Published on August 22, 2016

SYDNEY — As the future of rail in Cape Breton remains a question mark, members of the Scotia Rail Development Society would like to see governments engage in a serious public policy discussion about rail infrastructure in Nova Scotia and across the country.

“Canada as a country doesn’t really have a clear transportation policy in regards to railways,” said rail society member Jason Morrison. “It is time for Canada to step up to the international plate and define the role of railways in Canada for Canadians, not for railway companies.”

By TOM AYERS CAPE BRETON BUREAU The Chronicle Herald

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke says the China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. is ready to invest millions of dollars in a feasibility and design study for a container terminal operation in Sydney Harbour. (TOM AYERS / Cape Breton Bureau)

SYDNEY — A large Chinese construction company has agreed to build a highly automated container terminal in Sydney Harbour, depending on the results of a feasibility study to be conducted next year, says the CEO of Harbor-Port Development Partners.

If it proceeds, the project is expected to cost more than $1 billion and take several years to complete, with operation possibly to start sometime in 2019, Albert Barbusci said.

China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. has agreed to design and build a container terminal and all related infrastructure around the municipality’s greenfield site in Sydney Harbour, Barbusci said in a telephone interview from Montreal.

Infrastructure could include the rail line, roads and possible business operations that support a container terminal, he said.

Work on a feasibility and design study has already begun and will continue with a site visit by Chinese officials early in the new year, said Barbusci.

That work will determine whether the project gets built.

Cape Breton’s Contribution to Paris Agreement on Climate Change:
Make Your Personal Contribution

The Scotia Rail Development Society (SRDS) is calling for Nova Scotians to encourage their MP to support the railway on Cape Breton Island. SRDS, aligned with the Sustainable Transportation Action Team (STAT) with the Ecology Action Centre, is advocating to keep the railway.

SYDNEY - Genesee & Wyoming forbids people from taking pictures near abandoned tracks.

The irony is not lost on members of the Scotia Rail Development Society.

As part of its mandate to raise awareness and develop economic opportunities to keeping the rail line open between Sydney and Port Hawkesbury, the society has sponsored a selfie contest that has now caught the attention of the line's owners, Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc.

Harbor Port Development Partners and Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway to work together on the port of Sydney development project

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, November 19, 2015 — Cape Breton Regional Municipality has recently officially granted Harbor-Port Development Partners (HPDP) the exclusive right to market the port of Sydney for development, including building the financial and operating consortium to construct a state of the art container terminal and logistic park able to accommodate the latest generation of ultra large container vessels.

Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway Limited (CBNS) is in discussions with HPDP regarding the possibility of providing future rail service on the line from Truro to Sydney, Nova Scotia, as part of the deep water port development project in Sydney.