It’s been almost seven years since a train ran from Port Hawkesbury to Sydney on the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway, but residents along Highway 223 still pay hefty tolls to get utility service on private railway tracks to their homes.
Some residents living between Little Bras d’Or and Grand Narrows are frustrated with the tolls paid to the owners of the Genesee and Wyoming Railroad and want changes.
Before she bought land in Beaver Cove last September, Carol Young heard rumors about how much it might cost to power her home. She knew she’d have to deal with the owner of the railroad.
Young paid nearly $30,000 to have electricity wired to his house.
“Everything we were warned about happened. But it just seemed like it was really that expensive,” Young said.
There were the usual costs of poles and service wire spanning 403 meters — $6,810.20 paid to Bell Aliant — and another $21,134.61 to Nova Scotia Power. Of that, $14,410 is classified as “other” charges in the citation.
Fees are added up
A Nova Scotia Power representative could not say how much of that $14,410 went to the railroad owners, but the “other” category is divided into three areas: costs to the railroad owner, costs related to mandatory work on design and study under the Transport Canada Act and a fee charged by the NSP for design review.
Jacqueline Foster, NSP communications advisor, said there are requirements under the Transport Canada Act that must be met when a customer requests a service that involves running power lines over a railway line, and written consent is also required from the owner on the railway line.
Application and right-of-way fees are transmitted through the NSP and paid to the railroad owner.
A railroad runs along the eastern shore of the lakes, and people say that the tolls charged by the company to cross the tracks are exorbitant. (Joan Wicks/CBC)
André Houde, vice-president of human resources at Genesee and Wyoming Canada Inc., said in a statement that the fees assessed by the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railways to run power lines, internet and other utilities across their right-of-way were explained on theirs website.
“For private crossing agreements, fees are assessed on a case-by-case basis and depend on the amount of encroachment and the type of easement granted,” Hood said.
According to the website, residents must apply for a utility license to begin the process. There is a $1,000 application fee and a $1,750 engineering review fee for processing. If approved, then a rail property access permit must be secured – costing another $1,750.
For example, an overhead wire crossing application costs $4,500. The company also offers expedited processing for an additional $2,500.
Young never thought it would cost so much to gain power, both financially and mentally.
“Nobody’s listening to anybody. Nobody’s taking action. And it’s a really sad situation,” Young said.
Provincially regulated
Residents of the area have long been fighting for the government to make changes to the fees.
In 2017, the Nova Scotia government paid a consultant $15,000 to investigate tolls charged by the railway’s owner.
This report estimates the cost of installing new power lines across the railroad at about $16,300, including railroad owner approval and an NSP engineering estimate.
The consultant also found that there is no standard fee for private crossings in the seven other Canadian provinces where short-line rail operates, although OmniTrax in Manitoba has similar fees as Genesee and Wyoming for private crossing applications.
The Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway has been a provincially regulated railway since 1994. It is also subsidized by the government.
A Nova Scotia Department of Economic Development spokesperson confirmed the province has renewed the Rail Preservation Agreement with Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway Limited for an additional year from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023 at $360,000 per year .
Residents who spoke to CBC News still want the fees to be regulated or abolished by the government, especially since the trains are no longer running on the tracks.
Too expensive for many
Ed Fedora wants to move to Big Beach to retire, but he’s looking for hefty fees to run power through the rails to his little bungalow on the Braes d’Or Lakes. (Emily Latimer)
Ed Fedora has been a Big Beach vacationer for 20 years. He is close to retirement and wants to move there full time. But providing power on the tracks is a problem.
“We need energy. The Nova Scotia government is responsible for regulating rail as well as dealing with these power issues, but they have failed to do anything,” Fedora said.
Fedora knows of 50 families in the area who are without power because they refuse to pay the railroad.
He said it hinders development along Bras d’Or Lake.
“The province has done nothing for 20 years. It didn’t matter if she was liberal, conservative. They all passed the buck,” Fedora said.
“If this continues with the high cost of getting power and stuff here, I’m probably going to have to go, like a lot of my neighbors now, to full solar,” Fedora said.
Barriers to Internet connection
Residents have to pay thousands of dollars to run lines on these tracks in Cape Breton. (Emily Latimer)
It’s not just strength. Many residents who have been anticipating the 2021 expansion of fiber optic Internet in rural Cape Breton can’t afford the additional fees for the railroad to run fiber optic across the tracks.
“We had so many excited residents. And again, another hurdle to get across those lines,” said Cape Breton Regional Municipality, District 3 Coun. Cyril Macdonald.
“Most of the people there are seniors and they just can’t afford an extra few thousand dollars to run a line through the property to maybe get better internet,” he said.
A spokesperson for Bell Canada said there are significant costs associated with bringing optical fiber over rail, including surveying, construction and obtaining permits.
Macdonald said the rail surcharges are confusing and frustrating to residents.
“It looks like the railroad has this made-up number and the money goes somewhere, but they certainly don’t do maintenance on the railroads,” he said.
“Where does this money go?” he said in reference to the obstacles on the tracks, including deteriorating trestles and trees growing between the ties.
A Transport Canada spokesman said the Canadian Transportation Agency has the authority to resolve disputes involving road, utility and private crossings, but that oversight applies only to federally regulated railways.
Although there is no formal dispute mechanism in place for provincially regulated railways in Nova Scotia, landowners are advised to contact Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal and the Nova Scotia Utilities and Review Board if they cannot reach an agreement with landowners. railways.
Add Comment