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Even with the cost of moving the St-Luc rail yard off the island and decontaminating the 200 hectares of land they sit on, Canadian Pacific could make half a billion dollars by relocating them, according to a feasibility study conducted by McGill University graduate students.

Former west-end politician Robert Libman, who founded the non-profit Coalition for the Relocation of the St-Luc Rail Yards last year, helped push the McGill study to fruition.

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Libman, an architect, estimates the land is worth $1.2 billion, but relocation and decontamination would cost about half that. However, he noted that decontamination can be supported by government grants.

“The report finds a major cost benefit for CP to relocate the yards,” said Libman. “The potential economic spinoffs and benefits far outweigh the cost to CP. They can generate a large profit and help us by doing so.”

That help, Libman explains, comes in the form of connecting all the major transportation arteries currently blocked by the yards, while adding to the tax base with a modern, sustainable development that keeps families on the island rather than contributing to the urban sprawl that continues to expand outward from Montreal every year.