Hudson Bay Railway, consortium back at negotiating table

Flood damage is shown along Hudson Bay Railway during an aerial inspection of the line the week of June 5, 2017.

OmniTRAX Inc.

The Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) provided an update to ongoing negotiations of the sale of its assets on July 10, saying negotiations with the Missinippi Rail Partners and Fairfax Financial Holdings had resumed.

An original agreement between Missinippi Rail Partners and Fairfax Financial Holdings and OmniTRAX Inc, which owns HBR, had been reached at the end of May. However, negotiations hit a snag in early July, with HBR issuing a statement that the potential sale had fallen apart.

The line has been out of service since late May 2017 when it was damaged by a flood event and estimates to repair the line were placed between CA$40 million (US$30.77 million) and CA$60 million (US$46.15 million).

HBR also confirmed that a Request for Proposals has been issued through its engineering firm, AECOM. AECOM coordinated site visits with six contractors, all of whom were given an opportunity to inspection the line via helicopter before finalizing their bids.

“We are once again in active discussions to finalize the sale of the HBR,” said Sergio Sabatini, president of HBR. “We believe that an expeditious transfer of ownership of the line is best for all concerned and we are making every effort to advance sale discussions. This includes initiating the repair process, so that we are in the best position to complete a transaction.”