Look to the Past to Guide the Future

Lots of talk about Economic Development in North Bay recently and what direction the city should take to ensure its future.  In order to guide our future, maybe we should look to the past.  North Bay was a railway town, developed initially by the railroads that chose this location as a terminal for their operations.  Over the years the automobile gained prominence as the preferred mode of travel, and railways were allowed to slip away from the public view.  Privatization emerged as the only salvation for railways and to be fair, those efforts did result in more efficiency and profits for the Class 1 carriers.  The cost of those improvements however, was the formation of huge railways that only looked for high volume shipments...the little railroads with few shippers were left for the government to deal with, which they reluctantly did.

Now we have a global economy, and the private sector controls how and when we get rail access to it.  Intermodal rail traffic has seen a steady increase for the past decade, except for the global downturn after 2008.

RAC Rail Trends - 2016                                    

But the untold story is how the Class 1 carriers closed small intermodal yards and consolidated into just two large yards in the GTA.  This has reduced expenses for the major carriers, but has denied efficiencies in shipping to Ontario business beyond the GTA.  If we compare the US access to intermodal yards, it becomes apparent that Canadian railways are content to let Ontario shippers utilize the government subsidized highway system to gain access to the more efficient rail haul.

The Integrated Transport Initiative was a proposal to establish North Bay as a major, export-oriented, international transportation staging centre and; subsequently as an export product processing centre.   At the centre of the project was the building of a rail link to the side of the airport that would permit all three modes of transport, air, rail and road to operate from the same location.

I would suggest building Highway access to the airport through Marsh Drive, to avoid heavy truck traffic in the residential area surrounding the airport and moving the main truck route to one that is protected by a runaway truck ramp.

Some points in favour of the project

1. Governments looking for infrastructure investments that align with their objectives
2. Will assist in lowering GHG emissions by shifting truck traffic to rail
3. Will permit expanding economy without contributing to GTA gridlock
4. Will assist in expanding Northern Ontario economy
5. Will permit expanding Rail Intermodal services if CN Milton Intermodal project not allowed
6. Will assist Pearson airport in pursuing mega-airport status for passengers by shifting cargo to North Bay
7. May alleviate need to build Pickering airport
8. ONTC/CN co-production with directional running would increase rail haul capacity between Toronto and Winnipeg with minimal investment
9. Opportunity to create maintenance centre with rail traffic at doorstep
10. Only 300 to 350 kms farther from New York and Chicago than Toronto with less congestion than GTA or busier border crossings
11. Lower landing fees than Pearson but still a 10,000 foot runway

We need an updated feasibility study and a champion for the idea.  Anyone own a white horse?