Keewatin Railway


The Keewatin Railway Company is a rail company that operates a shortline mixed train service in Northern Manitoba between The Pas and the Pukatawagan Indian reserve. The twice-weekly service – branded as 290 for the southbound route and 291 for northbound – utilizes the Sherridon Subdivision, a branch line between Cranberry Portage and Lynn Lake. The company bought the line from the Hudson Bay Railway in 2006, and commenced its service in May. KRC is co-owned by the Mathias Colomb, Tataskweyak, and War Lake First Nations, and is one of two passenger railway operators in Canada owned by First Nations, alongside Tshiuetin Rail Transportation.
WWW krcrail.ca

History

The rail line was originally the 185-mile Sherridon Subdivision, between Sheritt Junction and Lynn Lake. This was part of the Hudson Bay Railway 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 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 on the rail line. This funding comes from the Regional and Remote Passenger Rail Services Contribution Program administered by Transport Canada.

Service

StationLocale servedInterchange
The PasThe Pas Winnipeg–Churchill
Cranberry PortageCranberry Portage
SherridonSherridon
PukatawaganPukatawagan