The Chemin de fer de la Matapédia et du Golfe (in English, the Matapedia and Gulf Railway) was a

short line railway Railroad classes are the system by which freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With a ...

that operated in eastern

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

from 1998 to 2008. Owned by the holding company Quebec Railway Corporation (QRC), CFMG operated freight service between

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city (Quebec), city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the Judicial districts of Quebec ...

in the west to Matapédia in the east as well as from

Mont-Joli Mont-Joli () is a city in the La Mitis Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is the county seat. The city is located east of Rimouski near the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. History In ...

to the port of

Matane Matane () is a town on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Matane River. The town is the seat for the La Matanie Regional County Municipality. In addition to Matane itse ...

1998 establishment

The Chemin de fer de la Matapédia et du Golfe was established on 19 January 1998 as a subsidiary of QRC to operate the eastern half of the former

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

(CN) Mont Joli Subdivision (this being the former

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canada, Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also compl ...

mainline) between

and Matapédia. This first incarnation of CFMG had the following spurs and/or connections: *

- CFMG connected with CN which continued to operate the western half of the Mont Joli Subdivision to

and St. Andre Junction, as well as the Matane Subdivision to

. * Matapédia - CFMG connected with sister company Chemin de fer Baie des Chaleurs (CBC) which operated the line northeast from Matapédia to Gaspé. CFMG also connected at the interprovincial boundary between Quebec and New Brunswick (at the

Restigouche River The Restigouche River (, ) is a river that flows across the northwestern part of the province of New Brunswick and the southeastern part of Quebec. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from its source in the Appalachian Mountains of nort ...

) with sister company

New Brunswick East Coast Railway The New Brunswick East Coast Railway was a railway that operated in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It included of track of which were mainline between Campbellton and Pacific Junction near Moncton. Important spurs connected Dalh ...

(NBEC) which continued the former CN mainline southeast to

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

. On 14 February 1999, QRC purchased from CN the Mont Joli Subdivision between

and

as well as the Matane Subdivision between

and

. At the Port of Matane, CFMG connected with the railcar ferry service to Baie Comeau which was also purchased from CN by QRC and was operated as a separate subsidiary company called

Compagnie de gestion de Matane Compagnie de gestion de Matane Inc. (Cogema) is a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway (CN) operating a dedicated railcar ferry service in Quebec between Matane and Baie-Comeau; it also provides occasional Train ferry, railcar ferry service ...

(COGEMA). CFMG later obtained running rights over CN approximately west from

to St. Andre Junction where it connected with the CN mainline from

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. In 2007 QRC sold its Chemin de fer Baie des Chaleurs CBC subsidiary to Société de chemin de fer de la Gaspésie (SCFG) except for a section of the Cascapedia Subdivision east of the wye at Matapédia. Ownership of this section of line and the wye were transferred to CFMG.

2008 infrastructure program

On 1 February 2008, Quebec Railway Corporation reached an agreement with the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

and

Government of Quebec The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...

for $14.6 million in funding for infrastructure improvements on the railway lines between Rivière-du-Loup to Matapédia as well as Mont-Joli to Matane. This announcement was made by

Lawrence Cannon Lawrence Cannon, (born December 6, 1947) is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. In early 2006, he was made the Minister of Transport. On October 30, 2008, he relinquished oversight ...

, federal

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, and

Nathalie Normandeau Nathalie Normandeau (born May 8, 1968) is a Canadian politician from Quebec. She was MNA for the riding of Bonaventure in the Gaspésie region between 1998 and 2011. She was also Deputy Premier and a member of the Quebec Liberal Party. Bio ...

, Deputy Premier and provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs as well as regional minister for Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and Claude Béchard, provincial Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife as well as regional minister for

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...

. It would see a combined investment by the two levels of government of $9.7 million ($5.8 million from the federal government, $3.8 million from the provincial government) over a five-year period with additional funding of $5 million from Quebec Railway Corporation. This funding was targeted at improving track and bridge infrastructure to allow CFMG to carry heavier freight railway cars. It was predicted that the investment would lead to additional spin-off investments of $75 million for railway customers which are predominantly focused on wood products, paper, pulp, particle boards, iron or, and aluminum.

2008 sale to CN

On 3 November 2008 CN announced that it was purchasing the

(NBEC) and its sister companies Chemin de fer de la Matapédia et du Golfe (CFMG),

(COGEMA), and the

Ottawa Central Railway The Ottawa Central Railway was a Canadian short-line railroad subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway. The headquarters were at the Walkley Yard, 3141 Albion Road South, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OCRR was a wholly owned subsidiary of the ...

(OCRR) for $49.8 million (CAD) from the Quebec Railway Corporation. CN said that it planned to change little in the operations of the acquired lines, although the railroad said it intended to invest capital to upgrade the track it acquired, as well as replacing the locomotives with newer motive power.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chemin De Fer De La Matapedia Et Du Golfe Quebec railways Rail transport in Campbellton, New Brunswick Rail transport in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Rail transport in Bas-Saint-Laurent