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County Council Shares Concerns Over High Speed Rail Line

Wednesday, 12 July 2017 at 13:49

County Councillors expressed some of their concerns regarding a proposed high speed rail line from Windsor to Toronto.

Oxford County has agreed to be apart of an environmental assessment for a proposed High Speed Rail Line from Windsor to Toronto. 

However the motion did include an amendment to share some of the concerns Oxford County has with the proposed line. Zorra Township Mayor Margaret Lupton worries the proposed line would close off the north end of their township from Oxford County. Lupton worried that because the rail line would not have any crossing it could cut off Zorra residents from Oxford County services, forcing them into Stratford. 

Warden David Mayberry tells Heart FM they also have concerns about the impact this rail line could have on agricultural lands. 

"We are concerned about, what is the viability of Via Rail if we have a high speed rail. Does that mean Oxford County, Woodstock and Ingersoll for example get left out because they no longer have rail transportation. We are also concerned about the impact of it going through agricultural land because their won't be any crossings or very few. It's going to cut farms in half and what is the impact on agriculture production." 

Mayberry says they wanted to endorse the environmental assessment so they can be in on the discussions. 

"Before the process even started, for the last year we have been meeting with them and we want to continue having that conversation to make sure that the concerns that Oxford County and even the rest of the rural counties have are heard and being understood that these are very real concerns for real people." 

County Councillor and East Zorra Tavistock Mayor Don McKay also expressed his concerns about the proposed rail line and what it could mean for agricultural lands in Oxford County. 

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