My friends!  The Northlander will return!   I know that for a fact, my friends, because politicians on the re-election campaign trail are right now promising to give us a new, bigger, better and much improved Northlander … if… re-elected.   On the other hand, whenever I hear politicians doling out that “my friends” syrup, I check to see if ...

Ya gotta wonder how the politicians, their appointees and a circle of supporters prevent their noses from stretching each time another empty promise about the return of the Ontario Northland Railway’s Northlander is trotted out.   Led by their Nipissing sales rep, we hear the blather on about the wonderful work this soon-to-expire government has done… on the public tab. ...

Much angst has been generated over the last decade about the future of the former Algoma Central Railway (ACR), its abandoned Soo-Hearst passenger train and its suspended Agawa Canyon Tour Train.  But have no fear!  The Soo political brigade had good news in the wake of the December 17th announcement by CN that the ACR is up for sale or ...

A Toronto Star headline above a December 23, 2020 column on how to deal with the pandemic-driven crisis in public transportation deserves an award:  “Keep the Christmas cash coming, Ford and Trudeau.”   That statement and the column unintentionally summed up what has been wrong with transportation in Ontario for decades.  It’s the unlimited flow of public cash for projects ...

The recent performance by VIA Rail’s Canadian between Vancouver and Winnipeg – but not between Toronto and Winnipeg via Northern Ontario – on its first trip in nine months is the death rattle of Canada’s passenger trains.  It needn’t be.   Working on my book on this long and sad Canadian saga, I frequently look south at Amtrak.  There, a ...

A sure sign Canada’s rail passenger service is near death slunk into Winnipeg on Monday, December 14 – 15 hours late.  For the first time since March 12, VIA Rail’s Canadian arrived from Vancouver.   It was really only a half-Canadian.  It short-turned and went back west the next evening rather than continuing to Toronto.  The Canadian will do this ...

I’m often asked that question by folks who’ve heard of my rail industry credentials.  I guess they haven’t listened to MPP Vic Fedeli, who has described me as one of those “consultants with self-serving agendas” because I pointed out the lack of action by his government and Ontario Northland Railway (ONR).   It’s a fair bet Fedeli & Co. won’t ...

Dear Brenda: I believe all Northern Ontarians owe a debt of gratitude to the publicly-funded Northern Policy Institute (NPI) for that report by a Manitoba academic undermining the case for passenger trains and praising intercity bus transportation as a northern travel alternative.  This landmark report clearly establishes some previously unrecognized points sure to warm the cockles of northern hearts, including: ...

Dear Brenda,   National Post columnist Chris Selley says he wants VIA Rail’s transcontinental train axed: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-lets-kill-the-canadian-surely-the-first-worlds-most-dysfunctional-train   While I share some of Selley’s concerns, he misses key points that are vital to any debate about the train’s future.   When it was launched in 1955, The Canadian was the pride and joy of privately-owned Canadian Pacific (CP) and its future president ...

Dear Brenda, One has to wonder when The Canadian’s resiliency will be exhausted and the train will be on the chopping block. In late 2008, I had the opportunity to examine the confidential financial data on The Canadian and I found it was then recovering about 75% of its costs year-round and actually showing an above-the-rail profit during the peak ...