People in Churchill are celebrating after the first train in over a year rolled into town.

Residents of the northern community were surprised when the locomotive pulled in just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, as it was only expected to roll into town today.

Churchill has been without rail service since May 2017 when flooding damaged the tracks and cut off the only land link to town.

Omnitrax, which owned the railway at the time could not afford to fix the line.

Arctic Gateway a public-private consortium bought the railway from Omnitrax back in September, and crews have been working since the sale to try to reopen the connection to Churchill before winter.

A pair of hi rail trucks, which can operate on both roads and rails, made their way into the community at the beginning of October, a sign that repairs were close to being complete.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in Churchill today to celebrate the completion of repairs.

A street party has been planned as part of the celebration.