Abandonment and Sale
In 1994 it applied again for abandonment and permission was granted for the end of that year. Shippers and communities along the route were upset and urged CPR to sell the line, which it finally did in sections on January 1, 1995. In advance of the pending abandonment and later sale of the line, Via Rail discontinued passenger service with the Atlantic on December 17, 1994, and the line has not had dedicated passenger service since then.
The section from Saint John to the Maine-New Brunswick border was purchased by New Brunswick Southern Railway, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Limited, an industrial conglomerate and major traffic source in Saint John. The section from the Maine-New Brunswick border west to Mattawamkeag (where it interchanges with Guilford Rail System) and on to Brownville Junction (where it interchanges with Bangor and Aroostook Railroad) was also sold to a JDI subsidiary, Eastern Maine Railway. West of Brownville to Montreal, the route was purchased by Iron Road Railways, the corporate owner of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad.
The bankruptcy of Iron Road in the early 2000s saw the western part of the system taken over by the newly organized Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, while JDI continues at the eastern end of the route.
Read more about this topic: International Railway Of Maine
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