Port in a storm… of renewal

After spending the bulk of $300 million repairing the renewed Hudson Bay Railway, Arctic Gateway Group faces a new hurdle: rebuilding trust and getting customers.

“It’s highly underutilized,” Chris Avery, Arctic Gateway chief executive officer, said of the track, which spans The Pas to Churchill.

“(We’re) very much open for business.”

Arctic Gateway took ownership of the Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill in 2018. Since then — as global alliances shift — the infrastructure has gained national attention as a potential trade route to markets such as Europe and as an economic boon for Manitoba.

U.S.-based Omnitrax previously owned the port and railway. The line temporarily closed in 2017 following a series of washouts linked to severe flooding.

Since then, in some sections, the railway has been completely rebuilt: a bridge was fully replaced near Thicket Portage last year; nearly 500,000 railway ties have been replaced.

Nine bridge crossings saw major repairs, and nearly 9,000 railway cars of ballast — such as heavy rock — have been used to upgrade the track’s foundation.

“When you neglect (the infrastructure) long enough, it’s almost like a rebuild rather than a fix,” Avery said.

Provincial and federal governments have tabbed multimillions of dollars for the line and port. Arctic Gateway has received around $300 million since 2018; the feds committed $175 million over five years in March for railway operations and maintenance.

Thirty-seven culverts along the railway have been replaced to improve water management, Arctic Gateway said. It’s using artificial intelligence, ground-penetrating radar and drones to keep tabs on the track.

DecisionWorks, a company using drones for railway inspections, has trained upwards of 20 Arctic Gateway staff on drone operation.

“We’re looking for any type of anomaly that might… cause a derailment,” said Grant Barkman, DecisionWorks president.

Debris on tracks and gaps between rails are red flags, Barkman said. The company uses satellite data and predictive AI to check for high water.

Drones are seemingly flown “on demand” at the Hudson Bay Railway.

“We’d like to see that transition to being a fully scheduled, fully integrated part of the workflow,” Barkman said, adding rail line staff may prefer to use older methods of inspection.

He called change on the Hudson Bay Railway “almost night and day” over the last five years. Travel time from The Pas to Churchill has been cut by three hours.

Barkman echoed Avery, saying more revenue-earning cargo on the rail line is needed: “Until they (get it), they’re going to need to have quite a bit of subsidy.”

Traffic has been increasing. The line logged two weekly freight trains last summer, often carrying goods for communities in the North. Three Via Rail passenger trains operate weekly, and trains regularly transport materials for port upgrades.

Arctic Gateway has inked a number of agreements to boost trade, including to Kivalliq, Nunavut. Meantime, it’s increased its focus on fixing the Port of Churchill.

“All the timber is rotting,” Avery said of the port’s wharf. “There are sink holes on the wharf deck. Because of decaying timber, that goes straight down to the ocean.”

He estimates basic infrastructure upgrades are 40 to 50 per cent complete. Basics could be finished within the next year or two, he said.

Harbour and seabed surveying, and underwater wharf inspection involving divers, have taken place. Goods are being shipped from the port during the summer; the first shipment of a critical mineral in decades — zinc concentrate — set sail in 2024.

Arctic Gateway is in discussions with Ottawa’s Major Projects Office about how to ship energy through the port and about upgrading the rail line to accommodate heavier cars. The port project has its own business development team with the MPO; Ottawa hasn’t committed to fast-tracking the initiative.

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Manitoba has earmarked, cumulatively, around $140 million for Arctic Gateway assets since 2022.

“It takes time — a lot of co-ordination, steady progress,” Business Minister Jamie Moses said of the build-out. “Given everything we’re seeing on the international … landscape, it’s even more important to invest, support development of the Port of Churchill.”

The provincial and federal governments signed a memorandum of understanding Monday with Arctic Gateway Group, CentrePort Canada and the Winnipeg Airports Authority to work collaboratively on a transportation network.

Arctic Gateway Group is comprised of 41 Indigenous and northern communities. Growing the Port of Churchill is a “huge opportunity” for the group, Avery said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.