Tshiuetin Rail Transportation

Tshiuetin
Overview
Other name(s)	North Wind
Type	Heavy rail
Status	Active
Locale	Quebec and Labrador
Coordinates	53.0676959°N 66.2031418°W
Termini	Emeril; Schefferville
Website	www.tshiuetin.net
Operation
Opened	December 1, 2005
Owner	Innu Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam,; Kawawachikamach,; Matimekush-Lac John;
Technical
Track length	217 km (135 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Route map
	Quebec
	Labrador
	[1]

Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Inc. (reporting mark TSH, formerly TRT) is a rail company that owns and operates a 217-kilometre (135 mi) Canadian regional railway that stretches through the wilderness of western Labrador and northeastern Quebec.[2][3] It connects Emeril, Labrador with Schefferville, Quebec on the interprovincial boundary. The company also operates a 356-kilometre (221 mi) railway that connects Sept-Îles, Quebec to Emeril.[2] The company is owned by the Innu Nation of Matimekush-Lac John, the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, and the Innu Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam.

History

Map showing the rail line between the two red points. Schefferville is at the top, Emeril Junction is at the bottom.

The railway began operations on December 1, 2005 with the conclusion of an agreement between the three owners of Tshiuetin Rail Transportation and the owners of the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway (QNSX), Rail Enterprises Incorporated and Iron Ore Company of Canada. Under this agreement, finalized in the fall of 2005, QNSX sold its Menihek Subdivision, for the nominal sum of Can$1.00.

Tshiuetin Rail Transportation took possession of the Menihek Subdivision "as is, where is". The company provides all passenger rail and limited freight service. The company will also provide passenger rail service on the remaining QNSX-owned line running from the port of Sept-Îles, Quebec to Emeril Jct (and on to Schefferville).

The Menihek Subdivision used to be part of the QNSX main line, constructed between 1951 and 1954. After mining activity in Schefferville ended during the 1980s, QNSX shifted its priority to the Sept-Îles to Labrador City line, and the Emeril Jct to Schefferville line had limited freight and subsidized passenger service for the remaining First Nations communities in the region.

The agreement between IOC and the three First Nations who own Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Inc. has resulted in the first aboriginal ownership of a railway line in Canada.

This railway (along with the QNSX line, Chemin de fer Arnaud, and Wabush Lake Railway) form an isolated railway network, as it does not interchange with any other rail lines on the North American network.

In media

The importance of the line is documented in Caroline Monnet's 2016 short film Tshiuetin.[4]

References

"Rail Map". Tshiuetin Rail Transportation.
"Fact Sheet" (PDF). CCN Matthews. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-26. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
"IOC colours" (PDF). CCN Matthews. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
Monnet, Caroline (2016). Tshiuetin. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2017-03-01.

Arkus, Mike (2014-10-20). "Now This Here's the Story about the Tshiuetin Line". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-05-23.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Rail Map". Tshiuetin Rail Transportation.

[ccnmatthews-2] "Fact Sheet" (PDF). CCN Matthews. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-26. Retrieved 2020-06-23.

[3] "IOC colours" (PDF). CCN Matthews. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2020-06-23.

[4] Monnet, Caroline (2016). Tshiuetin. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2017-03-01.