'They forget the train is our lifeline': Pukatawagan family walked 100 km home to protest train cancellations

A family from a First Nation community in northern Manitoba walked roughly 100 kilometres in 35 C heat for two and a half days after their train home was cancelled last week, in part to peacefully protest what they say is forgotten and frequently interrupted railservice.

John Colomb, 54, his wife Sheila Colomb, 57, and their 18-year-old nephew wereamong70 people who had lined up in The Pas, Man.a town about 600 kilometres north of WinnipegearlyThursday morning, waiting toboard the train toPukatawagan.

For people living in Pukatawagan, the train running twice a week is the only way to commute in and out of the community.

But just before they were let inside the station, the train was cancelled after one of its operators called in sick that morning.

"I felt very emotionaI," Colombtold CBC News on Monday."It's pretty hard to be treated like you're worth nothing."

"I sat there thinking somebody needs to do something, we can't just sit back," he said. "That's when I said I'll do something I'm gonna walk home."

Colomb and his family got a ride from the train station in The Pas north to Sherridon, where Highway 392 ends. From there, they started walking roughly 100 kilometres along the railway tracks to Pukatawagan on Friday evening.

"It is a long two and half days to walk on a railroad with plus-35 Csun burning down on you, with a 100-pound bag on your back carrying your water, your food, your blankets," he said.

The supplies they had carried ran out on Saturdayand they started to dehydrate quickly, vomiting soon after due to the lack of water in their bodies, Colomb said.

His concerns grew especially around his wife's health, as she took on the walk despite her high blood pressure. If something were to happen, they had only a satellite radio to call for help.

But along the way, passing rail workers gave them food and water.

"If they weren't out there, something drastic would have happened to the three of us," he said.

A group of three women walked from Pukatawagan and met Colomb's family on Saturday evening. Together, they finished the last stretch of the walk on Sunday, reaching the stopwhere they were originally supposed to arrive by train.

'It should not have happened'

Mike Spence, chairmanof the Arctic Gateway Group, said it is "very unfortunate" that Thursday's train cancellation led Colomb and his family to walkback home.

"It is a concern," he said. "It should not have happened."

Arctic owns the railway from The Pas to Churchill while theKeewatin Railway Company owns the spur linethat runs betweenSherritt Junctionand Lynn Lake, passing throughPukatawagan.But it is Arctic'soperating company, Hudson Bay Railway, thathas the contract to provide train crews for Keewatin's line.

WATCH | About 1,800 people rely on this train service:

Family walks 100 km to remote Manitoba community over unreliable train service

2 months ago

Duration 2:06

A family from Pukatawagan, Man., say they walked for days to get home, in part to protest unreliable service on the vital train line. The community is only accessible by rail, and they say trip cancellations happen too often.

The cancellation came in the midst of what Spence said was a "summer staffing issue" thatprevented HBR from finding a replacement for the employeewho called in sick.

"It's one of these things [that] are uncontrollable at times, and we're working towards improving," Spence said.

But Colomb said last week's traincancellation was not an isolated incident, but part of a trend of unreliableservice in northern Manitoba.

"It's not uncommon for us not to have a train for a whole week," Colomb said. "They just forget about us. They forget that the train is our lifeline."

Supplies needed to "run the community," he said, including groceries, gasoline, and construction materials, are delivered through the railway. So when trains are cancelled, it doesn't only prevent residents from returning or leaving Pukatawagan, but it also affects the well-being of the whole community.

"It's getting pretty hard when the groceries aren't coming into the community," Colomb said. "Children, they go hungry when that train doesn't come in."

"It's like being held hostage in our own country here, where reconciliation is the big talk nowadays," he said.

'We're forgotten people,' says chief

Pukatawagan residents have been experiencing regular service delays and interruptions on northern Manitoba's railways, Mathias Colomb Cree Nation Chief Gordie Bear saidfollowing last week'strain cancellation.

"When we have a spring washout, we lose a week [of train service].When a culvert breaks, we lose a week. When a bridge burns, we lose a week," Bear told CBC News in an interview Sunday.

Mathias Colomb Cree Nation had paid out of pocket to fly some of its residents home in previous circumstances when the train was cancelled, but Bear said the community could spend just so much money on airfare.

"We're forgotten people," Bear said. "There's not enough trains running, and when the trains do run, they're often cancelled."

Tony Mayham, chief executive officer at the Keewatin Railway Company which operates the train carts said mechanical issues in an aging fleet, and a shortage of employees trained to operate trains, have led to the cancellation of up to 15 per cent of trains running from The Pas to Pukatawaganlastyear.

"It's very hard for us to mitigate the circumstances where equipment breakdowns and or personnel are not available to operate the passenger service," Mayhamsaid.

"Things are happening basically out of our control and there's nothing that we can do about it."

Bear said it is important to address staffing shortages by recruiting and training Mathias Colomb residents to operate the railway.

Spence said the Arctic Gateway Group is working onhiring and training workers who live within the area where the railway operates.