Western Forest to shut down Englewood logging train

Western Forest Products Inc., a Canadian forest products company, announced this week that it would close its Englewood logging train on Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

The company will shut down its train operation and ship logs by truck to save money and increase competitiveness, according to a Western press release.

At peak operations, the train employed 34 people. Their positions will be eliminated.

The company will work with employees and union representatives to identify opportunities for the affected workers to transition to other jobs at the company. As a result, the overall reduction in jobs is anticipated to be fewer than 15, Western officials said.

The company's decision to end its train operations comes less than a year after a train derailment killed three workers, according to the Northern Island Gazette.

Built in 1917, the train was the remaining log transport railway system on British Columbia's coast, the newspaper reported.