This article was originally published in the January 2026 issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club.
By Neil Carleton
The province of Manitoba has started a consultation process on how and when rail right of way and yards can be moved.
Lloyd Axworthy, a former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister has been hired to head the study. As minister of transport he was involved with the relocation of the rail yard that became The Forks.
The group includes Barry Prentice, professor of Supply Chain Management a University of Manitoba and Director of the Transport Institute; Jino Distasio, professor in the department of geography at the University of Winnipeg and director of the Institute of Urban Studies.
The group also includes lawyer Mary-Jane Bennett, who was on the Canadian Transportation Agency and recently involved in relocation of the BNSF cross boarder rail relocation in the Vancouver area, Jennifer Moore Rattray, Chief Executive Officer of Marymound. In the past she has worked with the Southern Chiefs organization and was a CBC journalist.
There will be six meetings in the city, held in areas that are affected by rail trackage.
The outline for the study is available online at;
https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/proactive/20252026/rail-study-report-2026.pdf
The report can also be found by searching Government of Manitoba and look for Winnipeg Rail Relocation Study.
When relocation is mentioned the first thing people think of is the Canadian Pacific yards that isolate the north end of Winnipeg. While a significant project Winnipeg also has two other class one railways that slice through the city.
Relocation also applies to the CN mainline, BNSF lines and the smaller Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway. The CN Symington yards are also in consideration, as the residential sprawl moves in that direction.
I attended the presentation held at the Norwood Community Club at which the St. Boniface area was considered.
Interesting to note that one third of St. Boniface is the “Mission Industrial area”. This includes the former stockyards, a tank farm and dismantled oil refinery, the busy automobile delivery yard and some rail served industries. The area is crisscrossed by the CPKC, CN and GWWD. Marion Street traffic is regularly stopped at any of three or four crossings.
When you look at the map of the area it there is a spaghetti of tracks and crossings.
It was interesting to hear concerns from some of the over 40 people at the meeting.
One woman wondered if the hump yard at Symington could be closed, ‘it makes a lot of noise’. Symington is not included in the outline for the consultation. At over 700 acres it would be a formidable project to move. By comparison the CPKC yard in the north end is less than 300 acres.
An engineer attending said he had a part in closing the Arlington Bridge. His observation was removing he CPKC yard would open up significant real estate but wondered if the city has the water and sewage capacity for so much new housing? He also pointed out that rerouting the mainlines would still require bridges to cross rivers and the floodway. There would continue to be many crossings of main and rural highways.
Drs. Axworthy, Distasio and Prentice listened closely to all the comments and responded as best they could.
While relocating tracks and yards is the starting point, the final goal is the development that would follow.
An example given is the 4 kilometres of abandoned track in the Brooklands area; as an example of a recreational conversion. The possibility of commuter rail to the Interlake on the exisiting underused line was discussed, as was rail transit south on the Emerson sub right-of-way to open that area for commuter rail traffic.
Repurposed rail lines crossing Winnipeg could also be considered for Light Rail transit, recreation or housing.
There will be a large relocation symposium in the early spring, with a final report published shortly after.
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