The Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) has made significant strides in the revitalization of the rail line and Port of Churchill. AGG has dedicated extensive efforts to improving the rail infrastructure, resulting in enhanced running times, improved performance, and elevated safety measures.
The rail line suffered from many years of neglect and it needed significant improvement, with thanks to investments from the Government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba Arctic Gateway was able to spend significant funds to upgrade the rail line. Michael Woelcke CEO of Arctic Gateway group shed further light on the subject; “We’ve been working diligently at Arctic Gateway for our third summer now working on upgrading the rail line”. By the end of this year, they expect that the whole project will have cost 150 Million Dollars. “And that’s resulted in improved running times, better performance and better safety on the tracks”
Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) also announced that it has completed construction of the first new building at the Port of Churchill
“We have worked together with a mineral company called HudBay, and they are shipping zinc concentrate from Flin Flon by rail to The Pas, and then from The Pas to Churchill. And then from Churchill it will be shipped to Europe by ship. So in order to facilitate that we have built a 12,000-foot warehouse at Churchill which is where we will store the zinc concentrate”
This building proves to be vital to the shipment process as 20 thousand tons is the total amount required and a single car can only hold 90 tons each shipping 10 cars per week, so much in a single load making the storage port vital to the process.
Arctic Gateway also has what they call ‘resupply’ where goods are shipped from Southern Manitoba up to Churchill and three ships come and take the loads up to Nunavut. According to Woelcke the volume has increased 47% between 2022 and 2023 and increased by 161% between 2021 and 2023. “and we are seeing a strong volume this year as well”.
Arctic Gateway will also be looking to rehabilitate and replace several of its bridges that prove to be crucial in traveling goods, such as the rail bridge at Thicket Portage; Mile 179.8 at a cost of roughly 10 Million Dollars, In addition, over 125,000 ties will be replaced in 2024 and 800,000 feet of surfacing will be completed.
The bridge reconstruction began only three weeks ago and already stands nearly 90% complete. Its scheduled completion date remains to be finished by the end of June. “We replaced it section by section without ever stopping operations of any trains” Woelcke added as he expressed the incredible efficiency and commendable work that dealt with the daunting task of replacing the bridge in between trains.
“We’ve seen an improvement of about 2 and a half hours of running time between The Pas and Churchill. That means the trains operate that much more quickly adding to productivity. So that means it goes that much quicker. And that’s a result of the work we’ve been doing”
It was only 2018 that AGG took possession of the Hudson Bay Railway, in which they have since proved to be a worthy overseer in preserving the land, rail and equipment. This shines a new chapter in development as the major capital program on upgrading the Hudson Bay rail line gets ready for major construction season and efforts begin to shift to Port re-development
The Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) has made substantial progress in upgrading the rail line and Port of Churchill. The completion of the first new building at the Port of Churchill further demonstrates the significant developments taking place. AGG's efforts to facilitate the shipment process, increase shipping volume, and rehabilitate crucial infrastructure mark a new chapter in the development of the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill.
