Moving rail lines or sharing corridors ‘fundamentally unworkable’ for CP and CN

A City of Saskatoon request to develop a shared corridor or to relocate rail lines is off track, according to both Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)  and Canadian National Railway (CN).

An engineering study was commissioned in 2017 by the city to study how to reduce chronic delays and safety issues associated with city rail lines.

In 2018 it was completed and included the cost of either relocating the existing CP railway line outside of the city limits or constructing grade separations at some or all of the nine crossings for both companies.

The request for support then went to both companies in September 2019.

In its response, CP senior vice president James Clements wrote, “The negotiated use of the existing CN rail right of way is fundamentally unworkable.”

He also said that the idea would damage the capacity and efficiency of the rail system.

Clement further added that the report commissioned by the city, “does not offer serious analysis of the numerous and complex factors that would have to be properly understood before CP could even consider a proposal.”

And the letter emphasized that the study did not consider the interests of existing property owners, Indigenous communities, environmental factors or regulatory challenges –  something CN also cited in its response.

CN’s public affairs spokesperson Lindsay Brumwell said the company did not wish to share its corridor with CP either.

Brumwell reminded the administration that “CN moved our tracks to the outskirts of the city a few decades ago to facilitate our growth, operations, customers’ demands, and the community. Any rail infrastructure redesign that could impact our competitiveness and previous investments will need to be considered carefully.”

The responses were presented Monday, Sept. 8 to the standing policy committee on transportation and were received as information.

Mayor Charlie Clark said while it was important to keep the lines of communication with the two companies open in the future, now was not the time to continue to pursue the matter.

“We don’t want to be chasing ideas that are not feasible any further than is worth it, and I think at this point based on what we’re hearing, that’s the state we’re at with that shared corridor.”