ORANGEVILLE, Ontario — GIO Rail operated the final train on the 34-mile Orangeville-Brampton Railway on Dec. 17, 2021, ending service on a line dating to 1879.
The final train departed Orangeville for Streetsville, Ont., at about 9:15 a.m., with about 100 people on hand, following a brief ceremony and photo opportunity including GIO President Gerry Gionet and town councillors. Nearby, the Clorox Co., makers of Glad plastic bags, was constructing a truck unloading pad at its factory where tracks had been ripped up receiving its last rail car three weeks previously. Earlier this year, Clorox and the line’s five other customers agreed to terminate their contract by the end of the year, after giving notice of their plans to do so about a year earlier [see “Orangeville, Ontario, short line faces abandonment,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 22, 2020.] It is anticipated most customer will now transload from Guelph, Ont.
Constructed and operated beginning in 1879 by the Credit Valley Railway, the line was operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway for most of its history, including an extension of the railway north to Owen Sound. By 1995 the Owen Sound lines were abandoned north of Orangeville, and in 2000 the Town of Orangeville struck a deal to purchase the remaining portion from CP with the help of $3.5 million in federal and provincial funding. Cando Contracting operated the line from 2000 to 2018, including the Credit Valley Explorer tourist train. With the railway passing through the Forks of the Credit provincial park, it was known as the “Southern Ontario’s most scenic rail tour.”
In July 2018 the torch was passed to Trillium Railway (now GIO Rail), which operated the railway until its closure.
Orangeville Mayor Sandy Brown, a real estate agent elected in 2018, campaigned on a promise of fiscal responsibility and the railway was one of his main targets, having run up an estimated operating deficit of about C$10 million over 20 years. With the railway gone, the town is in position to cash in on the rising real estate value of the railroad property. In downtown Brampton, the railway ran through 6 acres that once included the CPR station; City of Brampton public records indicate Brampton purchased these lands from the Town of Orangeville, setting aside $25.4 million for the land and build a park for nearby condominium owners. The Region of Peel has reportedly purchased the rest of the railway up to the Orangeville border — terms have not been released — and reportedly plan to convert the land to a trail in conjunction with towns along the right-of-way. The Town of Orangeville has not announced plans for its railway land, but seems certain to profit handsomely.
The CPR continues to own the final 2.4 miles of the line in Streetsville, and will will service customers there from a job based out of Toronto.
— Updated at 6:55 p.m. CST to correct amount of Brampton, Ont., purchase; additional minor corrections at 9 p.m. CST.
More trucks on the road, very short sighted.
Short sighted, $10m of 20-years is $500,000 per year, the cost of powering a large office building, school, or college dorm.
Just another 34 miles of track that will be ripped up when it will be needed in the near term for GO Transit commuter rail. I have ridden the Credit Valley Explorer tour train and it was indeed a very attractive ride. I was sorry to see that Trillium Rail did not chose to maintain the service.