EDMONTON, (March 30, 2004) — The Ministry of Alberta Economic Development and the newly-formed Athabasca Oil Sands Transportation Corp. have announced they will split the cost of a $2.5 million Oil Sands Transportation Initiative, which will study the feasibility of a heavy rail link directly into the oil sands in northeastern Alberta from Edmonton.

The $2.5 million public-private partnership study highlights current proposals for improving and integrating all surface transportation links between the Edmonton-Capital Region, and the oil sands region of Fort McMurray, Alta. Also included is a plan to improve infrastructure to Hwy. 63 into Fort McMurray.

If approved by government and the companies, construction could begin in the spring of 2005, with completion scheduled for late fall of 2008.

Jim Gray, chairman of Athabasca — a small consortium created by various oil sand companies to implement the study — confirmed the transportation proposal includes improvements to “selected parts” of Hwy. 63 roadway. “The (rail proposal) is calling for a combination of improvements, straightening the existing line out, and there will also be an extension of rail to all the mines,” he told Today’s Trucking.

While the government has only confirmed its $1.25 million share of the feasibility study, media reports have suggested that Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has already earmarked $300 million to subsidize the entire project — a suggestion that has since sparked criticism by opposition parties and other competing business interests.

“They’re not prepared at this moment to kick anything in at all, because the study has not been completed,” Gray said. “Our model calls for an equity investment by the province. But we have to finish the work. And if it comes out in the washing that (the rail link) is an appropriate thing to do based on the feasibility study, then we’ll see. But they want to see the data first.”