WINNIPEG – CP Rail has not yet finalized its plans for prairie grain lines under the new transportation act.
“We are not in a position yet to say what will happen with them,” said Gill Mackie, spokesperson for CP’s marketing department, at a recent transportation conference.
Mackie will be responsible for working with would-be short-line rail operators when the new Canada Transportation Act becomes law. But he said grain branch lines won’t be put up for sale immediately.
Mackie said the railway wants to increase its density, or traffic per kilometre of track, by having other companies run some branch lines.
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“It allows us to keep business on our main line and focus on operating it more efficiently,” he said, adding the railway proved the theory during recent labor problems that left management operating only the main line.
Under Bill C-14, railways will have a three-year plan identifying lines they want to sell, lease, transfer or abandon. The plans will be available for public scrutiny.
Immediate sales will be allowed, and Mackie hinted there may be “some beehive of activity” after the act and its regulations become law.
