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No buyers step up for Kettle Falls International Railway

The City of Grand Forks’ plans for the Kettle Falls International Railway have been on hold for the past few months.

The City of Grand Forks’ plans for the Kettle Falls International Railway have been on hold for the past few months.

The reason for the stall is that the potential buyer hasn’t yet come up with a business plan to present to the city to receive backing.

Mayor Brian Taylor said that so far, there hasn’t been any word on the railroad front.

“We’re still waiting to hear back from BNSF (railway operator) on the conclusion of its discussions with other short line operators,” Taylor said.

“Our offer has always been the city would participate when we see a business plan that we can justify participation in, with our voters and our province.”

He said because they haven’t heard anything, there isn’t really much to update.

“At this point the continuation of the railway has been what we’re happy with,” he said. “It’s been continuing and we haven’t seen any further notices.”

He said that there were some deadlines that had been posted in from both the American and Canadian sides, but those deadlines have mostly passed.

Taylor assumes that the operators are still having discussions on the subject and working something out. The line runs for around 270 kilometres, from Grand Forks to Kettle Falls, Wash.