Rod Haugerud was happy to learn recently that the Canadian National Railway line between Regina and Davidson, Sask., had finally been advertised for sale.
Now he and the others who incorporated a numbered company to buy the line can start negotiating.
“We’ve been working for about a year getting ready for this date,” said Haugerud, who is mayor of Craik, Sask.
The group wants to buy 137 kilometres of the Craik subdivision, from inside Regina to Davidson, and use it to haul grain and freight and possibly offer passenger service. It has until June 27 to strike a deal with CN.
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It is also waiting for a Canadian Transportation Agency ruling this week that will affect how much the line is worth. The ruling involves municipal bylaws that require railways to return rail beds to their previous state and compensation for grain dependent lines.
Those factors could inflate the net salvage value of the line, Haugerud said.
However, he said the company intends to close the deal.
“We in no way will allow CN to remove our line,” he said.
CN posted three lines for sale last week. Buyers have until June 23 to express interest in the White Bear sub, from the Eston Junction to near Lacadena, Sask., and the Matador sub from where the tracks leave the property line of the Elrose sub to a point near Kyle, Sask., a distance of 48.1 km.
A total of 221.9 km are involved. All three lines had been on the company’s three-year discontinuance plan.
The company that Haugerud speaks for includes the rural municipalities of Sherwood, Willner, Arm River, McCraney and Dundurn, the towns of Davidson and Craik, the Saskatchewan villages of Kenaston and Chamberlain and two private businesses.
The company would raise the money to buy the track through a public offering. It also hopes to acquire running rights on the northern half of the line from Davidson to Saskatoon.
Haugerud said the Craik sub hasn’t seen any traffic for several years. For a while, long lines of rail cars sat idle on the tracks.
The as yet unnamed short-line railway would load producer cars and is well positioned to be part of the proposed inland port concept that Saskatchewan Agrivision is promoting.
Haugerud said shippers have come forward to say they would use the line. The business plan doesn’t include passenger service, but commuter trains into the two large centres at either end of the line are possible.
“We’ve even thought of a Rider train to run down to football games,” he said.
He added that, on average, 980 semi-trucks travel Highway 11 between Saskatoon and Regina each day. Removing just one truck loaded with grain is the same as taking 9,000 to 10,000 cars off the road.
