The operation of provincially-owned British Columbia Railway Co. (BC Rail) will be folded into the province’s transportation and infrastructure ministry starting April 1.
Provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond said in a release Wednesday that by integrating the Crown corporation’s day-to-day operations into the ministry, “there will be ongoing savings and benefits from a reduction in operating costs.”
The move is also expected to give the province “greater flexibility around the use of the assets of BC Rail,” Bond said, and that in turn will allow the province to “strategically manage those assets as part of the Pacific Gateway Strategy, including port operations and strategic land acquisitions.”
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BC Rail’s freight includes grain from the province’s northern Peace region, bound for West Coast ports.
Canadian National Railway (CN) since 2004 has held a long-term lease to operate over BC Rail’s roadbed and is responsible for the upkeep of the B.C. company’s infrastructure. That agreement will remain unchanged, as will BC Rail’s other contracts, the province said Wednesday.
That transfer of BC Rail’s operations to CN is at the centre of a court case which, according to news reports Wednesday, is now scheduled go to trial May 3. Two ex-government employees are alleged to have traded in confidential information relating to that deal, and a third is charged with money laundering.
Neutral access
BC Rail separately operates its Port Subdivision, described as a “critical link” in the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor, which provides “open, neutral” rail access to West Coast port terminals at Roberts Bank.
BC Rail’s real estate holdings also include the land on which the Vancouver Wharves and Squamish Terminals port facilities operate.
Effective March 31, the board of directors of BC Rail will resign. The company’s president and CEO, Kevin Mahoney, and its executive vice-president of real estate, John Lusney, are to remain with the company until then to “facilitate the transition” to the transportation ministry.
BC Rail is to continue as a legal entity and retain ownership of its rights-of-way, railbed, track and land including the Port Subdivision. But the ministry, effective April 1, takes responsibility for oversight of the company.
That includes oversight of its agreement with CN, and of an agreement with Kinder Morgan Canada Terminals for operation of marine terminal facilities at the Vancouver Wharves.
The ministry said it also plans to dispose of BC Rail’s “remaining residual land assets,” except for those relating to its rail or Pacific Gateway operations.
