Still no rail service in northern Manitoba town as winter approaches
CHURCHILL, Man. — With winter looming and still no sign of a functioning rail line, some people in Churchill, Man., are talking about a blockade to try to force someone — either the federal government or rail line owner Omnitrax — into action.
The subarctic town of 900 people lost its only land connection to the outside world in the spring when severe flooding damaged the rail line. Since then, people and goods have had to be flown in at much higher cost.
Via Rail is planning to retrieve two locomotives and five passenger cars stuck in the town by loading them onto a ship, and residents are not pleased.
“If we do block (the train), we’re not blocking it to hinder Via,” Dave Daley, head of the Churchill Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday.