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Last week, the government of Saskatchewan announced it will provide grants to 10 short lines totaling $700,000 to help fund track maintenance, tie replacements and bridge repairs. Provincial funding for short lines has increased 40 percent in 2011, government officials said in a prepared statement.

“The province increased funding for the first time this year because the number of short-line railways has grown to 11 from seven, and the length of track has increased by nearly 500 kilometers since the program began in 2008,” said Highways and Infrastructure Minister Jim Reiter.

The province will provide:
• $220,445 to the Great Western Railway;
• $83,111 to the Great Sandhills Railway;
• $81,778 to Carlton Trail Railway;
• $60,444 to Last Mountain Railway;
• $51,111 to Red Coat Road and Rail;
• $43,111 to Fife Lake Railway;
• $40,000 to Thunder Rail;
• $40,000 to Torch River Rail;
• $40,000 to Wheatland Rail; and
• $40,000 to the Southern Rails Cooperative.

The grants are matched on a 50/50 basis by each short line. Since 2008 — when the province launched the cost-sharing program to help short lines maintain aging infrastructure and support Saskatchewan's multi-modal transportation system — more than $4 million has been invested in the region’s short-line system, government officials said.