Canadian Railroads > Port of Churchill to Close

This is not good news for the Omnitrax rail line as well.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/churchill-mp-outraged-over-sudden-layoffs-at-port-388301782.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-port-analysis-1.3696199


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/16 04:29 by DrawingroomA.

Wasn't this port being considered as an alternate port for shipments of Canadian crude?

This is quite a development.  I would say that if there are any Trainorders members who have long wanted to ride the VIA RAIL train to Churchill and have been putting it off, you might want to now make it a top priority.  

 

CBC:  "Whether the Trudeau government sees the Port of Churchill as a strategic asset is unknown, as the Liberal government in Ottawa took more than 24 hours to issue a brief statement about the closure."

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is quite a development.  I would say that if
> there are any Trainorders members who have long
> wanted to ride the VIA RAIL train to Churchill and
> have been putting it off, you might want to now
> make it a top priority.  
>
>  
I would think this train or at least a train would have to continue since there is no roads to Churchill. Churchill has developed a big tourist industry capitalizing on polar bear watching so I would think the trains could bring up supplies like food and other crap up to Churchill cheaper than flying it in. I would think that this will keep the railway in service but it might be given to a First Nations group or something.

At least I hope my theory is correct as I plan to ride but not until 2019. 

Jim

tq-07fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This is quite a development.  I would say that
> if
> > there are any Trainorders members who have long
> > wanted to ride the VIA RAIL train to Churchill
> and
> > have been putting it off, you might want to now
> > make it a top priority.  
> >
> >  
> I would think this train or at least a train would
> have to continue since there is no roads to
> Churchill. Churchill has developed a big tourist
> industry capitalizing on polar bear watching so I
> would think the trains could bring up supplies
> like food and other crap up to Churchill cheaper
> than flying it in. I would think that this will
> keep the railway in service but it might be given
> to a First Nations group or something.
>
> At least I hope my theory is correct as I plan to
> ride but not until 2019. 
>
> Jim

It would be more accurate to say that Churchill has a small tourist industry capitalizing on polar bear watching, mostly in October, as I understand it.  Meanwhile, Churchill has a population of well under 1,000, most likely around 700, with a full 10% of the population (formerly) employed by the port.   Compare with Barrow, Alaska, which has more than 4,000 residents....and is generally served by air for supplies, in addition to a few barges....but no railroad.  The cost of maintaining a railroad is huge and could not be justified without the port grain traffic.  As for "giving" it to First Nations, how would one expect them to maintain it unless there is some revenue being generated?   Let's be real!

The best that can be hoped for is that the port closure is a negotiating tactic.  The more sober view, unfortunately, is that the port is uneconomic by virtually any measure.  Perhaps the entire town can be dismantled now. 

The isolated communities along this line would still require some service into Churchill, Thompson or The Pas.

In a similar situation in Labrador……the QNS&L passenger trains were turned over to the First Nation owned Tshiuetin Rail and serve the isolated communities between Sept-Iles and Schefferville QC(pop 250) at the end of the line.

http://www.tshiuetin.net/an_informations.html

reindeerflame Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tq-07fan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > This is quite a development.  I would say
> that
> > if
> > > there are any Trainorders members who have
> long
> > > wanted to ride the VIA RAIL train to
> Churchill
> > and
> > > have been putting it off, you might want to
> now
> > > make it a top priority.  
> > >
> > >  
> > I would think this train or at least a train
> would
> > have to continue since there is no roads to
> > Churchill. Churchill has developed a big
> tourist
> > industry capitalizing on polar bear watching so
> I
> > would think the trains could bring up supplies
> > like food and other crap up to Churchill
> cheaper
> > than flying it in. I would think that this will
> > keep the railway in service but it might be
> given
> > to a First Nations group or something.
> >
> > At least I hope my theory is correct as I plan
> to
> > ride but not until 2019. 
> >
> > Jim
>
> It would be more accurate to say that Churchill
> has a small tourist industry capitalizing on polar
> bear watching, mostly in October, as I understand
> it.  Meanwhile, Churchill has a population of
> well under 1,000, most likely around 700, with a
> full 10% of the population (formerly) employed by
> the port.   Compare with Barrow, Alaska, which
> has more than 4,000 residents....and is generally
> served by air for supplies, in addition to a few
> barges....but no railroad.  The cost of
> maintaining a railroad is huge and could not be
> justified without the port grain traffic.  As for
> "giving" it to First Nations, how would one expect
> them to maintain it unless there is some revenue
> being generated?   Let's be real!
>
> The best that can be hoped for is that the port
> closure is a negotiating tactic.  The more sober
> view, unfortunately, is that the port is
> uneconomic by virtually any measure.  Perhaps
> the entire town can be dismantled now. 

Poor comparison, Barrow Alaska never had any rail service. Plus Barrow is in the United States. Everything in the territory of Nunavut is also served only by air and by boat, it never had rail either. Try and find the population or anything else about Pukatawagen Manitoba. You can't. You can only confirm that it does exist and that there are people there but nothing else. You also confirm that does have passenger train service operated by a First Nations group.

ghCBNS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The isolated communities along this line would
> still require some service into Churchill,
> Thompson or The Pas.
>
> In a similar situation in Labrador……the QNS&L
> passenger trains were turned over to the First
> Nation owned Tshiuetin Rail and serve the isolated
> communities between Sept-Iles and Schefferville
> QC(pop 250) at the end of the line.
>
> http://www.tshiuetin.net/an_informations.html

The Tshiuetin Railway and Schefferville is what Churchill made me think of. A mine has reopened near Schefferville and ore trains are rolling again (at least when I was there last year). Before the mine reopened the only traffic was passengers and stuff for Schefferville. Taxes in Canada are high for a reason, they pay to make the remote far away places livable or at least survivable. It is tough to say what will happen without the port in Churchill?

Jim

As an outsider, I'd agree with the premise that Canadians have a different outlook on their rural rail services than the US does.

c'est la difference

Good points all.

Note that the rail line to Pukatawagan used to go all the way to Lynn Lake, Manitoba, much further north, but is now out of service north of Pukatawagan, even though Lynn Lake continues to exist as a community, albeit smaller than when the mines were operational in that area.

It may be that the solution is to operate a First Nations service to intermediate communities, but not necessarily all the way to Churchill, and certainly not all the way from Winnipeg.  A bi-weekly local train would be quite sufficient in and around Thompson.  It seems that Thompson, rather than Churchill, would be the destination community for the various First Nation villages.

Sorry to see this.  Am thinking of the people I have met who work or worked at the port who will be unemployed.  And the people I know who work on VIA 693/692.

This port is only open a few months a year right? For context, What's the major import/export and to where? The port has been on a decline for YEARS. And it is only recently that  VIA has taken a more bolstering tourist role to the train - assigning a Park Car during peak tourist season.......

I always wanted to do this route but I can never get the time. Course I liked the schedule of the train back in the early 2000's. 

http://www.thompsoncitizen.net/news/nickel-belt/no-grain-shipping-from-churchill-this-year-1.2312004
 

Some sort of service will probably continue to run from Thompson to Churchill to keep that latter community supplied with food and other necessities.  And that will probably remain the case until a road reaches all the way to Churchill.  

But for those who want to ride a VIA RAIL train from Winnipeg that features sleeping cars and a diner, you might want to make this a high priority.  If VIA Rail is expected to cough up more money for track maintenence and rights to use the line, a decision might be made to just do away with the train.