By paNOW

Committee looking to acquire rail line between Birch Hills and Melfort

May 23, 2013 | 6:33 AM

The Birch Hills – Melfort Rail Line Steering Committee is in the process of acquiring an unused section of Canadian National Railway Company (CN) track between Birch Hills and Melfort.

Once back in service, the rail line would be a boon to local producers, said committee chairperson Wayne Bacon. “It will be used for hauling grain, that would be the big thing … farms will be able to load producer cars here and ship direct to terminals or different companies,” he said.

It would mean local producers wouldn’t have to transport their grain by truck, which would eliminate elevator fees and long drives to Melfort, Tisdale, or Nipawin, said Bacon.

The committee’s development consultant, Sherry Michalyca agreed. “Most products from an agricultural standpoint at some point will be put on a train, so why not do that from the very beginning and lower the costs for the producers,” she said.

These savings would benefit the surrounding communities as well as the producers, said Michalyca. “If producers on average can save $750-$1,250 per car that they ship and there’s 800 cars shipped a year on that line, that’s a lot of money that goes back into the local economy.”

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The committee recently commissioned a study of the 56.65 km stretch of track that put its value at around $1.6 million. Bacon said the committee has recently conducted meetings with nine urban and rural municipalities adjacent to the rail line in order to garner financial support.

“We’ve raised about $650,000 and we’d like to get closer to $900,000 but we’re at the point now where we are going ahead with the business plan,” he said.

The regional municipalities of Invergordon, Birch Hills, Kinistino, and Flett’s Springs –and the urban municipalities of Beatty and Kinistino have pledged financial support for the committee’s bid.

The City of Prince Albert and the RM of Prince Albert have not yet offered financial support.

However, Bacon is confident that his committee will make an offer ahead of the June 3 deadline that CN will find acceptable.

“Producers are getting involved and I think we’ll be purchasing this line in the next couple of weeks,” he said.

sleslie@panow.com

On Twitter: @_seanleslie