Federal investment in southern Alberta rail lines applauded by local community

The short line rail upgrades will stretch from Stirling to Foremost, with the latter community’s mayor Lorne Buis saying this money has been a long time coming.

“This federal infrastructure funding is huge,” said Buis. “Now we can upgrade our sidings and rail track to be able to accommodate unit trains.”

Currently, the short line railway restricts the number of cars that can be moved at one time to be 25 cars and only saw 263 carloads exported in 2018.

With the latest upgrades, the line will be able to export roughly 4,000 carloads in the short-term and up to 15,000 carloads in the long term.

“If we can ship unit trains, it’s a huge cost savings to the rail line and to the farmer,” said Buis. “The freight charges are lower on a unit train than they are if we ship minimal trains.”

The total cost of the project is expected to come out at around $9.3 million, with the federal government matching money raised at the local level.

Buis, who also serves as the director of procurement for Forty Mile Rail, added the upgrades will help larger and small trains passing each other co-exist.

“If we get like a 70 car train in, there’s nowhere to pass another set of cars on our line,” he said. “So by putting some sidings in, it gives us opportunities to have cars sitting on a siding and the main train can go by.”

The rail line in Foremost was established in 2016 and at times has struggled, mostly due to drought conditions in the area over the last three years.

With this new cash infusion, Buis says it will keep the rail line well used and help the community’s economic outlook.

“It’s great to see that the town is excited,” said Buis. “Like anything happening here, these small towns, if you don’t try to grow you’re going to die. So, anything we can do to generate some growth is perfect.”

The southern Alberta region will see growth of just under 100 jobs while construction on the line occurs.

Rail shipping in Foremost has had a complicated history over the years with a CP Rail line being a focal point of the community before being abandoned 13 years ago.

“They saw the abandonment of the rail line back in I believe 2006, where CP [Rail] quit running on it,” said Buis. “So when we re-opened it, that was huge to them. A lot of them sat here and had tears in their eyes when the first train pulled in.”

Earning the confidence of Ottawa to invest in the heartbeat of the village, Buis added it’s up to their community and others on the line to prove the investment is worth it.

“We’ve battled hard and struggled hard,” he said. “We’ve been trying everything we can and learned some lessons along the way, like anything. Now we sit here and we go, ‘Okay, we’re just about to the top of the hill. When we get over it, can we handle the momentum that we’re going to gain going down?’”

Construction is slated to begin sometime this fall, while the village is also considering holding an open house in conjunction with HALO for the public in the coming weeks.

by Scott Roblin

Federal investment in southern Alberta rail lines applauded by local community

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