An acquisition deal-in-principle for northern Manitoba’s Hudson Bay Railway appears to have collapsed and the line’s current owners warn the railway may now be down for yet another shipping season. Hudson Bay Railway (HBR), a subsidiary of Colorado-based shortline operator OnmiTrax, announced Tuesday “it now appears that this transaction has fallen apart.” The proposed sale […] Read more
Proposed deal ‘fallen apart’ for Hudson Bay Railway
Transport agency orders Hudson Bay Railway to start repairs
The Canadian Transportation Agency has ordered the current owners of the Hudson Bay Railway to get repair work underway by July 3 at the latest. The CTA — the quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator for the Canadian transport sector — on Wednesday granted a request filed by an unnamed representative of Manitoba’s provincial opposition New Democrats […] Read more
Deal in principle announced for Churchill railway, port
The federal government has announced an “agreement in principle” which will see a new partnership fix up northern Manitoba’s washed-out Hudson Bay Railway and take over the mothballed Port of Churchill. Details of the agreement were slim at best in the government’s announcement Wednesday, except to say the buying group slated to take over the […] Read more
Churchill possibly to return to shipping grain
CNS Canada — Grain could once again be shipped out of northern Manitoba’s Port of Churchill if all goes according to plan for a new potential ownership group. “The port has got all of the grain handling equipment and simply said, the first thing we want to do is resume that commercial activity,” said Louis […] Read more
Ottawa threatens suit for Hudson Bay rail line repairs
The federal government says the owner of the Hudson Bay Railway has 30 days to get the washed-out line repaired and running or will face a lawsuit for breach of contract. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, the MP for the Manitoba riding of Winnipeg South Centre, said in a statement Friday that U.S. rail operator […] Read more
Feds step in to restore rail service to Churchill
CNS Canada — The federal government says it’s prepared to restore rail service to Hudson Bay at Churchill, Man. The Hudson Bay Railway, running from The Pas to Churchill, was closed in the spring of 2017 after flooding damaged multiple sections of the route to the northern Manitoba community. U.S. rail operator OmniTrax, the line’s […] Read more
Washouts shut Hudson Bay Railway for shipping season
Flooding and rail bed washouts on sections of northern Manitoba’s Hudson Bay Railway have led the line’s owner to suspend its operations indefinitely. The closure of the portion of the line running from Amery, Man., about 50 km northeast of Gillam, north to Hudson Bay at Churchill, all but ensures no Prairie grain, other than […] Read more
Development fund set up for Churchill
The federal Western Economic Diversification (WD) department will put up $4.6 million for economic development work at and around Churchill, Man. after grain export operations were suspended at the town’s Hudson Bay port. Navdeep Bains, the federal minister responsible for WD, announced the new fund Friday at Churchill, saying it will back “projects that grow […] Read more
‘Veil of uncertainty’ shrouds Churchill’s shipping season
CNS Canada — Manitoba’s Port of Churchill is facing an uncertain grain shipping season, as ownership of the Hudson Bay facility is still up in the air, months after owner OmniTrax announced plans to sell the port and the railway that serves it. Denver-based OmniTrax announced in late 2015 it had accepted a letter of […] Read more
Debate: Sask. ag leaders seek rail response
If there’s one thing all Saskatchewan’s political parties can agree on, it’s that the current rail system isn’t working for grain producers — but there’s less consensus on the solutions. Transportation is the single most important issue facing grain growers in Saskatchewan right now, said Cathy Sproule, the provincial New Democrats’ ag critic, during an […] Read more
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