Tshiuetin Rail Transportation

File:Tshiuetin Rail Transportation map.png

File:Ross Bay Junction.jpg

Tshiuetin ({{IPAc-en|tʃ|i|ˈ|w|ɛ|t|ən}}) Rail Transportation operates on the Menihek Subdivision, a rail line running from Emeril Junction to Schefferville. The Menihek Subdivision used to be part of the QNSX main line, constructed between 1951 and 1954.{{cite web |url=http://www.focusongeography.org/publications/articles/labrador/index.html |title=Urbanism and Iron Mining in Labrador |last=Krim |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur J. Krim |date=2016 |website=FOCUS on Geography |publisher=American Geographical Society |access-date=2021-03-19 |quote=The decision was made to build a railroad, the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway (QNS&L) north from the St. Lawrence port of Sépt-Iles (359mi/573km) to the new town of Shefferville on the Quebec-Labrador border. Construction started in 1950 and was completed to Shefferville in 1954}} After mining activity in Schefferville ended with the closure of the Schefferville iron mine in 1983, QNSX prioritized the Sept-Îles to Labrador City line instead, and the Emeril Jct to Schefferville line had limited freight and subsidized passenger service for the remaining First Nations communities in the region.

By 2006, passenger rail service was considered by the Canadian government to be the only surface transportation mode available to and from Schefferville.{{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2006/10/canada-new-government-supports-first-nations-railway.html |title=Canada's New Government supports First Nations railway |author= |date=2006-10-27 |website=Canada.ca |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=2021-03-19 |quote=Passenger rail service is the only surface transportation mode available to Schefferville and is used by First Nations people in the area to travel to their traditional hunting, fishing and trapping territories on a year-round basis.}} Preceding the purchase of the Menihek Subdivision, QNSX was actively looking to sell off the rail line, but no other pre-existing railroad companies made purchase offers. Three local First Nation councils formed a single company to buy the line from QNSX.

In 2004, Tshiuetin Rail was issued a certificate of fitness by the Canadian Transportation Agency, before the railroad acquired the Menihek Subdivision.{{cite magazine |last=Stremes |first=Dave |date=May 2005 |title=Information Line: Other Industry News |url=https://bytownrailwaysociety.ca/phocadownload/branchline/2005/2005-05.pdf |magazine=Branchline |page=17 |location=Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |publisher=Bytown Railway Society |access-date=2021-03-19}} The company took possession of the Menihek Subdivision "as is, where is". The company was to provide 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 to Emeril Jct (and on to Schefferville).{{Citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=Who demands these specific obligations?}}

Tshiuetin Rail began operations on December 1, 2005, with the conclusion of an agreement between the three owners of Tshiuetin Rail 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 $1.

The agreement between IOC and the three First Nations who own Tshiuetin Rail has resulted in the first aboriginal ownership of a railway line in Canada.{{cite speech |last=Bell |first=Richard |title=Dr. Richard Bell (General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Inc.) at the Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities Committee |event= Canadian House of Commons HUMA Committee Meeting Feb. 6th, 2007 |date= 2007-02-06 |publisher=Open Parliament |url=https://openparliament.ca/committees/human-resources/39-1/51/dr-richard-bell-1/only/ |access-date=2021-03-19}}

This railway (along with the QNSX line, Chemin de fer Arnaud, and Wabush Lake Railway) form an isolated railway network, as it does not have a physical connection with the North American rail network; however Compagnie de gestion de Matane operates a rail ferry service which carries trains between Sept-Îles and the port at Matane (which does connect to the North American rail network).

The importance of the line is documented in Caroline Monnet's 2016 short film Tshiuetin.{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/shorts/tshiuetin |title=Tshiuetin |last=Monnet |first=Caroline |year=2016 |author-link=Caroline Monnet |access-date=2017-03-01 |work=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}}

On July 6, 2020, Chloë Ellingson of the New York Times published an extensive pictorial essay on the railway.

{{Cite web |title=Life in the frozen north: Canada's first native-owned train is the pride of its community

|website=Independent.co.uk |date=3 November 2018|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/canada-indigenous-train-first-community-ownership-first-nations-a8596231.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127023132/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/canada-indigenous-train-first-community-ownership-first-nations-a8596231.html|archive-date=2018-11-27}}

{{cite report |author=R.J. Wardle |date=2004 |title=The mineral industry in Newfoundland and Labrador: its development and economic contributions |url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/iet/files/mines-geoscience-publications-openfiles-of-nfld2889.pdf |publisher=Government of Newfoundland and Labrador |page=29 |access-date=2021-03-19}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{Cite news| url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/now-this-heres-the-story_b_5664644?guccounter=1 |website=HuffPost |title=Now This Here's the Story about the Tshiuetin Line|author=Arkus, Mike |date=2014-10-20 |access-date=2020-05-23}}

{{Refend}}

• [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/travel/tshiuetin-railroad-canada.html "Commuting, and Confronting History, on a Remote Canadian Railway] The Tshiuetin line, the first railroad in North America owned and operated by First Nations people, is a symbol of reclamation and defiance for the communities it serves."

{{portal|Railways}}

• {{official website}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151104160530/http://www.ccnmatthews.com/docs/IOC_colours.pdf Map of the QNSX and Tshiuetin Rail Transportation lines]}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120717042517/http://www.proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-QC_sub.pdf Rail Lines of Northern Quebec]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120224205734/http://proximityissues.ca/Maps/RAC-2004-NF_sub.pdf Rail Lines of Labrador]

{{Canadianmetros}}

{{Canada railways}}

Category:Newfoundland and Labrador railways

Category:Quebec railways

Category:Passenger railways in Newfoundland and Labrador

Category:Passenger railways in Quebec

Category:Companies based in Quebec

Category:2005 establishments in Quebec

Category:Railway companies established in 2005

Category:Transport in Côte-Nord

Category:Labrador

Category:Innu