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Originally Posted by pacman
Thanks for that, so it seems like it all happened because CN just didn't want the yards anymore, but it still seems so strange how easy it seems in retrospect for them to just get out of there when they had a better location and it made sense for them. To me that kinda confirms that even though rail relocation is truly a massive undertaking it really isn't as big of a pipe dream as people make it out to be. Obviously the scale of moving the CP Yards/Weston Shops is a lot more than what happened at the Forks, but in the end it boils down to motivation. Regardless, there is going to be a shit ton of money spent over the next few decades whether its forever maintaining/adding/replacing crossings or starting over with a blank slate and recapturing developable land. If I'm sinking billions of dollars into dealing with the tracks the way they are I'd be pretty inclined to spend some more and get them out of the way once and for all. Really curious if an actual realistic cost/benefit comparison would show keeping the yards as a no-brainer decision.
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I guess some of this boils down to corporate philosophy. CN, especially in the 60s, was prone to big, bold, dynamic thinking. It tried to be on the cutting edge and in that respect, it's no surprise that it replaced the smaller, older, outdated Fort Rouge and East Yards with the much more modern Symington Yard on the outskirts of town. Maybe having access to government money as a crown corporation, which it was back then, helped. In any event, the decision to move opened up a lot of space at what is now The Forks.
By contrast, the stodgier CP was less spendy. They continue to operate out of their centrally-located yards which have been in place since the 1800s. They would likely be better off with a more modern facility, but what they're doing appears to work for them. So how do you convince them to give up their facilities and move to CentrePort or wherever? How much is it going to cost in terms of buying out CP and then remediating the land left behind? What is the uptake likely to be for land in between the Centennial area and the North End? It's a less sure bet than The Forks was. The Forks is a nice place, but it's not exactly a money machine. Would it even be sustainable without the help coming in in the form of money diverted from the Portage Place parkade?
So the bottom line is that while it's certainly possible, relocating the CP yards and/or rail line may not be the most feasible project around. The bang for the buck is not likely to be great.