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Oil sands railway plan stuck on a spur line Boosters promote rail link from Edmonton to northern Alberta oil sands, but lack support from either industry or government Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent
Boosters of a C$2.6 billion rail link from Edmonton to northeastern Alberta’s oil sands have yet to attract support from the two key parties — the industry and the Alberta government.
Despite claims of lower transport costs, greater efficiencies, improved safety and less environmental damage, the proposed 300-mile project is floundering.
Jim Gray, chairman of the North East Alberta Transportation Corridor or NEATcor, said the initiative which gathered steam last year needs the backing of one or two chief executive officers to move from vision to reality.
He told a Canadian Institute oil sands conference that the oil sands sector needs a comprehensive solution, not an “incomplete, inadequate system.” Options: new line or expansion The options include either a new railroad or an expansion of an existing line.
But the Athabasca Regional Issues Working Group, which promotes responsible and sustainable development in northeastern Alberta, has given only a lukewarm reception to the so-called Railway to the Stars.
It was not enthusiastic about the costs, regardless of warnings that the movement of people and goods to the oil sands will soon pose a crisis.
The current Athabasca Northern Railway, with 14 engines and more than 100 cars, carried about 1 million metric tons of freight, up five-fold since 2000, with the southern leg of the Edmonton-Fort McMurray line recording a 40 percent increase to 16,000 train car loads between 2000 and 2004. Daily traffic to soar The Alberta government has estimated that daily traffic between Fort McMurray and the Suncor Energy and Syncrude Canada operations will soar from 11,959 vehicles and 2,926 trucks per day to 34,000 vehicles and 8,339 trucks per day in 2012 and 85,000 vehicles and 20,000 trucks per day in 2030.
Gray said that a failure now to start making plans to handle those volumes and a reliance on short-term solutions could end up costing the government, industry and taxpayers more money in the long run.
The only hint of a government response has been speculation that it will dedicate C$300 million to infrastructure in coming years.
Gray wants that money to go towards a rail system, which could be completed in 2009 or 2010 if construction starts this year.
However, the province has yet to react to the NEATcor proposal, which was submitted five months ago, although Human Resources Minister Mike cardinal has suggested oil sands companies should build their own roads in exchange for a royalty break.
Gray argues the priority should be on a comprehensive transportation solution, “not an ad hoc band-aid, one-piece-at-a-time solution.”
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