Money key: Leaders say damaged rail line to Churchill could be fixed in 2 months
WINNIPEG — Indigenous leaders say a broken train line that has cut off land access to Churchill in northern Manitoba could be fixed in two months if governments and the railway’s owner would put up the money and hire workers from another rail company.
Chiefs say the Keewatin Railway Company, run by First Nations in the province’s northwest, has the supplies, manpower and expertise to get repairs done quickly on the rail line to Churchill.
“The option here that we’re providing is to get the railway done and completed by this fall,” Chief Ted Bland, chairman of the Keewatin Tribal Council, said Friday.
The damaged railway, owned by Denver-based Omnitrax, was knocked out by flooding last month. Omnitrax has said it will take six weeks to inspect a remote 280-kilometre section of track and do a report on cost estimates. Repairs are likely to take until spring to complete and outside financial help would be needed, the company has said.