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Passengers trying to make best of being stuck

GILLAM, Man. — It’s a long way to Churchill, Man., and it’s gotten even longer for passengers aboard a Via Rail train.

GILLAM, Man. — It’s a long way to Churchill, Man., and it’s gotten even longer for passengers aboard a Via Rail train.

The train, which left Winnipeg on Sunday, was sitting in Gillam, about eight hours from the subarctic region of Manitoba, on Tuesday.

A Via Rail spokesperson says the trouble started on Sunday, when two of its locomotives derailed, and high water in the area also didn’t help.

There are no roads into Churchill — the only way to get there is by train or airplane.

The 1,700-kilometre trip from Winnipeg to Churchill normally takes two days, but it’s now expected to be delayed by 24 hours.

Kathy Cresswell and her husband boarded the train in Thompson and say passengers were trying to make the best of a bad situation.

The latest delay comes after another derailment last week in the same area and in that case, passengers were bussed between The Pas and Thompson.