Deal for sale of Churchill line 'will be completed shortly,' Hudson Bay Railway assures federal regulator

Hudson Bay Railway is telling Canada's federal transportationregulatora deal to sell the railline leading to Churchill, Man., is imminent.

That statement comes from a response Hudson Bay Railway has given to the Canadian Transportation Agency, as part of an order the company is under to start repairing the flooded rail line to the northern Manitoba town.

"The negotiations on the Share Purchase Agreement have progressed to the point where both sides' present expectation is that the share purchase will be completed shortly," lawyers for HBRwrote to the transportation agencyon Monday.

The only land route to Churchill, 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg, was flooded in May of 2017. The window to complete repairs before this winter is closing.

Denver-based Omnitrax Rail Inc., the owner of both the rail line and the Port of Churchill, claims it can'tfix the damaged tracks because it doesn'thave the money.

'Ramping up the legal pressure': NDP

There have been months of negotiations between Omnitrax, the Canadian government, Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings and several northern communities to buy the assets of Omnitrax.

In June, the Canadian Transportation Agency issued an order to Hudson Bay Railway to start repairs, following a complaint filed by Manitoba's OppositionNDP.

"We are ramping up the legal pressure on Omnitrax to make sure repairs to the line finish before the winter season sets in and we will use every tool we have to make sure no Manitoban is left cut off from the rest of our province," said NDPLeader Wab Kinewin a statement Wednesday.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallisterand several ministers in his government have maintained throughout the railway closure that ports and rail issues are a federal responsibility.

In July the CTA started a compliance review of what efforts Hudson Bay Railway has undertaken to get the repair work started.

• Omnitrax ordered to repair Churchill's damaged railway line

In late August the transportation agency started a new proceeding againstHBR, putting the company on notice it must show cause forwhy it hadn't started the repairs, set deadlines and compliedwith the original order to do the work.

Bids for repair work received: HBR

HBR responded to the CTA this week, saying the company has issued requests for proposals to do the repairs and received bids to do the work early in August from qualified companies.

The company claims the group looking to buy the rail line and port is involved in the effort to get repair crews on the line.

"The bids were reviewed by HBR, and given the impending sale of HBR the anticipated purchaser of HBR actively took part in those reviews," the company wrote to the transportation agency this week.

The negotiations for thepurchase of Hudson Bay Railway's Manitoba assets, including a rail yard in The Pas and a marine fuel tank farm in Churchill, along withthe rail line and port, have been going on for months.

In spite of the involvement of federal negotiators, a deal has been elusive as the transaction involves multiple companies owned by Omnitraxand a myriad ofliabilities, including a number of lawsuits against various entities.

• Sorting out complex web of companies, multiple lawsuits a challenge facing Churchill rail line buyers

Omnitrax/HBR has estimated in the past it would take approximately 60 days and cost between $40 million and $60 million to get the minimum repairs completed torestore light passenger-rail service to Canada's only deep-water arctic port.

The closure of the line has meant increases in fuel and food costs for the community. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last year it was Omnitrax's responsibility to repair the damaged rail tracks.

A spokesperson for Omnitrax/HBR told CBCNews the company could not provide an update on the state of negotiations at this time.

CBCNews has asked federal government representativesfor an update on efforts to purchase the assets from Omnitrax.