subdivision rail line.
The rail line is composed of the two and three-track rail
corridor east of Union Station to where the line connects with
GO Transit's right-of-way near Whites Road in Pickering, the
community just east of Toronto.
Metrolinx president and chief executive Bruce McCuaig said the
provincial agency has gained full ownership of an important
segment of GO Transit's eastern commuter rail corridor.
"Owning this rail corridor section better positions GO to
improve service, better control operations and plan future
service growth," he said
Metrolinx now owns 61 per cent of the rail corridors on which GO
Transit operates.
CN chief executive Claude Mongeau said the country's largest
railway (TSX:CNR) is pleased to sell the rail link while
protecting its operating rights over the 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."
Metrolinx is the Ontario government's regional transportation
agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Its GO Transit
system carried more than 57 million passengers a year on its
network of trains and buses.