Brittany Hobson
APTN National News
Rail service to the northern town of Churchill, Manitoba could be back on track as early as this fall.
The tracks running north were destroyed after flooding in the spring.
That essentially cut off a number of communities including the larger Churchill centre.
“We have the capacity to repair the railway line. Two months is what we’re saying,” said York Factory First Nation Chief Ted Bland.
On June 18th Richard and I rode our motorcycles back down the tracks and measured the washed out areas, there is less than 1000 total feet of wash outs between Sundance and Churchill. The steel rails are intact and undamaged. The ties are all still there as well as most of the rip-rap (large gravel). No bridge structures appear to be damaged but obviously more culverts are needed to allow water flow. IMO it would not take that much to restore the tracks to the pre-flood conditions.
Steve Green Golden, CO