Saskatoon Saskatchewan - A decades old dream of moving a major rail line out of Saskatoon may have been struck a fatal blow.
 
Earlier this year, in a tacit acknowledgement that relocating CP's main line is unlikely, city council agreed to look at spending $93 million on three overpasses aimed at reducing congestion caused by trains rumbling through town.
 
That decision came after CP and CN rejected as unfeasible and unworkable a $589 million proposal that they share the latter's corridor south of the city, a pitch that would have come with a new railway bridge.
 
At the same time, council unanimously endorsed Coun. Darren Hill's motion asking the city administration to examine the federal government's interswitching power, under which one railway can access another's tracks to serve customers.
 
Hill suggested that power could be used to force joint use of CN's line.
 
However, that does not appear to be the case.
 
In a report headed to council's transportation committee, city administrators said they believe the regulation in question limits the "scope of interswitching to the servicing of local customers and a shared line using the existing rail infrastructure."
 
The report goes on to note that the Canada Transportation Agency can order joint track usage if it believes "significant efficiencies and cost savings" would result without impairing either company's commercial interests.
 
However, the report concludes, "The administration believes no further action on rail relocation is possible at this time until either or both railway companies express a desire to further develop either the shared corridor or relocation concept."
 
Level crossings have long been an annoyance for motorists and pedestrians, and an additional cost for businesses.
 
In 2016, the Saskatoon Region Economic Development Authority said local businesses lost 52,668 hours of productivity, worth an estimated $2.5 million, to train crossing delays that year.
 
City officials have said that while rail relocation is off the table, they continue to have discussions with both major railways.
 
Alex MacPherson.