Canadian Pacific to File for Abandonment.
CP has advised that  it will formally file to the Canadian Transportation Agency for authority to abandon the rail line from just west of Rathwell to just west of Nesbitt (the Line).

What Does This Mean to You and Your Community?
Should CP ultimately receive authority to abandon the Line:

• there will little if any future opportunity for the communities along the Line to grow and prosper and many communities will deteriorate and some may disappear, as the likelihood of attracting any industry or industrial development to a community not served by a railroad is limited
• many producers will continue to be required to haul their output to market 25, 50 to 100 miles from their farm gate and the current trucking subsidies paid by grain companies will dry up and disappear
• the Municipal road system will be subject to Super B and other truck traffic for years to come which will eventually destroy the grid road system, unless major road maintenance and upgrades are done on a regular basis, at significant costs to rate payers

Benefits to Local Economies include:

• Purchases of fuel, hardware, and other goods and services which engenders the creation and continued operation of local businesses along the line (grain handling, Co-ops, banks, restaurants, insurance brokers, equipment, and automobile dealerships as examples).

What Can be Done About Saving the Railway?

• A save the railway committee has been given the task to develop a recovery plan for the proposed rail line discontinuance announced by CP Railway. A steering committee has been established that includes representatives from communities located along the rail line.
• RailWest Management Ltd. a short line railway consulting company has determined it is feasibility to acquire the assets of the Line before it can be abandoned.
• The River Hills Railroad Company (RHRRR) has been incorporated  for the purposes of the purchase of the Line.
• A business plan has been completed, showing the initial costs and the benefits and operating costs of acquiring the Line.
• Initiatives are underway to raise the capital required to complete the purchase of a portion of the Line and the lease of the balance of the Line from CN.

Communities:

• Retention of community identity and the current way of life
• Retention of industrial development opportunities
• Establishment of producer car loading facilities at selected locations to replace the business formerly associated with producers hauling to country elevators

Benefits for Local and Municipal Governments:

• Continuation of the payment of property taxes to each town, village or RM through which RHRR operates;
• The attraction of new business and the rejuvenation of old business facilities to offset the negative effects of prairie grain elevator rationalization programs, in particular the development of producer car loading facilities, as fuel prices and costs related to provincial and municipal infrastructure maintenance and construction continue to rise;
• Assurance that economic development opportunities for communities located on the line will continue to exist, which opportunities would disappear if the railway were to be abandoned;
• Avoidance of increasing maintenance and upgrade costs of the grid road system caused by the incidence of increased truck traffic, if the RHRR were to be abandoned.

RMs:

• Retention of tax base
• Fewer trucks on the County road system

Benefits to Producers include:

• Savings of up to $1,515 in elevation charges and other grain company charges per producer car;
• This results in a savings of $1.061 million at 700 cars Year 1 to $1.553 million at 1,025 cars Year 5 ( 1);
• Avoidance of fuel surcharges passed on by commercial truckers or future highway / grid road user fees.