Decision on rail line expected by month's end

THURSDAY, 06 MARCH 2014 02:00 RON SEYMOUR Kelowna Daily Courier
The fate of the Kelowna-Vernon rail line could be known within a few weeks, Conservative MP Ron Cannan says. "I'm hoping we'll know something by the end of the month if not sooner," Cannan said Wednesday. CN is currently in talks with representatives of a concern interested in restarting freight hauling service along the line. Under federal regulations, there is a July deadline for the two parties to come to an operating agreement. However, CN could make the determination months before then that there is no likelihood of reaching a deal with the prospective operator, Cannan says. Such an announcement by CN would trigger the next phase of the railway discontinuation process as outlined by the Canadian Transportation Agency. That phase requires CN to offer to sell the railway right-of-way to a series of potential buyers, starting with the federal government and continuing through a list that includes First Nations with an interest in the area, the provincial government, local transit authorities and municipal governments. Ottawa might be able to provide grants that would aid local governments in securing the railway corridor for public use, Cannan suggested. Potential government interest in securing the right-of-way would be to ensure its preservation as a public asset, likely to support a long-distance cycling and hiking trail. Cannan's office has received many letters from people hoping the railway becomes a recreation corridor, and a variety of Central and North Okanagan politicians have also expressed that desire. Cannan says his preference would be to see freight hauling resume with provision also made for public access along the rail corridor. But should resumption of the railway not prove feasible, various levels of government would only have a few months to acquire the railway right-of-way before CN is permitted to begin selling pieces of it to the highest bidders. The most likely buyers are owners of private property adjacent to the rail line. Freight service on the entire Okanagan branch line ceased last July with the bankruptcy of Kelowna Pacific Railway. In September, CN itself resumed operations on the portion of the line extending from Kamloops to Vernon. Dozens of large and small businesses between Vernon and Kelowna had relied on the railway to receive product or ship finished materials. The largest customer had been Tolko's plant in downtown Kelowna, whose shipments Cannan said accounted for more than half all the freight hauled on the line. Tolko is now using trucks to move its finished lumber. A Lake Country chemicals firm, Ashland Performance Materials, announced this week it was closing, with the shutdown due in part to much higher trucking costs it incurred since the railway ceased operation.