Residents will begin returning home Friday after a train derailment near Macoun Thursday forced them from their homes.

Aaron Toles, the Emergency Management Officer for the RM of Cymri, confirmed Friday morning that the exclusion zone has shrunk from 2,200 metres to 1,000 metres.

"Residents that are allowed to return home will be contacted," Toles said.

Toles added that the highway will remain closed as of Friday morning, and didn't have a timeline for when it might be reopened.