The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Three First Nations have reportedly purchased a Northern Manitoba rail line in order to keep trains running between Sherridon and Lynn Lake. Those trains are the only surface transportation available to the approximately 1,500 residents of Pukatawagan, a remote reservation 120 kilometres north of Flin Flon. According to CBC, Pukatawagan has teamed up with two other First Nations and the federal and provincial governments to purchase the rail line from Omnitrax for nearly $7 million. Omnitrax had announced it would discontinue rail service on the line this July. Chief Pascal Bighetty of the Mathias Colomb First Nation in Pukatawagan told CBC that his community relies on the line for necessities like food and fuel. Chief Bighetty said the First Nations plan to hire Omnitrax to run the line for two years while residents are trained to operate it themselves. A transfer of ownership ceremony is reportedly scheduled for December in Pukatawagan.
