SASKATOON – Prairie branch lines have escaped the axe in the latest round of rail line abandonment.
CP Rail released its official three-year rationalization plan two weeks ago, under which it will cease operations on about 2,600 kilometres of track across the country. Some lines will be abandoned and some have been proposed for transfer to short-line operators.
The list includes no lines from Manitoba or Saskatchewan and only one small segment of a line in Alberta.
Service on the last 8.5 kilometres of the Breton subdivision, which runs west from Leduc, Alta., to Breton, will be discontinued at an undetermined date. There is no grain movement on the portion to be abandoned.
Read Also
New coal mine proposal met with old concerns
A smaller version of the previously rejected Grassy Mountain coal mine project in Crowsnest Pass is back on the table, and the Livingstone Landowners Group continues to voice concerns about the environmental risks.
Some bad news
However CP’s announcement confirmed some earlier bad news for prairie grain producers.
While the new three-year plan doesn’t include any grain lines, the railway confirmed that as of July 31 it has ceased operations on 440 km of low volume, grain dependent lines as recommended earlier this year by the old National Transportation Agency .
The 11 lines abandoned last week are:
- Saskatchewan – the Dunelm subdivision from Player to Simmie, the Neudorf subdivision from Esterhazy to Neudorf, the Shamrock subdivision from McMahon to Hak and the Prince Albert subdivision from Lanigan to St. Benedict.
- Manitoba – the Gretna subdivision from Gretna to Altona, the Russell subdivision from Binscarth to Inglis and the Lyleton subdivision from Deloraine to Rhein.
- Alberta – the Langdon subdivision from Cosway to Carbon, the Langdon/Acme subdivisions from Irricana to Cosway and from Cosway to Wimborne, the Lomond subdivision from Vauxhall to Hays and the Stirling subdivision from Orion to Etzikom.
