The Ontario Northlander is going to be put back into service.
The Northlander, which ran from Toronto to Timmins and Cochrane up until 10 years ago, is being put back into service with new state of the art equipment. Here are the details:
Cheers!!
Dave
That’s cool Dave. No reason for that beautiful equipment to be sitting idle.
I liked how the article calls the new equipment Trainsets[:P]
TF
That looks really good, Dave. Bringing back things that should not have gone in the first place.
David
That’s what Siemens calls them.
So $140 million on equipment, plus $75 million for infrastructure work, plus operational expenses for what MIGHT be an average of 164 people per day 19 years from now?
Oh, and the train might never get to Cochrane. The current planned terminus is Timmins, which lost passenger service prior to 2012.
Hi AEP528,
Your math is correct. It is highly unlikely that the service will ever make a profit. That’s the problem with trying to support isolated communities. Bus service to several northern locations across Canada was recently terminated by the private sector because they were losing money. That made it very difficult for a lot of people to get to larger urban centers. The government has to step in or the northern communities will die.
Cheers!!
Dave
Pretty much no passenger service in history has actually made a profit.
I never knew that. Not even runs like the Santa Fe Super Chief from LA to Chicago back in the day?
Rich
Much the same here in the U.K… It is the freight that makes the money.
A big problem with railroads I find is they are not run by lovers of them. It is the figure at the bottom line that matters.
Hopefully the ‘Northlander’ is run for the people in the area and they use it.
David
Passenger service is basically public transportation. A full cost-benefit analysis, that considers indirect economic and environmental benefits would be needed to assess whether it makes sense or not.
As a model railroader, I’m definitely pleased about it!
Simon
Because that’s what they are.
Matched sets of engine + 2 regular coaches + cab coach.
aka “Train set”
Ya I would dispute that, there have been railroads whose passenger trains made a profit. The big deficits were largely the result of the US government moving the mail from the rails in the 1960s. Once those payments were gone, passenger train services were generally deep in the red.
One of the issues Canada faces is there are isolated towns where the only way to reach them is by rail - or perhaps small airplanes. They aren’t connected to the rest of the country by any type of roads.
Although that’s not actually the case in this particular situation with this train.
Hi cv_acr,
You are absolutely correct. However, having driven to Timmins and Cochrane, the trip would have been much more relaxing if I didn’t have to do all the driving. IIRC, the trip from Bradford, which is 40 kms north of Toronto, took the better part of 10 hours, and that was in good weather. I can’t imagine having to do that in a winter snow storm.
By the way, if you ever find yourself in Cochrane, the restaurant in the train station is absolutely excellent, and there is a polar bear sanctuary where you can see the amazing beasts right up close and personal! We considered the polar bear exhibit to be one of our experiences of our lifetimes. Well worth the trip for that alone.
Cheers!!
Dave
I’m not aware of any small town accessible by rail only in Canada. In the Northern territories, small hamlets and towns have a small airport, or are accessible via a dirt road or by boat. In the provinces, practically all towns are accessible via a road (sometimes dirt). Some by plane or boat only.
Simon
Keewatin Railway serves communities in Northern Manitoba that have no road access to the outside.
Ontario Northland’s north end terminal of Moosonee has rail, and airport, but no year-round road connection. South of Cochrane it’s pretty paralleled by roads.
Quebec, North Shore & Labrador Railway, Quebec Cartier, Tshiueten Transportation, etc. serve areas of Northern Quebec not accessed by any other form of transportation.
There are plenty of isolated stops and small communities along rail lines in northern ontario that have difficult if any road access. And some of the more remote road access you wouldn’t want to attempt driving with anything but an all wheel drive truck or SUV with a high suspension. Forget passenger sedans. VIA Rail’s Sudbury-White River RDC on CP’s northern Ontario line is considered “essential service” as many of its stops have no other alternative. Even the flagship “Canadian” provides service along the CN line in northern Ontario to isolated stops.
I know someone who lives in Labrador. He travels by car to Ontario using all sorts of roads that don’t appear on maps.
Hi cv_acr,
Thank you for providing all of those examples of railroads serving isolated communites.
Cheers!!
Dave
Good morning
Bummer!
Didn’t make the grade on the Ontario Northlander cars[:'(]
TF
Eh?