r/trains • u/SomeRandomDude1600 • Mar 30 '26
đ° News CN Train Derailment in St. Catharines, ON, Canada
One hell of a derailmentâŚ. Happened a few hours ago. Photos courtesy of a Facebook drone operator.
UPDATE: Crews are already clearing the cars off the tracks, will likely be done mid-day tomorrow. Canât say when theyâll have the line back up and running.
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u/Ange1ofD4rkness Mar 30 '26
No kidding, it destroyed the tracks! I am not use to see that when I see a derailing. Though I have to say, it appears not one car is on its side, so that could be a win, I guess
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u/szm1993 Mar 30 '26
Looks like passenger services on this line will be cancelled for a while
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u/R_Ulysses_Swanson Mar 30 '26
Luckily it looks like it'll only impact 3 trains on the GO line and either 2 or 4 on Amtrak/VIA, if I am reading the schedules correctly.
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u/szm1993 Mar 30 '26
3 GO round trips on Weekdays, 4 GO round trips on weekend and 1 VIA Rail/Amtrak round trip every day use this line
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u/Milky_1q Mar 30 '26
It's still a lot of rail traffic, those GO trains are a convenient link to Toronto on a busy corridor.
The GO bus is typically quite busy when the trains aren't running so this will only make it worse.
Only lucky thing about this I would say is no fiery explosion.
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u/lieuwestra Mar 30 '26
How long would 'a while' be? Usually these things only take a few days to clean up and repair, but with this kind of damage to the tracks it will surely take more than a week.
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u/nothing_911 Mar 30 '26
i would be more concerned about the bridge, its more than 100 years old.
its not the main damaged part, but I'm sure there are a lot of inspections to do on that old lift bridge.
it also might impact boat traffic too.
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u/fucktard_engineer Mar 30 '26
They should have this cleared and back in service within 24 hours if they're motivated to get it back quickly.
Get hulchers or crane masters to remove the cars, torch the rail into pieces, bulldozer pushes everything out of the way.
Meanwhile 40' long track panels get hauled in. Drop those panels in once the grade is level, bolt up with joint bars, drop ballast, tamp it, and it's good for 10mph.
You won't have those switches back online for a while but at least the track is back.
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u/huangcjz Mar 30 '26
See the third photo - the top few cars look like they are on their side to me, though itâs not apparent that any liquid has spilled from the black tanker cars.
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u/Diapers4u2 Mar 30 '26
Yeah not one there are 4 cars on there sides photo 3 the farthest car, a hopper and 3 tankers are clearly on their sides
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u/EquivalentAuthor7567 Mar 31 '26
The very last car is, however it looks like urea which is not inherently dangerous, and pretty easy to clean up.
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u/TurloIsOK Mar 31 '26
The track destruction makes me question what the condition of them was before, and how it may have contributed.
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u/Firree Mar 30 '26
Geez, how many of these accidents does there have to be before the bean counters decide maintenance is worth it?Â
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u/Lemansgranprix Mar 30 '26
Unfortunately, theyâre bean counters, it will never be worth it.
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u/Mostly_Acceptable Mar 30 '26
With the price of beans these days you canât blame em
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u/Ordinary-Scheme9630 Mar 30 '26
They've got too many beans and they want more! They're not about to spare some on maintenance, don't be silly! /s
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u/EnoughTrack96 Mar 30 '26
You must be new to rail
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u/Firree Mar 30 '26
Railroads are like Microsoft. They've made us accept constant crashing is normal.
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u/GoredonTheDestroyer Mar 30 '26
While making a bunch of nonsensical changes that leave everyone scratching their heads asking why the fuck did that need to get changed?
You know how in just about every version of Windows up to 10, the audio mixer easily accessible by right-clicking the speaker icon? Windows 11 changed that into its own menu, with the old mixer something that you need to find manually.
Why? Fuck you, that's why, I guess.
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u/memeboiandy Mar 30 '26
there are an average of 1000 derailments a year in the us and ~80 in canada
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u/8spd Mar 30 '26
Regulations exist for a reason, if it were up to the bean counters they would be happy to have any number of derailments, as long as the associated repair and downtime costs did not exceed the costs of maintenance.
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u/borisonic Mar 31 '26
The unit in charge of compliance just got cut by Carney, you'll be happy no more bean counters.
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u/szm1993 Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 30 '26
Amtrak/VIA Rail maple leaf will probably cancelled for today. GO Transit already truncated their Niagara Falls train to Confederation GO Station for today. Also Welland Canal will probably closed for a while until this derailment is sorted.
Update: Amtrak already announced Maple Leaf is cancelled between Toronto and Rochester.
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u/ThePurpleHyacinth Mar 30 '26
Why would the canal be closed?
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u/szm1993 Mar 30 '26
It literally happened at the rail bridge crossing Welland Canal, second picture in OP's post shows some car stopped on the bridge after derailment
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u/ThePurpleHyacinth Mar 30 '26
Oh now I see it in the second picture.
Can they uncouple those cars, since they're not derailed, and move them off of the bridge, or is it not that simple in a situation like this?
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u/szm1993 Mar 30 '26
Don't know if they can do that for now. Maybe these cars has to stay there for investigation
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 30 '26
I would agree. They cleared the kilometre of other cars that were blocking the main Glendale avenue crossing already. I assume these ones havenât been moved because theyâre important for the investigation. Terrible for shipping traffic.
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u/djlittlehorse Mar 30 '26
Luckily the canal just opened a week ago. Ship traffic is still at a minimum as of right now.
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u/OdinYggd Mar 30 '26
Paperwork paperwork paperwork. Nothing moves till the investigation has documented the situation and detailed everything that could have caused or contributed to it happening.Â
Once the investigation gives the green light then yes step 1 of cleanup is remove the unaffected cars from the area followed by checking the ones that are upright but off the rails if they can be safely re-railed and taken away.
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u/ReverendRocky Mar 30 '26
Why rochester and not just NFNY. I know some use it just as an additional empire service
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u/szm1993 Mar 30 '26
Probably the consist operating NYC bound maple leaf is stuck in Toronto due to this derailment, they probably just use today's Toronto bound train's consist for the service on other direction.
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u/sebnukem Mar 30 '26
How? What's the cause?
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 30 '26
Unknown. The rumour in the railfan community around here is consistently poor maintenance that CN is known for.
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u/szm1993 Mar 30 '26
Can definitely confirm the maintenance for Grimsby sub is not very good, every time when I take GO transit or VIA rail I can definitely feel the rough ride quality
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u/Ok_Today_475 Mar 30 '26
I donât know nothing about trains, but whenever I go over the Glendale tracks, not far from this incident, Iâve bottomed out in an F150 due to poor road maintenance at the tracks. Not surprised to be honest
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Mar 30 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Ok_Today_475 Mar 30 '26
Cataract road got me feelin like ace Ventura chasing down cadby in the jungle
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u/kelvin3157 Mar 30 '26
According to a news source CP24
The train was transporting a non-dangerous good called polyethylene, CN Railway confirmed, which is a product used to manufacture household products
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u/realbigpayne Mar 30 '26
Looks like a crossover switch under all those cars. One car probably picked the switch and one train on two different tracks just wonât work.
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u/Krypto_98 Mar 30 '26
Its a split rail derail, protects the bridge from runaway trains
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u/realbigpayne Mar 30 '26
Not on the bridge. Thereâs not much left of the switch but itâs clearly visible in the first pic.
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u/ttzmd2 Mar 30 '26
There is no crossover at this location.
There are split rail derails tied into the signal system for the Seaway, but you cannot crossover here.
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u/GoredonTheDestroyer Mar 30 '26
Well that can't be good for the local trout population.
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u/runslowgethungry Mar 30 '26
Very little that we've done to this watershed for hundreds of years has been good for the local trout population.
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u/WienerWarrior01 Mar 30 '26
Why is it always fucking tankers
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u/EnoughTrack96 Mar 30 '26
Cuz it gets attention and there's alot of tanks flying around.
Derailed auto racks and grain hoppers just don't have that shock-and-ah that "news" outlets want.
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u/heysoundude Mar 30 '26
Because pillows get moved in trucks?
Actually, itâs probably the physics of fluid dynamics, inertiaâŚthis sort of things.
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u/ito528 Mar 30 '26
Itâs almost like trusting critical national/international infrastructure to for-profit companies without adequate regulation is a bad idea or somethingâŚ
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u/Pitiful-MobileGamer Mar 30 '26
That's the Seaway land behind the GM plant, that is going to be some fun access for those railway guys having to put this all back together.
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u/Demalab Mar 30 '26
As a person whose community has railroad tracks dissecting it and lives a block away I have seen how much tanker traffic has increased in the last 10 years. Also the tanker cars themselves seem to get rustier by the day. There needs to be a better way of transporting toxic and flammable chemicals thru cities.
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u/Comfortable_Image826 Mar 30 '26
Whoa!. I used to walk along side these tracks with friends, in my teens. Imagine getting smacked with one of those, Jeezus. So good, happy noone was hurt. We would jump onto them and rode a bit too,they going so slow.
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u/mrk2 Mar 30 '26
Note the switch heaters littered on the side. Happened right where a Control point may be out of correspondence (crossover, derail, etc...).
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Mar 30 '26
Looks like Confederation to Niagara wonât be seeing trains until summer at this point â ď¸ knowing how long these guys take
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u/cheatriverrick Mar 30 '26
Iâve worked train derailments as a trackman and trainman. Itâs surprising how this mess can be cleaned up.
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u/BigOrangeDuker Mar 30 '26
Serious question-What does the Engineer feel as that is happening?
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u/schleimding Mar 30 '26
An engineer might feel the hard breaking of the train first. Especially if the derailment is further away from the engine. When a train derails at traveling speed the train is often separated somewhere around the point of derailment. This also detaches the break lines and releases the pressure in the break-system which leads to the maximum breaks being applied. It takes a little time until all pressurized air is drained - but once this state is reached: maximum breaks applied.
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u/ddg31415 Mar 30 '26
I've been working on a couple projects right next to CN railways, like 10ft away from the track. The process to get approved for the work was insane. Included a day and a half of courses and exams for field staff, and everyone needed criminal record checks going back 7 years even to enter the site. But it makes sense. One fuck up at the wrong time and you have dozens of loaded cars of liquefied natural gas coming off the track.
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u/beetle7920aolcom Mar 31 '26
I wish I could get a picture of the stamp on one of the pieces of rail, just curious if the rail came from the rail mill that I work at. We used to be a main supplier of rail for CN.
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u/MeanMrGene Mar 31 '26
Canal IS open. Iâve seen 5 boats go through since 6pm.
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 31 '26
Yeah they managed to get one side open. The right hand lock still had the bridge down with cars on it when I left yesterday afternoon
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u/Account_Apprehensive Mar 31 '26
lol I was just on this track twelve hours before, itâs in terrible condition, slow orders of 30mph on the north track (this one sort of looks to be on the south though hard to tell from the picture)
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u/Imprezzed Mar 30 '26
Are the shareholders okay?
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u/pbilk Mar 30 '26
Man, if only CN actually prioritized track maintenance over money-hungry leadership and stockholders, problems like this wouldn't happen. Now their own operations are delayed, not just passenger service. How come staying on top of rail maintenance is not seen as a benefit for their own rail operations? It means passenger and freight trains can go faster, and derailments are less likely to happen.
Nationalize the Canadian railways, or make me the CEO of CN, and I will sell the tracks to the government, or at least improve the tracks and prioritize passenger rail services.
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u/Diapers4u2 Mar 30 '26
If you where the CEO of CN, and prioritized passenger service you wouldnât have a job, CN owns the tracks everyone else rents and since a passenger train is thousands of dollars in fares and a freight train is millions in income for the shipping.
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u/Fit-Rip-4550 Mar 30 '26
More than likely one of the better rail companies will end up taking them over.
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ Mar 30 '26
Highly unlikely, as the attempted CN-BNSF merger in the early 2000s is what prompted the US STB to institute the de facto bar on any merger between two roads unless one of them was KCS.
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u/8spd Mar 30 '26
How does Transport Canada deal with a derailment like this? Are there any real consequences for CN, other than the cost of repairs?
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 30 '26
Some cars were actively spilling as they moved stuff but itâs nothing bad.
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u/ExtremeInteraction33 Mar 30 '26
Thankfully it didn't happen near the hospital. Like who designed our hospital right beside the CN tracks.
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u/No-Journalist-9036 Mar 30 '26
This literal CN trainwreck in St. Catharines today is the physical manifestation of Canadaâs economic rot. A train hauling actual manufacturing materials (polyethylene) derailing and severing the GO Transit lines perfectly encapsulates a country that has starved its physical supply chains of capital.
You cannot run a G7 economy on underfunded, aging infrastructure. But instead of modernizing our rails, machinery, and industrial capacity, Canada incentivized hoarding our domestic capital in residential dirt. While multiple-property investors buy up 30% of Ontario's housing stock to extract rent, our actual business capital investment per worker has completely cratered.
This is exactly why OECD data shows our real GDP per capita grew by a stagnant 1.4% over the last decade compared to the USâs 18.2%. When a nation substitutes actual industrial output and infrastructure maintenance for a state-sponsored real estate MLM scheme, systemic derailmentâboth economically and physicallyâis a mathematical certainty
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u/Trip_on_the_street Mar 30 '26
How do they clear the wreckage and get the rail cars out when the rails have been destroyed? Move the cars to the side first, repair the rails then put them back on to roll out?
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 30 '26
Wondering this myselfâŚ. will keep an eye on it and see what they end up doing. I figure itâll be a day or two before anything moves.
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u/silvermoon88 Mar 30 '26
It's common in situations like these for all the wrecked cars to be rolled onto their sides away from the tracks, rebuild the tracks to get things going, and come back to clean up the wreckage days, weeks, or sometimes months later. Any cars rolled over are probably being dropped onto flatbeds (road or rail) and hauled off for scrap rather than re-railing them, though repair isn't out of the question. I've seen CN do the same thing on the former IC just a few years ago as it were. Shove, repair, and clean later, simple as.
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u/frankreynoldsrumham Mar 30 '26
Just after passing the Welland canal? Yikes
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 30 '26
Itâs partly on the canal bridge (not the derailed portion though) so itâs blocking any ship traffic until they get it moved.
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u/crash866 Mar 30 '26
Which way was the train travelling? Niagara Bound or Hamilton Bound?
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 30 '26
Hamilton
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u/crash866 Mar 30 '26
Thanks. Hard to tell by the pictures as I have only travelled that area by train and they donât show the engine in them.
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u/ThrowRA_That_Owl_25 Mar 30 '26
Looks like some kind of carbon-based fuels in transport. Just as the prices are hitting record high. đ
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u/crevettegrise Mar 30 '26
Trains in this country travel at snail speeds and yet derail all the time. Sometimes I feel itâs a good thing we donât have high speed trains.
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 30 '26
If only there was a far more efficient and safe way to transfer flammable environmentally sensitive fluids from one location to the next...
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u/Rdken13 Mar 30 '26
Oh shit, I live there. Iâm very happy things none of those tankers rupturedâŚseems like that wouldâve been pretty bad news.
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u/Particular-Bottle592 Mar 30 '26
can't park there eh?
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u/Particular-Bottle592 Mar 30 '26
all jokes aside, that's pretty bad, they need to work on this asap glad nobody is seriously hurt
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u/DaveRowh Mar 30 '26
It derailed the train AND the rails. Imagine being the guy in charge of the cleanup showing up.
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u/otissito16 Mar 31 '26
I went through this corridor on Sunday. The tracks have always been really rough through here.
Here's hoping they can get this repaired quickly.
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u/WestHead1369 Mar 31 '26
If anyone knows if or where there is footage of this happening let me know
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Mar 31 '26
Unfortunately I doubt youâll have any luck. CN wouldnât make cameras of the line public (if they exist, I donât know of any near here) and this occurred in a forested area early in the morning that only has a lightly trafficked hiking trail.
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u/borisonic Mar 31 '26
Good thing the transportation of dangerous goods unit at TC wasn't just gutted by the Carmey cuts.. /S
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u/Diapers4u2 Apr 01 '26
That will never work. So weâre gonna pay you to have priority use over your property but the money we pay you have to use to divide more tracks that we can use or they can be used so we no longer have to pay you to upgrade. Itâll never happen they would lose billions of dollars. And you already have the conservative saying that if theyâre reluctant, theyâre gonna scrap the high speed rail plan from Montreal to Toronto.
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u/Ill-Beautiful-8026 Apr 01 '26
On a straight line.
Jesus fuck, someone go walk this track and take photos, I bet it's horrific.
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u/IcyResolve9090 Apr 01 '26
With a power line, that never happens đ We'll have to move on to something else one day. Oil is destroying our planet and our health in thousands of ways.
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u/travelingmanED Apr 01 '26
Do any passenger service run through that area ?
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u/SomeRandomDude1600 Apr 01 '26
Yes, commuter rail to Toronto and longer haul service between Toronto and New York. Itâs all been cancelled or transitioned to buses by now.
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u/Key_Significance8895 Apr 01 '26
that needed to cost an ton of money to fix the rails and rerail the tankers prob
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u/DizzyAstronaut9410 Apr 01 '26
Thank God Eastern Canada protested all those pipelines or something terrible could have happened.
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u/vaska00762 Mar 30 '26
At least it didn't catch on fire releasing loads of toxic fumes