Shortline railways carrying grain freight for Saskatchewan farmers will now get priority use of the province’s fleet of about 900 covered hopper rail cars.
“By leasing provincial hopper cars directly to Saskatchewan shortlines, the benefits of provincial ownership of the cars go directly to producers and shortline railways in Saskatchewan,” provincial Highways and Infrastructure Minister Jim Reiter said in a release Tuesday.
Historically, the province’s hopper cars, managed by the Saskatchewan Grain Car Corp. (SGCC), have been leased to Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) Railways to carry Prairie grains.
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But in recent years, the province said Tuesday, the mainline railways have been able to increase their rail car turnaround times and thus reduce the number of rail cars they need for grain handling.
This in turn “has created the opportunity for the SGCC to offer its hopper cars to shortline railways,” the province said, noting CN and CP will still have the opportunity to lease any SGGC rail cars the shortlines don’t use.
The hopper cars will be made available to shortlines on a first-come, first-served basis at “commercial” lease rates, the province said.
“A secure supply of good quality hopper cars is critical for some of our members to take advantage of new business opportunities and better serve the needs of shippers,” Roger Gadd, general manager of Great Western Railway at Shaunavon and president of the Saskatchewan Shortline Railway Association, said in the province’s release.
Reiter, who also chairs the SGCC, and Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud, the SGCC’s vice-chair, made the announcement during the midterm convention of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) in Saskatoon.
