The Manitoba government cut the ribbon Tuesday on a new railway that will serve farmers in the southern part of the province.

The Boundary Trail Railway, a 35-kilometre rail line between Manitou and Morden, is the first short-line in the province owned by producers and business leaders.

The grain shipped on the line will be moved onto main lines at Morden.

Travis Long, general manager of the BTR, said farmers will save between $1,500 and $2,000 for every rail car they load themselves.

"Probably just as significant for farmers in our area is the fact that, rather than hauling up to 45 minutes or an hour one way to get their grain to terminals [like] they're currently doing, they'll have a much shorter time to get to Manitou or Darlington, our primary loading facilities," Long said.

Farmers in the region, about 170 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, have been planning to take over the railway for more than a year after it was abandoned by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In May, the Manitoba government provided a $615,000 forgivable loan to help the group secure the purchase of the line.

The total purchase price was $4.3 million, funded primarily through a variety of investors, according to a report in local news site PembinaValleyonline.com, which quoted Long and BTR lawyer Art Stacey .