Churchill Trains Canada

[STEVIEBOY1]

I heard that the Long Distance trains to Churchill in Canda may be stopping, does anyone know if that is correct and if so, is it a temporary halt. I know that is a popular route for people wanting to see polar bears.

 

[ac6000cw]

This is a quote from CBC news about a month ago:

The only train to Churchill has been suspended until winter — maybe even next spring — and its future is in jeopardy after severe flooding damaged the tracks on the way to the northern Manitoba community.

The "unprecedented and catastrophic" damage will take months to repair, said Peter Touesnard, chief commercial officer at OmniTrax, the Denver-based owner of the rail line that brings supplies into Churchill.

The track bed was washed away in 19 locations, a preliminary assessment showed. Five bridges are visibly damaged and 30 more bridges and 600 culverts — structures that allow water to pass under the track — will need to be checked for structural integrity, Omnitrax said.

From the VIA rail website:

Winnipeg, June 9, 2017 – VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) was advised by Omnitrax that service on the railway from Amery (north east of Gillam, MB) to Churchill, in northern Manitoba, has been suspended indefinitely. VIA Rail is communicating with customers who have reservations on the impacted trains. No alternative mode of transportation will be provided. VIA Rail will resume its services between Gillam and Churchill once inspections of the railway have been completed and the track is back in operation.

At this time, passenger train service continues to be offered between Winnipeg and Gillam. Going south, departures of the train from Gillam are scheduled on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Wednesday departures operate between Gillam and The Pas. Going north, Sunday and Tuesday departures of the train operate between Winnipeg and Gillam. Friday departures operate between The Pas and Gillam. No alternate transportation between Gillam and Churchill is being offered.

Also OmniTrax announced in July 2016 that the port at Churchill was closing, so that may well have a long term effect on the viability of the rail line, although recently there was an announcement that the rail line and port were being sold:

A $20-million deal has been made to sell the Port of Churchill and a rail line that links the area to the rest of the province.

The owner of both, Omnitrax Rail, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Missinippi Rail LP, a group of Manitoba first nations.

So it looks like at the moment there are no trains running to Churchill, it might be next year before they resume, and the future of the rail line is not very secure (probably very dependant on the Canadian federal and provincial government attitude to subsidising the line).

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Thanks for that info, I hope that it does survive in the long term.

 

[Three-Nine]

I may actually have been one of the last people to travel on that line before the flooding damage occurred! We were in Canada visiting family friends, and decided to take the opportunity to visit Churchill. It was really the wrong time of year in a way - most people visit for the polar bears and we were a touch early to have a good chance of seeing one, but it might well have been the only chance I would get to go there.

We did see lots of other wildlife though and the frozen landscape was pretty spectacular.

I understand that Churchill suffered a severe blizzard a couple of months before and this may have contributed to the snowfall being worse than usual, which may have increased the impact of the subsequent flooding. We heard about it from our family friends about three weeks after we got back.

 

[Polrail]

VIA actually has a train stranded in Churchill.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/via-train-cutoff-from-churchill-1.4177244

 

[jamesontheroad]

The closure of the Port of Churchill would be very regrettable. One of the effects of man-made climate change has been that the port now has many more days accessible by sea. If grain is exported from the western Canadian prairies to Europe, for instance, shipping it via Churchill saves many days compared to shipping it by rail to the east coast.

However, the scale of the flooding is vast; this is not just a matter of one stretch of washed out tracks. The cost of repairs is likely to be prohibitive without some form of federal or provincial assistance.

I road the train to and from Churchill in May 2006... again, wrong time of year to see any particular wildlife, but it was an incredible experience. Very meditative, spending about four days in my sleeper section (open couchette) reading and writing and staring out of the window.