Chatham-Kent Council is agreeing to a $3.6-million offer to buy track materials, like steel and wood ties, from CP Rail.
An 8-6 vote at a special council meeting Thursday night approved the move before the deadline of March 2.
Some councillors didn't feel it was the municipality's job to own a rail line, but Councillor Joe Faas sees it differently.
"By having a rail service you're taking out numerous trucks off our main roads," says Faas. "Especially if you look at our winter this year and the wear and tear on our roads, if you can take those trucks off our roads and put [their goods] on rail it's a lot cheaper [for businesses] and our infrastructure is saved."
Administration and councillors stressed the municipality won't be running rail operations, but will continue its search for a private sector operator. The former CSX Transportation rail line would have been abandoned had the municipality not stepped up in 2006 and Faas feels now is not the time to back out with potential new opportunities available.
"If that fertilizer plant comes in, that rail line is going to be worth considerably more dollars," says Faas. "We're elected to do the right thing, it's not the popular thing. I think this is one of those cases where we try to do the right thing and not the popular thing."
The municipality's Wallaceburg Dresden Chatham Rail corporation already owns the land underneath the 42 km (26 mi) of tracks serving the Wallaceburg, Tupperville, Dresden and Chatham areas.