Psst, want to buy a piece of railroad – and not the Monopoly kind?
Canadian Pacific Railway is selling a low-density railway branchline in southern Alberta that runs from Vauxhall to just south of the town of Blackie.
The 158-kilometre section of track, known as the Lomond Subdivision, is being sold by the Calgary-based CPR due to steadily declining traffic.
The company has placed ads in local and national newspapers urging potential buyers to respond by March 19. The CPR announced nearly two years ago that it might discontinue rail service on the section of track, but the sale can’t be finalized unless certain conditions set out in the Canada Transportation Act are met.
First, the railway must offer line discontinuance candidates for sale to the private sector. If there is no interest, the railway must then offer the line to the federal (under certain circumstances), provincial and municipal governments.
Unless expressions of interest are received by the March deadline and a deal reached with a buyer within six months of that date, the CPR may offer the line for sale at net salvage value to the provincial and adjacent municipal governments.
