CN Rail says it expects to sell a network of rail lines in northwestern Saskatchewan to a short-line rail company before the end of the year.
The railway has invited bids on the Warman subdivision, which runs from just north of Saskatoon to Prince Albert, and on a length of track running from just east of North Battleford to Meadow Lake.
The two lines total 449 kilometres and carried 16,850 carloads of traffic in 1996, mainly grain and forest products.
CN spokesperson Scott Roberts said while the company expects to sell the lines, if that doesn’t happen they won’t be abandoned.
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CN will put together a short list of three or four potential buyers by Sept. 1. The successful bidder should be known by October.
Roberts declined to identify any potential bidders, but a Saskatchewan government official familiar with the rail industry said it was rumored that CN had invited four firms to bid; three U.S. short-line companies and an Edmonton-based company called Railink.
Roberts said the lines should be attractive to a short-line operator because both carry significant volumes of forest products and are not grain dependent.
“Diversity of traffic is certainly one of the big factors.”
The lines are being sold because they are awkward to serve based on CN’s crew locations, he said.
