Via leaves north in lurch

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This article was published 10/11/2009 (5846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STARTING in December, Via Rail is cutting back service between Winnipeg and Churchill.

The Crown corporation will operate two, instead of three, trains a week to the land-locked communities in northern Manitoba.

"That’s a darn disappointment," said Mike Spence, mayor of the town with just over 1,000 people. "We’re not going to let that go easy."

On Monday, Churchill town council sent a letter to federal Transport Minister John Baird complaining about Via’s cutback plans.

With no roads to Churchill, people rely on trains and planes. It takes close to 43 hours and costs $165 to travel by train from Winnipeg to the town on Hudson Bay, and about two hours to fly one way at more than three times the cost of a train trip.

"Not everyone can afford to buy a plane ticket, it’s so costly," Spence said.

Via Rail says it’ll operate two trains a week more efficiently, safely and on time.

"Three days a week did not reflect the real operating time you needed to operate from Winnipeg to Churchill and have a layover with proper rest for the crew… and equipment inspected," said Via spokeswoman Catherine Kaloutsky in Toronto.

Trains were often late because of weather, problems with the tracks or equipment. They’d be cancelled and the communities would end up with just two trains a week anyway.

Spence said Via’s move to cancel a train will further reduce service.

"There are times in winter where we get two trains a week because of equipment or conditions," he said. "Now it could be one train a week."

Kaloutsky said it is tough for people who rely on the service to make plans because the service is so unpredictable, especially during severe winter weather.

"The snow and the cold may have an impact on snowclearing of tracks… All things factored, what can we realistically provide in terms of reliable service? It’s not realistic for us to have thrice weekly (trains)."

She said the reduced service will be more reliable.

"That’s crap," Spence said. "It’s a step backwards," he added, the day after Churchill hosted the Olympic torch run and Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger.

Spence said Selinger and Churchill MLA Eric Robinson promised to go to bat for the town with Via.

Spence said $60 million is being invested to improve the rail line, and it shows because train running times are getting better. "From Gillam to Churchill last year was 13 hours," Spence said. "Now it’s nine hours."

Starting Dec. 1, the train to Churchill will leave Sundays and Wednesdays out of Winnipeg, and depart Churchill for Winnipeg on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

"We’re not very happy with it," Spence said.

Last week, former premier Gary Doer and his family in Washington, D.C., invited U.S. President Barack Obama’s daughters to Churchill to see the polar bears.

Spence said the polar bear capital is not being treated like a jewel by the Crown corporation mandated to provide people with rail transportation service. "We all know this is an international destination, and we can’t forget about local folks."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca