GIO Rail reinstates St. Thomas to Tillsonburg industrial rail service

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GIO Rail, the Town of Tillsonburg, and SCOR EDC have announced that, in partnership with CN Rail, industrial rail service from St. Thomas to Tillsonburg will be reinstated through Phase 1 of the Future of Shortline Rail initiative.

Phase 2 will consist of further development into Norfolk County.

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GIO Rail reinstates St. Thomas to Tillsonburg industrial rail service Back to video

“Probably any day now we’re going to have our first outbound load, which is really the first revenue move for the railway,” said Gerry Gionet, President of GIO Rail. “We usually call that our first day of working.”

Gionet, former acting president of Niagara Region’s shortline Trillium Railway, started GIO Rail in 2016 when he bought the company. The Niagara line runs between St. Catharines and Port Colborne. They also operated a line between Orangeville-Streetsville, but Orangeville, the owner of the line, closed it on Dec. 31.

The newly announced GIO Rail line will run from St. Thomas to Tillsonburg for now, but is expected to extend into Courtland.

The rail track runs approximately 25 miles from St. Thomas in Elgin County through Tillsonburg in Oxford County and into Norfolk County. There are many businesses along the line that rely on access to rail, including four major regional employers. Within Elgin, Norfolk, and Oxford counties, there are more than 1,000 acres of industrial zoned property along the rail line.

The intent of the reinstated industrial rail service is to support these businesses, helping to retain approximately 400 jobs. Additionally, the service will provide opportunity for new businesses seeking access to rail.

The Future of Shortline Rail initiative began in November 2020 when GIO Rail, the Town of Tillsonburg, and SCOR EDC entered into a Letter of Intent to develop a business case for re-instating operations along the Cayuga Rail subdivision. Since then they have been engaging with stakeholders, including municipal councils, economic development officers, and businesses with the objective of re-instating sustainable and affordable rail service to benefit the region.

“It was just over a year now that we were contacted by SCOR,” said Gionet. “We started talks about ‘Would it possible to open the line? Does it make any sense at all?’

“We saw it as an area in Southwestern Ontario that we believe has a lot of potential for economic growth. We are a ‘if you build it, they will come’ type of company. We are willing to take a risk to see rail grow.”

SCOR EDC is looking to Transport Canada’s National Trade Corridor Fund in order to secure 50 per cent of funds needed to implement infrastructure improvements along the track. Additional supports from the federal and provincial governments are also being explored.

“We have been in the rail business for a long time, we see the potential of this track, region and the businesses along this corridor,” said Gionet. “We are pleased to have not only the support of the businesses who have been without logistics support over the past two years but also the support of the Town of Tillsonburg and SCOR EDC.”

Stephen Molnar, Mayor of Tillsonburg and Chair of SCOR EDC’s Future of Shortline Rail sub-committee, said “the manufacturing and agricultural businesses along this line of track are very important to the Town and surrounding region. Right now, we are in the business development stages – that means analyzing the economic impact of the rail on the businesses, the businesses on the region, and the costs associated with business development. We are exploring every option for support from other levels of government as well.”

“SCOR EDC, has always been about larger regional growth and big picture thinking,” said Robert Chambers SCOR EDC Chair. “We believe that infrastructure is critical to the success of the region.”