CORNWALL – A group of local politicians say they had a “constructive” meeting with Via Rail over Cornwall’s train service and station investment.
In a joint statement, Cornwall Mayor Glen Grant, Senator Bernadette Clement and MP Eric Duncan say they met with Via Rail CEO Cynthia Garneau on May 6 in Montreal.
The political panel wanted to address level of service and a “lack of capital investments” at the city rail station. They argue that other stations have manned kiosks while Cornwall does not.
Duncan, Clement and Grant also argued that dollars haven’t been put into the bricks and mortar building off Balmoral Avenue while comparable locations have “received million of dollars in funding for modernization and enhancements.”
The group wants a piece of the nearly $43 million in this year’s federal budget for station upgrades along the rail corridor.
The meeting is being described as a relationship “reset” with the rail company and comes a year after a Via Rail spokesman faced hard questions from city council about why Cornwall was left off the corporation’s high frequency rail plans.
In a prepared statement, MP Eric Duncan called the meeting a “step in the right direction after years of frustration.”
“As a community (of well over 100,000 people with SD&G and Akwesasne), we need more connection, not less,” Senator Bernadette Clement added.