Relocated Saskatoon rail line 'not feasible' to CN, 'fundamentally unworkable' for CP

Efforts to remove railwaychoke points in Saskatoon appear to be at a logjam.

Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) two companies whose rail linesgo through Saskatoon and its outskirts have respectively called a consultant's preferred rail relocation option "not feasible" and "fundamentally unworkable."

The city's hired consultant, HDR Corporation, suggested relocatingthe CP mainline and CP Sutherland yard partly onto the CN mainline currently operating through the south side of the city. The idea is to divert train traffic from the city core. Work on the project began several years ago under then-mayor Don Atchison, according to Jay Magus, the city's director of transportation.

CP had voiced a preference for a route that went around the southern limits of the city, according to an update released by HDR last March, which includes a full concept map on its bottom page.

In a June 4 letter CP sent to city manager Jeff Jorgenson, however, CP wrote that the option calling for the negotiated use of CN's right of way is "fundamentally unworkable."

"[This option] would severely constrain the capacity and efficiency of the rail system, and it would eliminate CP's operational flexibility in an already constrained supply chain corridor," CP wrote.

CN in its own letter to Jorgenson dated July 31 wrote that "the actual flow and volume of current and future traffic in Saskatoon makes sharing an asset, like a right of way, not feasible."

"It limits the growth, flexibility and efficiency of our rail pipeline, which is not competitive or good for the Canadian economy," CN added.

HDR said the city's goal is to have the railways sign a memorandum of understanding, which would allow thecity "to further refine the preferred concept design."

Neither railway company voiced such support in their lettersand both said there are still many outstanding areas that need to be looked at.

"If circumstances change in the future to provide an opportunity for collaboration with both railways on rail relocation, the material may provide a good starting point for discussion," the city wrote in a report to city councillors earlier this week.

No further work on the file is planned, Magus said.

HDR's work which looked at other options too, including grade separations at current choke points cost around $340,000.

The city split that cost with the federal government, Magus said.

Shorten the trains, mayoral candidate says

Two candidates in the 2020 Saskatoon mayoral race have touched on the issue of rail lines in their campaign materials or remarks so far.

Planner and architectural technologist Cary Tarasoff has an entire "rail lines through the city" section in his platform.

"Since the rail companies are not feeling any pressure to [move], a standstill is at hand while the rail companies fully operate and wait out the city to finally have to spend taxpayer funds to get rail lines outside our city core," Tarasoff wrote.

"A larger plan is required to find a way to prepare for all rail traffic to leave the core of our citybut we need to be understanding of the necessity for this transport and respect our local rail workers that do hard work to keep our economy moving."

In the meantime, Tarasoff suggests advocating for shorter trains to cut down on the disruption time for drivers stalled by passing locomotives.

Don Atchison championed rail relocation in his bid for a fifth term back in 2016. Heagain called for the removal of rail lines whenannouncing his 2020 bid last week.

• Don Atchison shuns bike lanes and BRT, boosts mining and 'jobs, jobs, jobs'

In an interview on Thursday, Atchisonsaid moving lines would be a "defining moment" for the city, but that it won't happen overnight, citing other long-gestating projects such as the River Landing development.

"Most politicians deal in the four-year cycle," he said."I prefer to think of myself as one that wants to do what is best for the community and that it may take longer to do that. If we don't get started, it will never happen.

"Every major city in Canada would like to be able to move the rail lines from their communities. And I'd like Saskatoon to be the leader."

Asked about HDR's work,Atchison said, "We need to have background information in order to move forward."