The uphill battle for reliable train service in Northern Ontario Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan once said: “If politics were a musical, it would be Promises, Promises.” When you consider how often the Ford government has pledged to bring back the Northlander passenger train, it’s astounding a Broadway musical marking its imminent return to service…
Is the federal government simply letting our trains wither before cancelling the service outright? Can the federal government, Transport Canada and VIA Rail make travel through Northern Ontario anymore complicated? I’m asking for a friend, because public transportation in this region wasn’t designed for ordinary people who need to get from point A to point…
Ford government announces intention to purchase three new state-of-the-art train sets The government of Ontario may have finally taken its first real tangible step forward to make passenger rail service in the northeast a reality. The Associate Minister of Transportation, Stan Cho, and his ministerial colleagues – Victor Fedeli (MPP for Nipissing), George Pirie (Timmins)…
But is the government truly committed to getting it done?
“To the people of Northeastern Ontario, you have my word. We will bring the Northlander back to Timmins and Cochrane,” said Premier Ford during his swearing-in ceremony at Queen’s Park this summer. Folks, this could only mean one thing; we’re getting our passenger train back ... right? Just like when it was promised to us…
The Trudeau government is out of touch with the issues and deficiencies of intercity transportation in Canada
The familiar sound of a passenger train can once again be heard in areas of Northern Ontario that are served by VIA Rail Canada. The Crown corporation officially restored passenger rail services to pre-pandemic levels after more than two years of on-again, off-again, limited or indefinitely suspended train schedules. Life appears to have returned to…