Efforts to start a new short-line rail service in western Manitoba appear to be on track.
An American-based company expects service on the line to begin later in May. The line will run from just north of Dauphin, Man., to just east of Minitonas, Man.
“We’re going to be relying on the people up there to really make this fly,” said Jeff Wood, executive vice-president of the Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western Railroad, based in Bismarck, North Dakota. “I think the support is there to do so.”
Read Also
Short rapeseed crop may put China in a bind
Industry thinks China’s rapeseed crop is way smaller than the official government estimate. The country’s canola imports will also be down, so there will be a lot of unmet demand.
CN Rail has agreed in principle to transfer the section of track, known as the Cowan subdivision, to the Village of Ethelbert. The village will then transfer ownership to Great Northern Railway, owned by the Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western Railroad.
“This looked like a natural fit to things that may happen in the future,” Wood said. “We’re very open minded about what can happen there.”
Some maintenance and repair work is needed before the short line swings into service. A portion of the track was undermined by floods in 1993.
Lumber products and grain will be among the freight carried on the line.
For Maxine Plesiuk, the defining moment will come when a locomotive rolls down the track. As reeve for the rural municipality of Ethelbert, Plesiuk was a force behind efforts to save the Cowan subdivision.
“I think what we have here is a base to start from and room to grow,” she said last week. She suspects other portions of track in the region could become available for short-line service.
Plesiuk said she is happy with the CN relationship. However, she maintains that changes to federal legislation are needed to ease establishment of short lines. She does not believe national railways should be allowed to sell branch lines piecemeal.
The latest outcome will offer encouragement to other communities trying to save rail lines from abandonment, Plesiuk said.
“If anything else, it should encourage people not to give up. It was by no means easy. We were just fortunate that we had some backers who have come in and seen the potential of this line.”
The outlook for short lines in Manitoba appears to be improving. The Hudson Bay line, now owned by Denver-based OmniTrax, was the first branch line converted into short-line service in the province.
Other short lines
Cando Contracting, based in Brandon, Man., plans to launch a short line from Pine Falls, Man., to Winnipeg next month. That will be the first provincially regulated line in the province. Freight will include fuel, coal, grain, pulp and paper, steel and fertilizer.
“There’s no doubt this is going to happen,” said Cando president Gord Peters last week. “The locomotives are running in Winnipeg right now.”
He hopes to have a short line running from Winnipeg to Carman. His company already operates a line between Collingwood and Barrie, Ont.
