The Oyen to Lyalta rail line, which passes through Drumheller and Hanna, was discontinued by CN Rail in 2008. A group of local famers and community representatives, known as the Oyen to Lyalta Railway Committee, hopes to buy the line and operate a producer-owned grain hauling service.

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Oyen area producers want to buy rail line

Andrea Klassen Medicine Hat News

A group of local grain producers and community members have asked to open negotiations to purchase a critical southeast Alberta rail line, two years after it was discontinued by CN Rail.

In February 2010, the Oyen to Lyalta Railway Committee formally announced it would negotiate to buy the 286 km line, which also runs through Hanna and Drumheller.

“We don't want to be here in 10 years and not have done anything to try and maintain the rail line,” says committee president and area farmer Dwayne Marshman.

The committee plans to purchase the western half of the line up to Hanna, and lease the remaining portion of railway for 20 years.

While Marshman says the committee would likely purchase the whole track outright if it could, he expects the entire rail line will cost at least $10 million to buy — about double the money he thinks the group can raise or borrow.

As of February, the committee currently had about $170,000 raised, and over 100 shareholders. Marshman says they hope to have $300,000 in seed capital by April, when CN will decide whether it will negotiate with the group.

Marshman says he’s optimistic the sale will go through.

“They (CN) seem to be fairly interested,” he says. “We've been communicating back and forth with them and I think they know who the people are out here.”

Municipalities and producers are also supportive, he says. Currently, most of the area’s grain producers must truck their crops to facilities around Calgary. With a rail line in place, producers would drive 15 km to deliver their grain rather than 150 km or 200 km.

That’s good news as far as Oyen mayor Wayne Wilson is concerned.

“Right now (farmers) are hauling everywhere. Medicine Hat, Three Hills, Trochu, and there are a lot of trucks on the highway,” he says. “It takes a big toll on these highways, those big trucks hauling grain. And the upgrades on these highways are pretty costly.”

Hal Koberinski, operations consultant for short-line rail experts Rail West Management, says rail lines — or lack thereof — have a huge impact on a small community’s future.

He points to a number of small railway operations in Saskatchewan, which have kept their communities economically viable.

“I don't know that I can say they’re thriving, but they aren’t disappearing either,” he says. “The café is still open, and the gas station still sells gas and guys come to buy parts when they deliver their grain.”

The Railway Committee is currently studying CN’s engineering information on the line, and plans to draft an offer by April 2010.

90 — REPORT ON SOUTHEAST ALBERTA 2010 ■ Celebrating our Community

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