Savage Alberta Railway , known as Alberta RailNet between 1999 and 2005, was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 short line railway that operated in the province of Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

 until late 2006.

History

Alberta RailNet was formed in June 1999 to purchase former Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 trackage running north from Swan Landing to Grande Prairie

Grande Prairie, Alberta

Grande Prairie is a city in the northwestern part of the province of Alberta in Western Canada. It is located on the southern edge of the Peace River Country . The city is surrounded by the County of Grande Prairie No...

, Hythe

Hythe, Alberta

Hythe is a village in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately 54 km west of Grande Prairie, the nearest major urban centre, on Highway 43. It is located in the centre of the Peace River Country, and supports a rural agricultural economy. It has an elementary school and a junior high...

, Spirit River

Spirit River, Alberta

Spirit River is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located north of Grande Prairie at the junction of Highway 49 and Highway 731.The community is largely agricultural, being located in the fertile Peace Country. Together with neighboring Rycroft, it is a service centre for the oil and gas...

 and Glavin. The company was owned by North American RailNet

North American RailNet

North American RailNet, Inc., based in Bedford, Texas, was a holding company of short line railroads. It formerly owned the following:...

.

The Swan Landing to Grande Prairie line was opened in the 1960s as CN's Alberta Resources Railway, whereas the Glavin–Spirit River–Grande Prairie–Hythe line was the former Northern Alberta Railways

Northern Alberta Railways

Northern Alberta Railways was a Canadian railway which served northern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Jointly owned by both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, NAR existed as a separate company from 1929 until 1981....

 (ex–Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway

Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway

The Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway was an early pioneer railway in northwestern Alberta, designed to open up the Peace River district....

), which CN purchased in 1981. In total, the railway operated 345 miles of lines.

In 2005, Savage Industries, through its subsidiary CANAC, purchased Alberta RailNet's assets from North American Railnet, and renamed the railway to the Savage Alberta Railway.

On December 1, 2006, CN announced that it had purchased Savage Alberta Railway for $25 million and that it had begun operating the railway the same day.

The Locomotive Engineers, Conductors and Assistant Conductors who work on the Savage Alberta Railway lines are represented by the CAW and are members of CAW Local 4001 and CAW National Council 4000 CAW National Council 4000

CAW National Council 4000

CAW National Council 4000 is the umbrella organization for five regionally based CAW Local Unions across Canada that represent over 5,000 members in various sectors, largely within the railway and transportation industry...

.
http://cn.ca/about/media/news_releases/2006/4th_quarter/en_News20061201.shtml