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Brampton commits to preserving OBRY in Official Plan

May 5, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

The City of Brampton has announced its commitment to preserving the Orangeville Brampton Railway (OBRY) in its newly released Official Plan.

The Town of Orangeville announced it sold five-acre of rail lands to Brampton on Jan. 10 for $24.25 million, after decommissioning the rail line in 2021. The line ran from Orangeville south through Caledon, and Brampton to Streetsville where it connects with Canadian Pacific’s main line.

Under Brampton’s Official Plan it says the City will protect the decommissioned rail infrastructure and advocate for the line to be incorporated into Metrolinx’s Commuter Rail Network to provide north-south public transportation. This is intended to provide relief for the rapidly growing municipalities of Orangeville, Caledon, and Brampton, as well as to provide greater connections to the cities of Mississauga and Toronto.

The Official Plan goes on to say that the City of Brampton will leverage the decommissioned railway for alternative uses until which time it is re-commissioned.

The plan also notes that new development adjacent to the decommissioned Orangeville Brampton Railway lands will protect for the appropriate setbacks and have regard for the potential for the line to be recommissioned.

Advocates of keeping the Orangeville railway intact for transit uses see this announcement by the City of Brampton as a win, since the current Orangeville Council isn’t interested in protecting the rail infrastructure for future transit uses.

This is largely because there is little demand for transit services between Orangeville and Brampton presently, making it a money losing proposition until which time the population in Dufferin County significantly grows.

Ontario growth plans project the number of people living in Dufferin will increase by over 31 per cent to 81,000 residents from 61,735 by 2036. That number is expected to reach 95,000 by 2051.

Another reason that Council wants to offload the railway is because of the $450,000 annual property tax burden that Orangeville pays to Caledon, Mississauga and Brampton for the rail line.

This represents approximately 1.5 per cent of Orangeville’s annual tax levy.

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