Canadian Railroads > Cdn Regulator demands Hudson Bay Ry show cause re: no repairs yet

On June 13, 2018, the Canadian rail regulator, the Canadian Transportation Agency,
ordered the Hudson Bay Railway to commence repairs by July 3, 2018,
and to "resume operation of the railway line as expeditiously as possible."
Hudson Bay Railway was also ordered to file progress reports monthly, starting on August 1, 2018.

https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/conf-11-2018

In its August 1st report, Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) stated that it met the July 3, deadline to start repairs,
by "initiating a tender process to identify a contractor to conduct the repairs."

The Canadian Transportation Agency has now found that,
"HBR indicates that actual repairs will not begin until financial resources are found
either by way of a sale of the railway line or through federal funding.
However, this is in direct contravention of the Agency’s order
which explicitly required repairs to be undertaken and operation of the railway line to be resumed “as expeditiously as possible”."

Further, the Canadian Transportation Agency orders the HBR,
"to show cause, by August 27, 2018, why the Agency should not find that HBR has failed to comply with the order,
establish specific deadlines for compliance steps, and take action to enforce those deadlines."

https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/r-2018-190
 

Nationalize ... without compensation!

 

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON

This will be fun to watch getting blood out of a stone.

thehighwayman Wrote:
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> Nationalize ... without compensation!
>
>  
Who actually owns the track?

Posted from Android

Meanwhile, people and micro-economy in Churchill suffer greatly. Consumer prices are up exponentially due to shipping costs and tourist dollars take a hit. Does Canada not have disaster assistance ?
The Government should front the money, get it fixed pronto, and then bicker with the private sector to get it back. But it seems Churchill is the Canadian version of Puerto Rico. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Meanwhile, people and micro-economy in Churchill
> suffer greatly. Consumer prices are up
> exponentially due to shipping costs and tourist
> dollars take a hit. Does Canada not have disaster
> assistance ?
> The Government should front the money, get it
> fixed pronto, and then bicker with the private
> sector to get it back. But it seems Churchill is
> the Canadian version of Puerto Rico. 

The Weather Channel had a comparison between Puerto Rico and Hawaii as a huge hurricane nears the Pacific islands.  They made a point about Hawaii's investment in hardened electric poles, building code enforcement, replacement power line supplies, etc.

Sounds to me like nobody in Canadian government, OmniTrax, or local government was interested in resilience of Churchill's lifeline to the world...

Searching through the web there was an ice road built and operated last winter by a local contractor, the link is also attached to previous discussions on TO. There was some discussion of a benevolent financier working a solution, but it doesn't sound like that fix worked out.

It's still an awkward situation that needs a resolution.

Churchill had rail access. It no longer does but still has air and water access. No different than many other northern communities.

Iquluit has air and water access only and seems to do just fine as the capital city of Nunavut.

https://www.city.iqaluit.nu.ca/residents



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/18 09:44 by ghCBNS.

ghCBNS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Churchill had rail access. It no longer does but still has air and water access. No different than many other northern communities.

True, but when something you had is taken away, emotions take over.  Then the politicians get involved.  People everywhere generally will fight "to the death" to keep what they have.

Did that line ever actually make money?  Seems to me it was always a provincially or nationally supported stepchild, even in the days when they were shipping grain out via Churchill.

That said, if they fix it, I will ride.

I beleive the story goes it was making money before OmniTrax bought it but there was a change in the grain shipment laws and it was no longer profitable after the change.

If they were able to re-hab the line it would make an interesting place to transload shipments to Iqaluit.

Same story, I'd like to check out the area but...

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Meanwhile, people and micro-economy in Churchill
> suffer greatly. Consumer prices are up
> exponentially due to shipping costs and tourist
> dollars take a hit. Does Canada not have disaster
> assistance ?
> The Government should front the money, get it
> fixed pronto, and then bicker with the private
> sector to get it back. But it seems Churchill is
> the Canadian version of Puerto Rico. 

Canada enjoyed the tourism taxes it raked in when Churchill as a tourist hub. Government should front the money, fix it, take over the rail line, and find a new operator. Government allowed Churchill to operte and be a tourist mecca, knowing the infrastructure was fragile and one slip could bring severe financial hardship. Most people now want out of Churchill. Can't blame them. But I think the government has a responsibility given some past practices and its treatment towards its rail lines over the years. Won't be the first time Canada has had to take over a train line. Come on! Fix it and be done. Omnitrax doesn't want to fix it, let them be relieved (not first time something like this has happened in rail) and the government steps in. If they can sell it in future years, as also has been done, so be it. Enough.  

I am a little surprised, and even a little impressed that no one as yet even brought up the fact that the Liberal Government just purchased a Bitumen Pipeline through British Columbia with Tax dollars for $4.5 Billion to preserve jobs and the economy.  Obviously the Federal Government doesn't see this as a priority OR they already broke the piggy Bank. I agree though that something needs to be done by the Feds. Through the courts they should force Omnitrax to either pay for and commence repairs emmediately OR Omnitrax should forfeit the railway line and surrender it to the government who can hire a contractor and new operator.  Or best case for Omnitrax would be to surrender the railway to the government for market value minus the cost of repairs and penalties, and cost of sending goods and fuel by air and ship.  That would allow Omnitrax to walk away and wipe their hands of it (in shame I hope). That is only MY modest OPINION though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/18 17:18 by Mark3583.

If the line was still operated by the Canadian National that we were familiar with from, say, the 1970s, it would have been re-opened by now.  That was the CN that also provided rail service at that time to places like Vancouver Island, the Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.  

Bring back the CN that we knew and loved (not the one that was scrambled by Hunter Harrison), and you'll once again have rail service to Churchill.  

Chalk all of this up to the fantasy that privatizing all these rail lines was going to be the great cure-all.  Surprise, surprise.  

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
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> If the line was still operated by the Canadian
> National that we were familiar with from, say, the
> 1970s, it would have been re-opened by now.  That
> was the CN that also provided rail service at that
> time to places like Vancouver Island, the
> Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island and
> Newfoundland.  
>
> Bring back the CN that we knew and loved (not the
> one that was scrambled by Hunter Harrison), and
> you'll once again have rail service to
> Churchill.  

CN service was gone from Vancouver Island long before Harrison came onboard ...

 

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON

thehighwayman Wrote:
> CN service was gone from Vancouver Island long
> before Harrison came onboard ...
>
And gone from Newfoundland in 1988 and PEI in 1989 when CN was still a Crown Corporation.

The chances of restoration of Churchill rail service are no better than 1 in 10.

Posted from iPhone

thehighwayman Wrote:
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> CN service was gone from Vancouver Island long before Harrison came onboard ...

I never suggested that CN was serving Vancouver Island under the Harrison regime.  I was reminiscing about the "old" CN of the 1960s and 70s, before it became the CN that we know today -- the one that Hunter was involved with.    
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/18 14:51 by CA_Sou_MA_Agent.

ghCBNS Wrote:
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> And gone from Newfoundland in 1988 and PEI in 1989 when CN was still a Crown Corporation.

I was reminiscing about the "old" CN of the 1960s and 70s.  Once upon a time it believed in serving Canada.  Now, its highest priority is making a profit.      



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/18 14:53 by CA_Sou_MA_Agent.

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ghCBNS Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > And gone from Newfoundland in 1988 and PEI in
> 1989 when CN was still a Crown Corporation.
>
> I was reminiscing about the "old" CN of the 1960s
> and 70s.  Once upon a time it believed in serving
> Canada.  Now, its highest priority is making a
> profit.      

Gee ... I always thought that's what the "American way" was all about .... making money!

 

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON