CHURCHILL RAIL LINE GETS $117M
The agreement to restore rail service to the town of Churchill in northern Manitoba will include at least $117 million from the federal government. The federal funding consists of $74 million to help repair the damaged rail line and buy it, along with the town’s port, from Denver-based Omnitrax. The federal government is also committing another $43 million over 10 years to subsidize operations of the rail line. The rail line is the only land link to the subarctic community of 900 people, known for its polar bear tourist season and port on the western shore of Hudson Bay. The line was washed out by flooding in the spring of 2017. Since then, goods and people have had to be flown in and prices for groceries and fuel have skyrocketed. The rail line was once government-owned, but a former Liberal government sold it to Omnitrax in 1997.