A railroad company admits there will be challenges to starting a short line in southern Manitoba.
CN Rail reached an agreement in principle this month to transfer the Miami subdivision to Manitoba Southern Railway Inc. The subdivision, a 230-kilometre stretch of track, runs from Miami to Elgin, Man.
Manitoba Southern Railway is a newly created affiliate of Tulare Valley Railroad Company of Salt Lake City, Utah. Steve Van Wagenen, an assistant vice-president of Tulare, said it will be a challenge to keep grain from flowing to other railways for shipment from the area.
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The Miami subdivision serves 15 elevators owned by four grain companies. But in southwestern Manitoba, grain companies have located their new inland terminals on rail lines either north or south of the track that Tulare will soon control.
Area farmers are being enticed to the larger terminals with incentives, such as free transport of their grain from the farmgate. That threatens to syphon grain away from the Miami subdivision.
“We’re hoping the community and shippers on that line will realize we’re trying to make it a viable line,” Van Wagenen said.
“We’d love to increase the amount of traffic.”
The new short line service will begin there in August, according to Van Wagenen. The line handled 1,900 carloads of grain last year.
Tulare, which has been involved in the railroad industry for more than 30 years, saw potential in the Miami subdivision based on historical levels of traffic. The amount of rail service on the line will be increased based on demand, said Van Wagenen.
Doug Robertson, who farms land near Minto, Man., welcomed the news that a short line will be started in the area. Robertson chairs a committee formed to help that effort.
CN put the line up for sale almost three years ago. It was announced last August that CN would abandon the line if a buyer was not found.
Robertson said the loss of the line would have affected farmers and communities situated on the Miami subdivision. He hopes people in the area support the proposed short line.
“We’ll either use it or lose it,” he said last week.
Morris Kulmer, president of Manitoba Southern Railway Inc., said he is optimistic about the future of the new short line. He noted that it runs through the “heartland of Manitoba’s grain region.”
