Keewatin Railway

The Keewatin Railway Company is a First Nations-owned rail line that operates in Northern Manitoba, between The Pas, and Pukatawagan. This railway is the second railway fully owned by Native Canadians, with the first being Northern Quebec's Tshiuetin Rail Transportation.

The railway company currently operates a line formerly owned by Hudson Bay Railway, and used by Via Rail passenger trains. Via Rail Canada previously operated a twice-weekly passenger rail service between The Pas and Pukatawagan through an operating agreement with Hudson Bay Railway Company. This passenger service continues under a new operating agreement between Keewatin Railway Company and Via Rail Canada, which still operates twice-weekly passenger trains (Numbers 290/291) through an agreement with the new company.^[1] These are mixed trains.^[2]

History

Keewatin Railway Company

Legend Lynn Lake McVeigh Tippieskaw Creek Douglas McKay Lake Drybrough Herriot Russell River Hone Jetait Heaman Okaw Lake 251 Pukatawaganroad link Airport Native Reserve 245 Mile 151.8 243 Pawistik Churchill River Rafter 214 Charles Kennedy Creek Takipy Kississing River Derby Lake 179 Ruddock 158 Sherridon Fay Lake 127 Heming Lake CN Branch to Chisel Lake open 1950s to 1990s 114 Optic Lake Emerald Lake west Flin Flon Sub. to Flin Flon Sherrit Junction 0 to The Pas

The rail line was originally the 185-mile (310 km-long) Sherridon Subdivision, between Sheritt Junction and Lynn Lake. This was part of the Hudson Bay Railway (HBRY) system, and Via Rail had operated trains between The Pas and Pukatawagan under an agreement with HBRY, but had suspended them from July 27 and August 2, 2005, because the Hudson Bay Railway line had become unsafe due to recent heavy rains in the area loosening the railbed.

On April 1, 2006, the Hudson Bay Railway sold the Sherridon Subdivision to the three native tribes in the area, who now own and operate the railway. The First Nations-owned railway company received $4.9 million dollars in grants from the Government of Canada, $1.25 million from the Government of Manitoba and $500,000 from three First Nations communities (the Mathaias Colomb Indian Band, Tataskweyak Cree Nation, and the War Lake First Nation, who jointly own and operate the railway to this day) for the railway line purchase. The Federal Government has also given the three tribes up to $3.2 million for start-up fees and investments, which include the purchase of locomotives, railway equipment, transitional services, office equipment, and infrastructure work (maintenance) on the rail line. This funding comes from the Regional and Remote Passenger Rail Services Contribution Program administered by Transport Canada.

References

1. ↑ "The Pas-Pukatawagan train - Description". Via Rail Canada. Retrieved 2009-11-01. 
2. ↑ Steve Boyko. "Keewatin Railway Company". Traingeek.ca. Retrieved 2012-09-16. 

External links

• Keewatin Railway Company Website
• Map of former Sherridon Subdivision (now Keewatin Railway Company)
• Keewatin Railway information, from ViaRail.ca
• Information at AlaskaCanadaRail.org
• Press Release from the Government of Manitoba