HALIFAX—One councillor’s commuter rail dream has been stopped dead in its tracks.

After an in-camera discussion on Tuesday, Halifax regional council voted unanimously to direct staff “not to pursue commuter rail service further … due to the infrastructure requirements and associated financial implications, as well as operational considerations and restraints.”

Council voted in 2016 to explore the idea of a partnership with Via Rail to create a commuter rail service taking passengers from Windsor Junction to downtown Halifax, with stops along the way in Bedford and elsewhere, on existing tracks owned by Canadian National Railway (CN).

The Via proposal, which was unsolicited, followed a 2015 feasibility study that said commuter rail was too expensive, with initial costs of between $36 million and $72 million in addition to annual operating costs of $8 million.

All discussions since then have been in-camera, meaning behind closed doors, due to a nondisclosure agreement with CN.

Councillor Tim Outhit, who represents the rapidly growing Bedford area and has been the biggest proponent of commuter rail over the years, told reporters after a closed-door meeting in December that the discussions were getting closer to a resolution.

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“I think the next update on this, and it’ll be close to a go-or-no, will be certainly within the next several months,” he said.

On Tuesday, council voted no.

“Obviously this is not a good day for me or my district or development or people,” Outhit said after the vote.

“I believe what we had was a chance to do something with commuter rail that was transformational.”

Outhit said the federal and provincial governments were supportive of commuter rail, but they couldn’t come to a deal with CN.

“We just couldn’t agree to the terms and conditions that CN, who owns the track, would want,” he said.

“Even if we were to put down the track, for example, they would still own it and control how and when we would use it.”

Staff at Halifax Transit said they’ll keep commuter rail as an option as part of their look at higher-order transit solutions, but Outhit said “this is probably the end of it for the foreseeable future.”

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Outhit’s now turning his attention to other modes of transportation to ease congestion between his growing district and the peninsula, including bus lanes, widening the Bedford Highway and especially ferries.

“I think there’s a renewed interest in taking another look at … some sort of ferry service,” he said.

“If not, then we’re certainly going to have to cut back the proposed development along the Bedford Highway because the highway as it stands can’t take it.”

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