Via Rail passenger train service between Winnipeg and Gillam, suspended since July 5 because of a derailment in Saskatchewan and then heavy rains in Wabowden, resumes July 13 with train 695 from Thompson to Gillam.
Service on the railway from Winnipeg to The Pas that links up with the Hudson Bay Railway and provides Via-operated passenger trains from Winnipeg to Gillam was suspended after a northbound train derailed 37 kilometres north of Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan around 3:05 a.m. July 5 while en route to The Pas. Sixteen passengers and five crew on board the nine-car, two-locomotive train at the time were taken to health care facilities in Hudson Bay for assessment and treatment and released.
The rail line in that area was cleared and repaired in less than a week, but service remained suspended because of heavy rains near Wabowden, about 100 kilometres south of Thompson, that closed the Hudson Bay Railway Thicket Subdivision, which forced the cancellation of northbound passenger train 693 between Winnipeg and Gillam on July 11 as well as the southbound train 694 from Gillam to Thompson on July 13
The next scheduled train is 690 southbound from Gillam to The Pas on July 14, followed by the northbound train from The Pas to Gillam July 15. A southbound train from Gillam to Winnipeg is scheduled to leave July 16.
