Churchill residents brace for technical briefing on flood damaged rail line

Churchill resident Dawnee Palmer summed up sentiments in the northern town by saying locals feel like children in a divorce.

"A messy divorce. While the parents are bickering, we are the ones that are suffering," Palmer said, referring to a lack of action to fix the line.

Denver-based Omnitrax Rail will give a technical briefing Tuesday about the condition of the line to Churchill and what engineering consultants have observed so far.

The northern line to the Hudson Bay was damaged by a flood in May.

• Train to Churchill suspended after 'catastrophic' flood damage to track
• Railway to Churchill broken in at least 24 locations, says Omnitrax

Palmer said prices for perishable goods have sky-rocketed since the line was shut down. An orange and a banana cost $7 and the price fora carton of milk is above $10. She has strict orders now to her two teenage children.

"If you are taking it, you better eat it all," Palmer said.

Two subsidy programs by the federal and provincial governments will help with some of the costs, but grocery bills remainhigh as all food now must be flown in as opposed to being shipped up by rail.

• Federal food subsidy extended to Churchill following rail line loss

But the laid-off port worker's attempt at humour wanes when she's asked about Omnitraxtechnical briefing on Tuesday, calling the mood in the community " sombre," and the company's efforts to repair the line too slow.

"That seems to be all we talk about because it's affected everything. From the price of our groceries to the hardware store to students' part-time jobs getting cut ...people are laying people off."

Like Palmer, Churchill mayor Mike Spence is less than complimentary about the speed atwhich Omnitraxhas addressed the flooded line.

"I don't know what to expect anymore. Always forward-thinking, but after a while you start to lose hope. But we are not going there. Fact is,Omnitrax will give their update and I expect governments to step in and finally get repairs underway immediately," Spence told CBC News.

Moreover, Spence said the rail company didn't invite a town representativeto the technical briefing. Omnitrax told CBC News an invitation was sentlast Tuesday, but Spencecalled that"baloney," saying Churchill should have been high on the list of those invited to the briefing.

"We're the community that's most affected by the rail situation ... we are the ones that are feeling the most pain; we are the ones that have been left out. But let's deal with getting the line up and running. We are expecting that," Spencesaid.

Spence saidthe technical briefing is likely another move in the company's attempts to secure government funding to repair the damaged rail line.

• Omnitrax can't afford to fix Churchill railway, says president

That is likely where Spence and Omnitraxsee eye-to-eye. The Churchill mayor said his town has been "held hostage" for too long and he's looking directly at the federal and provincial governments to force the company's hand.

Though Spence said he won't attend the Omnitrax technical briefing, he will send someone to monitor it and will react after it's been held.