The Keewatin Railway Company is a First Nations-owned shortline railroad that operates in northern Manitoba, between The Pas, and Pukatawagan. This is Canada's second First Nations railway, the first being Labrador and Northern Quebec's Tshiuetin Rail Transportation.

Keewatin Railway
LocaleManitoba, Canada
TerminusThe Pas
Pukatawagan
Commercial operations
Built byHudson Bay Railway
Original gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Reporting markKRC
Stations14
Length99 mi (159 km)
April 1, 2006Reopened
Website
www.krcrail.ca

The railway company currently operates a line formerly owned by Hudson Bay Railway, and used by Via Rail passenger trains. Via Rail 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, which still operates twice-weekly passenger trains (Numbers 290/291) through an agreement with the new company.[1] These are mixed trains.[2]

History

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Keewatin Railway Company
 
Lynn Lake
 
McVeigh
 
Tippieskaw Creek
 
Douglas McKay Lake
 
Drybrough
 
Herriot
 
Russell River
 
Hone
 
Jetait
 
Heaman
 
Okaw Lake
 
 
 
 
251
Pukatawagan
road link
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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
 
 
Sherrit Junction
 
0

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 first nations 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

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  1. ^ "The Pas-Pukatawagan train - Description". Via Rail. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  2. ^ Steve Boyko. "Keewatin Railway Company". Traingeek.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2012-09-16.
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