Gov’ts to restore St. Lawrence, Atlantic Railroad

SHERBROOKE, Que. — Canada and Quebec have signed an agreement in support of the project to restore the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad (SL&A) and the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railroad (MMA), evaluated at more than $22.8 million.

Ottawa will invest more than $9.1 million and Quebec more than $6 million over a period of five years. This program, to which the shortline railways will also be contributing, will generate global investments of more than $75 million over a period of five years.

The SL&A, which links Saint-Hyacinth to the American border near Coaticook via Richmond and Sherbrooke, will receive more than $5 million for the completion of a project worth more than $7.5 million, and the MMA, whose main line extends from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu to the American border near Lac Mégantic via Farnham, Magog and Sherbrooke, will be given financial assistance of $10.1 million for a project worth over $15 million.

The work will enable the SL&A to improve the carrying capacity of its rails, in accordance with North American standards, over a distance of 153 km. Within a context of expanding exchanges with continental networks, competition in serving the East Coast is very high. Several current clients of the SL&A have been asking this carrier for a long time to improve its infrastructure in order to provide them with better service.

As for the operators of the MMA, they would like to increase the carrying capacity of the rails and implement an extensive tie restoration program. The work will cover a distance of 381 km.

The shortlines provide regional railway service, and for local businesses they are essential for trade. These companies run more than 38 percent of the Quebec railway network, that is, more than 2,300 kilometres of railway. In Quebec, more than 80 percent of the products shipped over the shortlines are destined for the United States. The merchandise shipped over these regional railroads is mainly wood, paper, pulp, particle board, ore and aluminum.