Ontario Northland/Northern Ontario Transportation

[micheal_can]

Timmins residents have their say on the return of the Northlander train

Work on bringing the Northlander back into operation continues at Ontario Northland. Public information sessions are ongoing to update people on its progress and collect feedback.

northernontario.ctvnews.ca

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Slides from June 19th Timmins-Porcupine Station meeting linked here.

 

[Northern Light]

Slides from June 19th Timmins-Porcupine Station meeting linked here.

From the above:

More at the link.

 

[micheal_can]

From the above:

View attachment 575763

View attachment 575764

More at the link.

That is not much parking.Looks to be 30 spots for employees and passengers.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

From the above:

View attachment 575763

View attachment 575764

More at the link.

Future bus storage facility looks interesting!

 

[Allandale25]

Is the track in service to the west of the station?

 

[lenaitch]

Future bus storage facility looks interesting!

The current Timmins bus station is the former train station. I don't know if buses are 'home ported' in Timmins for storge, cleaning, minor maintenance, etc. but if they are, they might be looking to improve or consolidate their facilities.

Is the track in service to the west of the station?

No.

 

[micheal_can]

Is the track in service to the west of the station?

There are no tracks south of Highway 101 from this point.

 

[nfitz]

Only 36 parking spots.

This is starting to get farcical, if that's the estimated parking demand.

Instead of three $40-million trainsets, they could have purchased a half-dozen of these and offered more frequent service.

 

[micheal_can]

Only 36 parking spots.

This is starting to get farcical, if that's the estimated parking demand.

Instead of three $40-million trainsets, they could have purchased a half-dozen of these and offered more frequent service.

View attachment 575854

While that would be amazing.... I think they are hoping people in Timmins will take the city bus to the train.

 

[lenaitch]

There are no tracks south of Highway 101 from this point.

Actually, I think rail is still in place but long out of service. I no longer have a Canadian Trackside Guide but I believe the stretch west of Kidd was identified as 'Hydro Spur'. I don't know why they haven't pulled it up. The ROW is protected since it has a fibre optic cable running along it. Ontera spent millions laying down a fibre network before it was sold given away.

 

[roger1818]

Is the track in service to the west of the station?

Google Street View is your friend. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ya5tvq2N2EZydwk2A

 

[lenaitch]

Google Street View is your friend. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ya5tvq2N2EZydwk2A

I was going to reference that but I'm not bright enough to figure out the date of Streetview or satellite images. It's been 6 or 7 years since I've actually been to Timmins.

 

[dowlingm]

Having Timmins station that far from Timmins is reminiscent of Ryanair notoriously declaring Hahn airport “Frankfurt-Hahn”. But this is a politically driven service so having the existing ONTC bus shuttle people to and from Matheson in 68 minutes (presumably faster than the train can manage via Porquis Jct) won’t cut it

 

[micheal_can]

Having Timmins station that far from Timmins is reminiscent of Ryanair notoriously declaring Hahn airport “Frankfurt-Hahn”. But this is a politically driven service so having the existing ONTC bus shuttle people to and from Matheson in 68 minutes (presumably faster than the train can manage via Porquis Jct) won’t cut it

This was the cheapest option to bring it to the city of Timmins as Porcupine is technically part of Timmins. The closest they could get to the city proper wouldbe around Shumacher, about 8km closer.

In my dream world, the Northlander would terminate in Timmins, and so would the Polar Bear Express. However, that would not work logistically. So, this is an ok compromise. Maybe in a decade or so, the demand will be enough to warrant putting the tracks back in to extend it.

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