Admiral Beez
Superstar
Apologies on restarting an otherwise dead thread, but is there any chance that the recent changes in government can give Ontario Northland a boost to restart rail service from Toronto to their southern link at Cochrane?
Apologies on restarting an otherwise dead thread, but is there any chance that the recent changes in government can give Ontario Northland a boost to restart rail service from Toronto to their southern link at Cochrane?
http://www.nugget.ca/2015/12/14/ontario-northland-employees-ratify-deal
Not likely. The government is pretty firm in trying to "rationalise" Ontario Northland. Since the passenger train stopped, track maintenance has also been cut to the bone. They run pretty slow up there these days.
- Paul
I doubt that anything up there has been "cut to the bone". Ontario Northland is such a poorly-run organization that their idea of "cutting to the bone" is probably doing 4 hours of work instead of 3. They still run the railroad as if it was 1948.
My understanding is they are down to a skeleton MOW crew, and there are new slow orders on the mainline that would have to be corrected to reinstate passenger service. But, yeah, letting the track go to crap just means that the same crew makes the same money for a ten hour day instead of a six hour day. If you look at the Sunshine List for ONR, it's mostly RTE's earning the big bucks....not exactly draconian change in Operations. More like letting things bleed so things get so bad that a selloff can't be opposed. The average employee is pretty bitter, but is anyone willing to make the necessary changes?
- Paul
Personally, if passenger service is to resume, I'd like to see it run by GO instead of ONR. It would be far easier for GO to subsidize the service, which would make up a relatively small component of the overall GO budget. Use a few of the old locomotives (the ones that were only capable of pulling 10 car trains), and older rolling stock. If they can rebuild the corridor between Barrie and Orillia (I think that's the section that was removed), it can be intertwined with the GO service to Barrie.
Personally, if passenger service is to resume, I'd like to see it run by GO instead of ONR. It would be far easier for GO to subsidize the service, which would make up a relatively small component of the overall GO budget. Use a few of the old locomotives (the ones that were only capable of pulling 10 car trains), and older rolling stock. If they can rebuild the corridor between Barrie and Orillia (I think that's the section that was removed), it can be intertwined with the GO service to Barrie.
I lament the tearing up of the Newmarket Subdivision between Allandale and Longford. But CN didn't want to maintain the swing bridge at Orillia any longer, there were no freight customers left south of Longford, the connecting line to Midland was already abandoned, and the passenger service north of Toronto cutback after Mulroney's 1989-1990 cuts. For CN, it was a logical decision to rip it out and send all trains via the Bala Sub. It hurt passenger service (Newmarket, Barrie, and Orillia would have been useful stops for the Northlander and the Canadian), though at least GO is once again serving Allandale, and more train service is coming.
In Downtown Barrie, the road network was re-aligned and new developments make it hard to re-lay track. Even the rail trail (a very good rail trail, by the way) is interrupted by houses constructed along the right-of-way. Casino Rama built part of its expansion upon the ROW as well. It's dead.
What rail corridor did these trains run on? The Barrie line? Sorry for my ignorance I have no clue on which subdivisions, etc any of the train movements outside of GO occur on
It really is a shame that the government didn't (and still doesn't) have a policy to buy up rail lines that freight companies abandon to preserve them for possible future passenger service. Extending service to Orillia would have been a no brainer.
I have to think that cheap airfares from Toronto also make rail travel northward less feasible. I just checked Porter and for $204 I can fly in February direct Toronto to Timmins return. Meanwhile, Ontario Northland Bus Toronto to Timmins return is $345. Why take the bus when the flight is cheaper?There was definitely substantial ridership, just as there likely would be for a Toronto-Sudbury-Sault St Marie train if one had been maintained. The encroachment on the freight railways, however, makes these trains non starters.