Keewatin Railway

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 Company
HBRY in black and KRC in grey
Overview
HeadquartersThe Pas, Manitoba
Reporting markKRC
LocaleManitoba, Canada
Dates of operationApril 1, 2006–present
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Other
Websitewww.krcrail.ca

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
 Lynn Lake
 McVeigh
Tippieskaw Creek
 Douglas McKay Lake
 Drybrough
 Herriot
 Russell River
 Hone
 Jetait
 Heaman
 Okaw Lake
251
 Pukatawagan
road 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.

gollark: While I can somewhat vaguely write Latin, it is not in fact Latin or Latin-looking.
gollark: While the original code is lost to time, you can see evidence of this in the "diputs si aloirarreT" sometimes printed on startup.
gollark: It was originally designed in 2018 to mildly annoy Terrariola.
gollark: Not that LOC is a good metric, but still.
gollark: That's 0.05 potatOSes. Nobody ever paid me for that.

References
  1. "The Pas-Pukatawagan train - Description". Via Rail Canada. Retrieved 2009-11-01. This page no longer exists
  2. Steve Boyko. "Keewatin Railway Company". Traingeek.ca. Retrieved 2012-09-16.


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