Another impact of last week’s Provincial Budget is the loss of the $900 thousand Maintenance Grant Program for the Province’s 13 Shortline Railways.

The program for maintenance infrastructure work on the lines had been in place for several years on a matching grant basis.

Andrew Glastetter, the General Manager for Great Western Railway is very disappointed adding rail safety and maintenance are huge priorities for line:

"The grant money did enable us to meet that requirement and go a ltitle bit over and above and make sure our line is in top-shape so we could do our best to serve our customers, which for us at Great Western Railway is the farming community for the most part and the oil industry in Southern Saskatchewan."

Glastetter says they averaged about $200 thousand thru the program adding they are now re-evaluating their 2017 plans and will probably have to make some adjustments:

"We are taking a hard look at the programs. Actually this year for Great Western Railway, we had planned one of the biggest years we've ever had for track infrastructure and capital track expenditures, we were looking to add in a couple siding tracks this year to help improve congestion on the line and put us in a position where we could better serve our customers here because we're looking at different ways of growing our buisnes down here."

The Province's $900 thousand matching grant program helped Saskatchewan's 13 Shortline Railways with track maintenance and infrastructure. Great Western Railway operates 440 miles of track about 60 miles are operated on an operating haulage agreement for Red Coat Railway.

He notes moving freight by rail is significantly more beneficial than trucking it as it saves the highways from getting beat up and it’s more environmentally friendly. Their line goes from the Pangman-Ogema area to Shaunavon-Eastend-Consul Frontier and Bracken, with another line south at Assiniboia to Coronach and Meyronne, then north to the Blumenof area.