| Railroad Name: | Athabasca Northern Railway |
| Logo Filename: | Athabasca Northern Railway logo.png |
| Marks: | ANY |
| Locale: | Alberta |
| Start Year: | 2000 |
| End Year: | 2007 |
| Predecessor Line: | Canadian National Railway |
| Successor Line: | Canadian National Railway |
| Length: | 3251NaN1 |
The Athabasca Northern Railway is a shortline railway in Alberta, Canada. Originally built as the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway between 1909 and 1925, the line runs 325km (202miles) between Boyle, Alberta and Fort McMurray, Alberta. It eventually became part of the Northern Alberta Railway, which was jointly owned by the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, and it was closed in 1989.[1] [2]
The line was reborn as the Athabasca Northern Railway in 2000 when it was sold to Cando Contracting.[3] [4] By 2007, the track had deteriorated due to increased traffic, and the line was set to be abandoned.[5] It was re-acquired by Canadian National in December 2007, however,[6] and as of 2011, rehabilitation was underway. However, as it currently stands in 2023, everything south of Athabasca has been torn up with only a roadbed. There is a small section that spurs off of the Westlock subdivision that was once the Athabasca subdivision, but it only goes so far and is now a storage spur for CN. Anything past this spur however no longer remains.[7]