Railway to Churchill broken in at least 24 locations, says Omnitrax

The owner of the Hudson Bay Railway, which provides rail service toChurchill, is urging residents and governments to find alternate ways of shipping goods into and out of of the northern Manitoba town, sincejust assessing damage will present extreme challenges.

• Churchill mayor calls for immediate action to repair railway

Omnitraxhas to inspect almost 300 kilometres of track, 28 potentially compromised bridges and 600 culvertsfor damage caused by flooding and washouts this spring,the company said Thursday.

Engineers have already located 24 breaks in the line up from a previous tally of19 damaged sections onthe line earlier this week.

"It is extremely important for everyone to look for alternative transportation solutions," said PeterTouesnard, chief commercial officer with the Denver-basedOmnitraxin anemailto CBC.

The company said it does not expect to have trains running again between Gillam and Churchill until spring 2018 at the earliest.

Transport Minister MarcGarneausaid his department is "developing a plan" that willensure both the port and airport in Churchill are able to pick up the slack until trains can run again.

He promised ships will be an option for resupplying the community.

"It's something that's been done many times before and can be done again," he said in a scrum Thursday.

A shipfrom Montreal has already arrived, resupplying the town's hardware store before heading further north to make deliveriesto communities in Nunavut.

Dale Demeulles, who owns Churchill's Home Hardware, said he's in the process of figuring out how much more to order before the second and final ship before freeze-up leaves Montreal.

• Churchill residents face rising cost of food after rail line suspended

"So we've got to stock up for a whole year on this one run," he said. "There's no way we can afford to ship stuff on the plane."

Churchill resident Diane Stevens said she does not believe government is doing enough to address immediate needs in the community.

"They're blatantly ignoring us here," she said at a protest Thursday in the town. "Even though it's an American who owns the rail line, Churchill is still in Canada, right? Do something for us."

Stevens said many of her neighbours are struggling to find work and pay for groceries.

"It's very heartbreaking," she said.

Churchill is still chilly in June on Thursday the temperature hovered just above zero. Stevens said she is worried about people in town who may not be able to heat their homes much longer.

"I run with electric heat but there are a lot of people in town and businesses in town that run with propane. We're running low on propane," she said.

Fuel, like many heavy goods, wasshipped to the town by rail.

Stevens, like many other protesters at Thursday's rally, called for repairs to the railway to start immediately.

Future of the railway line

Work to repair the Hudson Bay Railway is not a small undertaking, according to Omnitrax's Touesnard.

"The mobilization of personnel, equipment and materials is extremely challenging given the isolated nature of the line," he said.

The damage assessment alone is expected to take four weeks. After that, repairs could take upwardof a year.

"Until the full inspection by engineering professionals on the ground is complete, it is impossible to estimate the time and money required to repair the line,"Touesnardsaid.

"While it is our intention to move the project along as quickly and as safely as possible, we don't have confidence that it will be open before the winter season."

• 'A real disgrace': NDP, businesses call for federal help in Churchill

In the House of Commons Thursday, New Democrat MP Niki Ashton, who represents the riding of ChurchillKeewatinook, described the closure of the railway as sudden isolation.

Sheis demandingthe federal government re-nationalize the Port of Churchill and the railway purchased by Omnitrax from then-Crown corporation Canadian National Railway in the mid-1990s after Liberals deregulated the rail industry.

"Businesses are hurting, people are hurting. We need immediate federal action," she said. "What Churchill is facing is a national disgrace. Our north deserves better."

In response, Transport Minister Garneau said Canada stands ready to aid any provinceor territory that requests it but did not respond directly to the proposal to buy back the port and Hudson Bay Railway.

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