Western Labrador Rail Services, Inc. is a rail operation of Genesee & Wyoming Canada, Inc. created in 2010 by the combination of three

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 ...

Arnaud Railway The Chemin de fer Arnaud, now Chemin de fer Arnaud Quebec (formerly ARND and CFA) (in English, the Arnaud Railway) is a private Canadian short line railway owned by Société ferroviaire et portuaire de Pointe-Noire (SFPPN) operating in the p ...

, Bloom Lake Railway, and

Wabush Lake Railway The Wabush Lake Railway (formerly WABL and NLCL) is a short line railway operating in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The railway was built in 1960 from the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway to Wabush, initially called ...

. The operation provides rail transportation services to mining companies operating in the provinces of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

and

Québec Quebec is Canada's 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, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines opened the Bloom Lake Mine, just west of Labrador City, Newfoundland. The Bloom Lake Railway was commissioned to transport

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

from the mine to a connection with the Wabush Lake Railway. The Bloom Lake Railway was constructed between 2006 and 2010. All of the railway, except the first , are located in Labrador. The Wabush Lake Railway began acting as a middle man, taking the Bloom Lake Railway trains, and transporting them to Wabush Junction for the

Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway The Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway is a private Canadian regional railway that stretches through the wilderness of northeastern Quebec and western Labrador. It connects Labrador City, Labrador, with the port of Sept-Îles, Quebec, on ...

to transport to the

Chemin de fer Arnaud The Chemin de fer Arnaud, now Chemin de fer Arnaud Quebec (formerly ARND and CFA) (in English, the Arnaud Railway) is a private Canadian short line railway owned by Société ferroviaire et portuaire de Pointe-Noire (SFPPN) operating in the p ...

. The Arnaud then takes the trains to the Consolidated Thompson's dock at

Pointe-Noire, Quebec Pointe-Noire () is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is within the city of Sept-Îles in the Sept-Rivières regional county municipality and the Côte-Nord region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as ...

. Consolidated Thompson was purchased by

Cliffs Natural Resources Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CCI, formerly Cliffs Natural Resources) is an American steel manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. They specialize in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping a ...

. In 2011, Genesee & Wyoming began control of all of these operations on behalf of Cliffs under the name Western Labrador Rail Services. These operations form an isolated railroad network, as it does not interchange with any other rail lines on the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n network. On April 11, 2016, Québec Iron Ore, Inc. (a subsidiary of Champion Iron Limited and Resources Québec) purchased the Bloom Lake Mining Complex and Bloom Lake Railway infrastructure from Cliffs Natural Resources. The Bloom Lake Railway continues to be operated under contract by WLRS.

References

External links

Western Labrador Rail Services official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming website
{{Canada railways Genesee & Wyoming Newfoundland and Labrador railways Quebec railways