4 May 2009
Train Whistles Notably Absent
Pembroke Ontario - Have we heard the last of those
haunting moonlight whistles that for years has punctuated our nocturnal naps? Or is this just an aberration due to a sagging economy
that will eventually right itself and return everything to normal?
You would have to be living in a vacuum if you haven't noticed the absence of train whistles - day and night - through Pembroke and
Petawawa this week. Although we haven't been sitting at the tracks keeping count, as of the first three days last week only one
lonesome train was heard passing through early Tuesday evening.
While many people would insist this is a change for the better, there are others who silently lament the near loss of another symbol
of a simpler time. In a media release issued last week, Ottawa Valley Railway general manager Scott Campbell said due to a major
decline in business," the company was forced to lay off 30 employees in its transportation department. According to the release,
this is because of a decision by Canadian Pacific Railway to reroute freight trains away from the Ottawa Valley and onto its lines
between Sudbury and Montreal by way of Toronto, a change which could last for the rest of the year.
However, the situation may be a bit more complicated than a simple rerouting. According to media reports, a dispute between OVR and CP
over maintenance of the rail line is at the crux of the sudden lack of rail traffic.
A series of stories by our sister paper in North Bay, The Nugget, discussed an impasse over track maintenance causing the rerouting.
CP owns the rail line, but RailAmerica, which operates OVR, uses the tracks to transport forest products and cargo. Both contend the
other is responsible for track maintenance, thus the impasse.
Where this leads is anybody's guess because it really is a corporate decision that may or may not have been brought about by the
economy. We do know that the unavailability of freight service in this area will cause a significant interruption in business for many
of our county's major industries including forestry, AECL, and CFB Petawawa.
This will be a boon to the trucking industry in the short term, but there has to be a solution reached between these feuding
companies, most likely when things come to a head, lawyers get involved and a judge has to interpret their rental agreement. But the
wheels of justice spin slowly, so the end of the year may be a realistic estimate of when we can expect to learn about a resolution to
this dispute.
In the meantime, customers will have to find alternate means to ship their goods and people concerned about the safety of rail
crossings can rest a little easier at night without the regular 2:45 a.m. whistle.
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