OTTAWA - A Winnipeg newspaper says Via Rail spent more than $600,000 to ship a washout-stranded train south from the northern Manitoba port of Churchill last fall.

The train arrived in Churchill shortly before the Hudson Bay Railway's May 23, 2017 flood damage turned the town into a fly-in community.

The Free Press says an internal document obtained through access-to-information laws shows the Crown corporation spent the money on logistics, travel and contractors to transport two locomotives and five rail cars last October.

The train left Churchill on the MV Nunalik after the boat offloaded 2.2 million litres of propane the Manitoba government sent to help the town's residents get through the winter.

Via Rail says it would have cost almost double to repair the train, had it been left over the winter.

The corporation says it could not respond to a Friday afternoon request to explain how it estimated the cost of leaving the train in Churchill during cold weather.