Abandonment
In 1987, the federal government deregulated the railway industry in Canada and CN promptly applied to abandon its Newfoundland operations under Terra Transport. The political firestorm which followed saw the federal and provincial governments negotiate a one-time payout of $800 million (CAD) from Ottawa to St. John's to fund highway improvements under the Trans-Canada Highway Program and the Regional Trunk Road Agreement.
The agreements were signed in December 1987; however, continuing public outcry and legal challenges kept the railway operational for several months. On June 20, 1988, it was officially announced that the railway would cease operations as of September 1, 1988. Some freight trains still ran until late September, with the last scheduled run on September 29, 1988. The last scheduled passenger train ran on September 30, 1988, from Bishops Falls to Corner Brook. Following official abandonment, the railway operated salvage trains, dismantling track in remote locations; some salvage trains were still operating in the summer of 1990. Most of the track was removed and scrapped by November 1990. CN no longer has any operations in the Province of Newfoundland. In the fall of 1996 CN contracted out its intermodal trucking operation to Clarke Transport. Clarke Transport is now the local agent for CN.
Since 1997, the old railbed has been reclaimed as the Newfoundland T'Railway Provincial Park.
Read more about this topic: Terra Transport
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