A $35 million agreement was signed between Quebec and the Société du chemin de fer de la Gaspésie for the railway line which, ultimately, should connect Matapédia to Gaspé.
The amount will contribute in particular to the replacement of culverts and rails, the improvement of drainage and the raising of ballast between Port-Daniel-Gascons and Gaspé.
The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault, emphasizes that this is additional good news in this “major sustainable development project for the region”.
The Gaspésie railway extends over 325 kilometers of railway between Matapédia and Gaspé. The section linking Matapedia and Caplan is currently in operation, while work is underway for the portion linking Caplan to Port-Daniel-Gascons, which is scheduled to open in 2024.
In June, an investment of $871.8 million was confirmed for the entire project, divided into three sections and to ensure the commissioning of the last of them, between Port-Daniel-Gascons and Gaspé in 2026.
Several works in this section are linked to issues specific to the geological and coastal conditions of Gaspésie. For example, the railway follows sandbanks for nearly 15 km, certain segments of which have been submerged, reports the project web page on the Ministry of Transport website.
The Société du chemin de fer de la Gaspésie is the operator of this network, mainly used for the transport of goods.
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