MONTREAL — Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) announced yesterday it is offering for sale a low-density railway spur line in northern New Brunswick, in accordance with discontinuance procedures of the Canada Transportation Act (CTA).
CPR is offering for sale to the shortline railway market a 12.6-km (7.8-mile) spur line, known as the Edmundston Spur, between Grand Falls and Cyr Junction, near St. Leonard, NB.
Advertisements published by CPR this week in local and national newspapers said that in accordance with CTA guidelines, parties interested in acquiring the line for railway operations must make their interests known to the railway in writing by August 6, 2002.
CPR announced this railway line was a candidate for discontinuance with the update of its three-year network plan.
The railway must meet certain conditions before it can discontinue service on a line. First, it must offer line discontinuance candidates for sale to the private sector. If there is no interest in the marketplace, the railway must then offer the line to the federal (under certain circumstances), provincial and municipal governments.
Unless expressions of interest in the Edmundston Spur are received by August 6, and an agreement to purchase is reached within six months of that date, CPR may offer the line for sale at net salvage value to the provincial and adjacent municipal governments.
All changes to the railway’s rationalization plans are made public as they occur, or through periodic updates to the railway’s three-year network plan. Network plans and updates are published on the railway’s Website at: www.cpr.ca
Calgary-based CPR has a 22,500-km (14,000-mile) network and serves the principal centers of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, as well as the U.S. Northeast and Midwest. CPR’s track provides a direct link between Chicago and the East and West coasts. Alliances with other carriers extend CPR’s market reach beyond its own network and into the major business centers of Mexico. For more information, visit CPR’s website at www.cpr.ca.