Feds to fund Churchill rail line permafrost study

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This article was published 13/07/2022 (1362 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ottawa has committed more than $5 million to improve rail safety in Manitoba.

The lion’s share ($4.4 million) will fund a University of Calgary study on thawing permafrost along the Hudson Bay Railway, which connects Churchill with the south of the province, including potential mitigation strategies, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Wednesday in Winnipeg.

Increased temperatures in the north are creating hazards along the 1,300-kilometre railway, thawing the typically frozen earth beneath rail lines and making them unstable, Alghabra said at the Canadian National Railway’s intermodal terminal.

“The study will help us find ways to keep the corridor and other northern lines safe and resilient in the face of a rapidly changing climate,” he said.

Along with the permafrost research, Ottawa tabbed a further $700,000 to finance 10 projects that will upgrade and research safety for Manitoba rail lines.

The minister, who arrived Tuesday night from Windsor, Ont., encountered some of the recent issues impacting air travel in Canada.

“There was about an hour delay to my flight,” Alghabra said. “We are witnessing a lot of pressure on our aviation network, and there are a lot of causes… for this, but it really boils down to a surge in demand where labour is still trying to come back to its traditional level.”

The federal Liberal government has given $11 billion in funding to the aviation industry in the form of direct support and loans over the last year, Alghabra said, adding his department has been working directly with airports to resolve travel bottlenecks.

Alghabra stressed the aviation industry is improving and pointed to a new automated gate system at Toronto Pearson International Airport as an example of how airports are investing federal funds.

Pearson, Canada’s largest airport, has faced public criticism in recent months, with passengers complaining of extensive delays, cancellations and lost luggage.

According to a government news release, Alghabra met with chief executives from WestJet and Air Canada last week to discuss current and planned efforts to improve air travel.

The railway investments are among the recent efforts by the Department of Transport to confront Canada’s COVID-crippled supply chains.

On Tuesday, Alghabra announced $5 million in funding to increase warehouse capacity and loading efficiency at Ontario’s Port of Windsor, the third-largest Canadian port on the Great Lakes.

—with files from Dylan Robertson

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca