Leaders in Tisdale, Sask., are hoping to increase rail traffic between the Port of Churchill and northeastern Saskatchewan.
On Sept. 27, Invest Tisdale announced a partnership with Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the Port of Churchill and the rail line to the port. The deal will promote “two-way rail traffic” and boost economic activity in the region.
“The Port of Churchill can offer Saskatchewan grain farmers and other businesses major cost savings with a shorter and more direct route to world export markets, as well as for imports of key products such as fertilizers,” said Chris Avery, chief executive officer of Arctic Gateway Group.
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“By reconnecting Tisdale to the Hudson Bay Railway, we can help grow the economy in Saskatchewan and offer greater supply chain optionality to lessen the impact of strikes and other forms of trade disruption that we’ve seen this year.”
Invest Tisdale is an economic development agency representing the town and the Rural Municipality of Tisdale.
The memorandum of understanding between Invest Tisdale and Arctic Gateway Group commits the two parties to:
- Attract new businesses and investments to the region.
- Work with the existing owner of the Tisdale Rail Subdivision to revitalize the rail line, which runs 100 kilometres between Crooked River, just east of Tisdale, and Hudson Bay, Sask.
That revitalization would fill the gaps in the route between northeastern Saskatchewan and Churchill. The Canadian National Railway operates a line between Hudson Bay, Sask., and The Pas, Man., the starting point of Arctic Gateway Group’s railway. From there, the line runs to the Port of Churchill, the only arctic seaport in Canada that is serviced by rail.
“We have been advocating for direct rail service to Churchill since 1995 and for the restoration of grain service since 2015,” said Ian Allan, Reeve of the RM of Tisdale. “The arctic port terminal is essential and is ours to lose.”
Grain shipments through the port have been plagued by service interruptions over the past decade. In 2017, portions of the line to Churchill were taken out by flooding, leading to a long pause in service. In 2018, the port and rail line were sold by U.S. company Omnitrax to Arctic Gateway Group after Omnitrax said repairs would be too expensive. In 2019, trains began moving again.
In 2021, however, a further two-year hiatus was announced to revamp the track.
There has been recent interest in the port, with the province of Manitoba announcing $60 million in February to upgrade the port and improve the rail line.
