Revelstoke British Columbia - A new move by Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to bypass Revelstoke could have a major impact on the Revelstoke economy if local workers are forced to relocate to Kamloops or Golden for work.
 
But it's not clear if CP's plans will go through.
 
In a letter to the workers union, CP have revealed a move that may potentially impact a number of Revelstoke workers.
 
Assistant director of labour relations for CP Chris Clark wrote the letter to Teamsters Canada Rail Conference's (TCRC) western Canada general chairman Greg Edwards and Dave Fulton.
 
The letter reveals what is called a material change to employment agreements.
 
It speaks of a plan to create what is called an Extended Service Route (ESR) from Kamloops to Golden.
 
The change would apply to the coal train service only, meaning the coal trains would not stop here any longer.
 
CP's goal is to eliminate the Revelstoke crew change and the associated expenses.
 
It will also decrease transit time on the Shuswap, Mountain, and Windermere subdivisions, the railway writes.
 
The Revelstoke Mountaineer contacted Edwards and asked if this change would save CP time and money.
 
"As far as I'm concerned, maybe ten minutes," he said.
 
"There are some savings to them, we can't really speak to the scope of savings they might achieve."
 
The change may require railway workers to do shifts of up to 12 hours.
 
CP plans to start the new system by 20 Jun 2016, although this will likely be pushed back if the Teamsters fight it.
 
CP states in the letter that it does not anticipate there will be "adverse effects relating to layoffs within the bargaining unit as a direct result of the implementation of this operation."
 
However, the railway lists the names of workers between the locations and doesn't state if and who may be moved.
 
Edwards said despite the length of the letter, there wasn't much information in it.
 
"We don't know exactly what the impact of this is going to be, there's little detail in this letter," Edwards said.
 
"That's why we want to write a letter. How can you say you're going to uproot all of those families and say there's no adverse effects? We don't agree with that statement."
 
The Mountaineer asked Edwards if the union was surprised at the news.
 
"Somewhat," Edwards said.
 
"They applied for the same thing several years ago, and they dropped the issue, we assume because they didn't think it could be done. It surprises me that anything has changed to make it viable now."
 
The union is working on a response that will be shared with their membership.
 
In a statement to the Mountaineer, CP spokesperson Salem Woodrow acknowledged the company's plans to bypass Revelstoke.
 
"CP has expressed its intent to implement Extended Service Runs (ESR) between Kamloops and Golden, B.C. to the union representing our running trades employees in the area," she said.
 
"CP will be discussing these changes directly with the union."
 
Emily Kemp.