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Please post this letter that was recently published by the Cape Breton Post: Costs severe if Cape Breton loses railway Cape Breton Post Thu 28 Nov 2002 Page: A6 Section: Comment Byline: Tim Doyle Source: Cape Breton Post Congratulations on keeping the issue of rail abandonment in Cape Breton in the spotlight (Railway File Starts to Roll, Editorial, Nov. 14). Most people understand that a successful economy can be built only with a strong infrastructure base. For this to occur, we have needed strong government support to build and maintain roads, bridges, and (until recent years) rail lines. Government has maintained its commitment to roads only, and has paid a steep price fiscally and environmentally for this policy. Here are two facts to consider: It costs roughly $1 million to pave a mile of road, and one rail carload is equivalent to roughly three truckloads. If the Cape Breton rail link is abandoned, you will immediately need a twinned highway to accommodate the extra trucks that will be added to an already overcrowded Cape Breton highway system. The environment will be damaged because much land will be needed to widen highways, and emissions will increase. Then take into account the millions per year that will be needed to repave and maintain the highways after we convert to a truck-only system. One fully loaded truck imposes the same amount of damage to our roads as 10,000 cars. More money will be needed for extra policing and emergency services to deal with accidents. The province does not have that type of money to invest in roads in Cape Breton. Next, take a look at how many companies that manufacture goods in industrial Cape Breton will move to southern Ontario where they can be close to rail and to customers. Losing that rail link amounts to bad business for all stakeholders involved. Shipping gypsum by rail from Melford could create 100 cars of traffic per day. Intermodal services at North Sydney could provide at least 1,000 rail cars per year. Maybe if we focused on putting the long-haul, road-damaging trucks back on the rails where they belong, the railroad would not be having financial difficulties. CN needs to be a more reliable partner here. For those people who are still convinced that any government support for rail is a bad thing because we shouldn't be "subsidizing" rail in any way, take a look at how much subsidy we grant to the trucking industry in the form of a free highway system that we fix ourselves. What we could save by not repaving our highways every single year (if more trucks were put on rail cars) would more than make up for the cost of helping the rail industry survive. Tim Doyle, Transport 2000 Atlantic Board Member Halifax -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- SUST-MAR is provided FREE by the Chebucto Community Net and YOU! For more info, please send "info sust-mar" to majordomo@chebucto.ca CBC enviro news-briefs follow: -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- TIRE COMPANY APPEALING INSOMNIA RULING The Michelin Tire Company is arguing insomnia caused by shift work is not a workplace injury. The company will appear before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal Tuesday, disputing a ruling from the provincial workers compensation tribunal. FULL STORY http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_michap20021203 MARTIN BACKS KYOTO, BUT CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT The man expected to become the next Liberal party leader has complained about how the current Liberal government has handled the Kyoto file. FULL STORY: http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/12/02/martin_021202 © Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
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