SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — A group of mayors in Saskatchewan are proposing to shift the route of VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian northward from its current route to Canadian National’s Prairie North Line, saying the shift would offer a number of benefits for the passenger train.
The mayors of Lloydminster, North Battleford, Warman, and Yorkton, Sask., presented the proposal at a meeting in Saskatoon, Sask., on Tuesday, Dec. 12. They say it would increase the population served by the train in communities along the route, improve timekeeping by moving the Canadian away from heavier freight traffic, offer a more scenic route, bring the train closer to a number of National Parks and National Historic Sites, and connect more Indigenous and rural communities.
A table in the presentation accompanying their proposal says the population of communities along the Prairie North Line is more than 128,000, compared to about 22,600 on the current route. (This excludes the populations of the Edmonton and Saskatoon areas, which would be served by either route, although service for Saskatoon from the Prairie North Line would be in the form of a stop at Warman, some 20 miles to the north.) The Prairie North Line would add about 60 miles to the length of the trip.
“The opportunity to help grow Indigenous and non-Indigenous tourism businesses is key to helping grow our economy for the prairies, and having VIA Rail travel with foreign tourists to the areas rich in Indigenous history and culture is the first step,” Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers said in a press release.
CTV News reports Aalbers said the proposal is still in its “infancy” during Tuesday’s meeting, which was to seek Saskatoon’s support for the proposal with VIA Rail Canada and the federal government. Saskatoon’s support, Aalbers said, could help the concept “actually garner the attention that it needs and make it an issue that Western Canada would like to see addressed.”
— Updated at 7:55 p.m. CDT to clarify that service for Saskatoon from the rerouted Canadian would involve a stop at Warman, Sask.
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