Wpg Sun: Airships for Churchill: U of M prof

As the Winnipeg Sun reports: 

Shipping goods to Manitoba’s north has never been cheap, and the closure of Churchill’s rail line has brought that to the forefront.

With the projected cost to repair the Omnitrax rail line at $60 million, University of Manitoba Supply Chain Management professor Barry Prentice believes airships are a more cost-effective and sustainable way to get resources there to the northern community.

Though the industry isn’t up and running yet, and would likely cost more than $60 million initially to set up, Prentice sees airships as a way to bring down costs in northern communities like Churchill, and provide those resources in a more reliable way than a train track that is threatened by changing climates.

“With funding, we could have airships flying in three years,” Prentice said. “Airships could do for the north what the railway did for the prairies.”

Read the full story here.