CN Jansen Spur Consultation

The Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) is providing an opportunity for public comments on the application by Canadian National Railway Company (CN) to construct a 47 km spur track (the 'Line') west of the Village of Jansen, Saskatchewan and east of the Town of Nokomis, Saskatchewan. This Line will connect the BHP Canada Inc. (BHP) Jansen Mine site to CN's existing mainline. 

Background

The Canada Transportation Act requires Agency approval for the construction of federally-regulated railway lines. The Agency will approve an application to construct a railway line if it is determined that the location of the railway line is reasonable. We take into consideration the:

• requirements for railway operations and services; and
• interests of the localities affected by the railway line.

For more information about our process, please refer to: How to Apply for Approval to Construct a Railway Line: A Guide For Federally Regulated Railway Companies.

Map

Google Map (KML view)

This graphic shows the map of the route for the future railway line (pink line) which will connect to the BHP Jansen Mine site (yellow line) and BHP Joint Access Spur (JAS) (green line) to CN's existing mainline. The Line will originate at mile 102 of the CN Watrous Subdivision, running 47 km northwards on lands located west of the Village of Jansen and east of the Town of Nokomis to connect to the south end of the JAS.

Requirements for railway operations and services

CN notes that its current plan for the Line is to initially have up to four (4) unit trains per week powered by locomotives. Train lengths will vary but are expected to consist of up to 177 hopper cars. Under the current design, train speed will be posted at a maximum of 25 mph. The daily train volumes by time of day have not been established with certainty by the applicant.

Call for comments

We invite you to submit your comments on the following questions:

• How would the location or operation of the proposed railway line affect your interests? Describe any expected benefits or concerns you have with the proposed line.
• If you have concerns, what could be done to address them?
• CN has provided information about the project in its application and supplemental documents (see hyperlink below). Is this information sufficient to understand how this construction and operations of the proposed railway line can affect you? If not, please describe what type of additional information you would need to know about the impact of the railway line on you.

The last day for submitting your written comments is the close of business on March 29^th, 2023.

As a result of CN's extensive consultations before filing its application, as well as the filed evidence of local support for its application, the Agency finds it appropriate to open its public consultation period for 30 calendar days instead of the 30 business day period (as stated in our Guide).

Should you require additional time beyond March 29^th, 2023, to submit your comments to us, please notify us as soon as possible to make your request and include your reasoning for requiring this additional time. We will carefully review and consider all requests to extend the public comment period. Should we determine there is sufficient public interest and justification, the Agency may extend the public consultation deadline beyond March 29^th, 2023.

Confidential Information

All submissions sent to us will be considered public documents. The comments, including the submitter's name, may be posted on our website. A submitter may identify information considered to be confidential or exempt from disclosure under the Access to Information or Privacy Acts.

If any document you send us contains information that you believe should be treated as confidential, you must give us two copies of it, as follows:

1. One copy (the public version) from which the confidential information has been blacked out.
2. One copy (the confidential version) in which:
   • each page is marked “contains confidential information” at the top; and
   • you highlight or otherwise identify on each page the confidential information that was blacked out in the first copy.

We will post the public version on our website and keep the confidential one for our use only. However, upon request of any document provided to the Agency, the disclosure is subject to potential release according to the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act. We will protect the confidentiality of your information under these Acts. Still, those Acts can require us to release information if someone requests it and it doesn't fall within the legislated exceptions.

How to participate

Email: Secretariat@otc-cta.gc.ca

TTY: 1-800-559-5575

Submissions by mail can be sent to:

Secretariat, Canadian Transportation Agency
60 Laval Street, Unit 1-117
Gatineau, Quebec
Canada J8X 3G9

Please note that these must be postdated no later than March 29, 2023.

Reference materials

http://cnjansenrailspur.ca/