LMT July 9 2018

Monday, July 9, 2018 • Last Mountain Times
3
NEWS BRIEFS
Hudson Bay Railway talks break
down
Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) last week
provided an update on its discussions
with a consortium that includes two
First Nations groups and Fairfax Financial
regarding the purchase of the HBR,
the Port of Churchill, and other related
assets.
“Over the past several months we have
been working with the consortium to
finalize the sale of the HBR. Despite our
best efforts to find common ground on
certain key issues, it now appears that
this transaction has fallen apart and
that a sale of the HBR to this group may
not be possible,” a spokesman stated.
“We would like to thank Fairfax Financial
and Grand Chief Dumas for their
good faith efforts to get a deal done. This
outcome is unexpected and very unfortunate.
We offer our apologies to all
those who depend on the line.”
“We will continue to pursue any and
all opportunities to sell the HBR and related
assets, and we will look to do so as
expeditiously as possible. We initiated
the repair process last week by issuing
an RFP through our engineering firm
AECOM. However, we want to make
clear that this development may jeopardize
the opening of the rail line this
season. As we have previously stated, we
are not in a position to fund the entirety
of the repairs to the HBR in the absence
of a sale agreement.”
Hudson Bay Railway says it will provide
further updates on the sale process
as events warrant.
Wireless service to be improved
SaskTel last week announced plans
to improve 4G LTE cellular services in
43 rural communities throughout rural
Saskatchewan by deploying a new “small
cell site” solution.
The upgrades on the first 43 towers
will be completed by March 31, 2019 and
the remaining 57 locations for Phase
2 will be announced when details are
finalized.
Amongst the locations included in
last week’s announcement are Govan,
Semans, Earl Grey, Drake, and Simpson.
53 million Federal dollars for
highway improvements
On July 5th, Minister of Public Safety
and Emergency Preparedness (and
Regina-Wascana MP) Ralph Goodale,
announced a $53.3 million highway
improvement project south of Regina.
The project consists of building 16 sets
of passing lanes in the highest traffic
volume areas on Highways 6 and 39
between Regina and Estevan, near the
United States border. It also includes
twinning of short segments of the corridor
south of Regina, north of Milestone,
and south of Weyburn, the rehabilitation
of approximately 51 kilometres of
pavement and improving intersections
and highway entrances and exits along
the corridor.
The project is intended improve the
flow of highway traffic, and reduce congestion
and travel time and facilitate the
movement of goods to market in Saskatchewan’s
busiest trade corridor with
the United States, supporting growth
in mining, agriculture, and oil and gas
production.
VIA train derails in NE Sask
Early last Thursday morning, at 2:10
a.m. Hudson Bay RCMP were advised a
VIA Rail train derailed approximately
37 kms north of Hudson Bay, enroute to
The Pas, Manitoba. Two engines and a
baggage car derailed due to a washout.
Twenty-one individuals were transported
to the Hudson Bay Health Centre,
and two passengers were treated for
minor injuries and released. Officials
from Transport Canada and CN Rail are
investigating.
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