WINNIPEG — The company that owns a rail line and port in northern Manitoba says it has increased capacity.

Arctic Gateway Group says a new critical mineral storage facility is now up and running at the Port of Churchill, and a second way freight train, which brings goods to communities along the rail line, has been added to the weekly schedule.

The federal and provincial governments have invested millions of dollars in the rail line and port as a way to secure a trade route through Hudson Bay and the Arctic to overseas markets.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has said the region could be a good route for increased trade with Europe and expansion could fit with the federal government’s plan for nation-building infrastructure.

Kinew has been open to the idea of a pipeline and a second port on the bay that might have a longer ice-free season and be further away from the sensitive ecology in the Churchill area.

Arctic Gateway Company CEO Chris Avery says the Port of Churchill has good infrastructure in pace already and the ice-free season is expected to expand with climate change.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2025

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press