Photo/MANDI HARGRAVE THE OFFICIAL OPENING of Orangeville's new train station was held on Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Left to right: Mayor Rob Adams, Councillor Gary Kocialek, Project Manager Vern Douglas, Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock, Councillor Sylvia Bradley, Councillor Mary Rose and Steve Gallagher, operations manager with Cando Contracting Ltd., operator of the Orangeville-Brampton Railway and its Credit Valley Explorer tour train. The future of the Credit Valley Explorer tour train looks noticeably brighter as the result of an announcement at the official opening of Orangeville's new train station last Thursday.

Those on hand heard James Stiver, general manager of the town's Orangeville Railway Development Corporation (ORDC), confirm that Cando Contracting Ltd. will continue as operator of the Orangeville Brampton Railway, the surviving Orangeville-Streetsville portion of the former CP Rail line between Toronto and Owen Sound.

A dispute over cost-sharing between the Explorer and the short line's freight customers had threatened to bring about Cando's ouster as operator on July 22, just as the Explorer's seasonal patronage was expected to peak. However, the town and OBRAG (Orangeville-Brampton Railway Access Group) resolved their differences and Mr. Stiver says an agreement was reached on May 25. He portrayed the pact as a duplicate of the previous tripartite agreement.

The Town-owned station at the rail yard on Townline is designed to accommodate the needs of both the tour train and Cando.

The ORDC's board of directors voted last year to proceed with plans designed by Dickinson & Hicks Architects for the ticket office and railway building. The new 1,240-squarefoot structure boasts a ticket office, washrooms, indoor and outdoor waiting areas, and an office for the short-line operator whose office space had previously been housed in the old CPR bunkhouse/restaurant, which burnt to the ground in March 2006.

The building and station platform cost $228,000, with an additional $70,000 for architectural and engineering fees, hydro pedestals, new transformers, installing new services to the building, and installing new light standard bases.

Sources of funding for the project were primarily insurance money from the bunkhouse fire, plus revenues from the sale of some surplus lands to the City of Brampton and a portion of the funds donated to the Town in 2006 in compensation for the demolition of the Robert Perfect House on west Broadway.

"It's all good news," Mayor Rob Adams said at the official opening. "These days, it's unusual to be at the opening of a train station. This represents yet another milestone in local rail service and once again demonstrates the Town's innovative spirit that has made this railway a continuing success.

"We can and will build the rail service, both the freight service and tourist train, and we are always looking for even more partnerships to continue the success story. I'm also pleased that the Town and OBRAG have reaffirmed their commitment to Cando as the railway's short-line operator. They have done a terrific job at building the rail service and we are more than happy to see that relationship continue."

The Town purchased the 55 km of the CPR's Owen Sound Subdivision in 2000 following the railway company's announcement that the rail line would be abandoned. The line is now referred to as the Orangeville Brampton Railway (OBRY). The acquisition came in response to the potential loss of several major industries in the community that rely on freight rail service for competitive transportation costs and to the potential loss of over 500 jobs or more supported by these industries.

The short line currently serves six industries in Orangeville and Brampton and Cando currently provides regular freight service two days per week (Tuesday and Friday) plus other days as requested by customers.

Meanwhile, the Explorer, "tourist excursion train", billed as Southern Ontario's most scenic tour train," is in its fourth year of operation and more popular than ever. (Tour information and schedules are available at www. creditvalleyexplorer.com.

"The Conductor" tree sculpture, carved by local artist Jim Menken, has been relocated to the interior of the new train station to greet visitors to the new railway building.