A draft report on the NortheastLynx passenger rail proposal is expected to be completed early this week, with a public launch of the revived service plan taking place later this month.

Officials with the NortheastLynx proposal say they’ve received support and input from the rail industry and the new provincial government.

They say the overall plan wouldn’t just be about passenger rail service, but would be an integrated, multi-modal transportation plan that optimizes the resources and services of the ONTC and local transit operations.

Major points developed include:

  • A phased implementation plan to deliver an interim Cochrane-Temiskaming-North Bay-Toronto rail service by 2019 with coordinated improvements to ONTC and provincially-owned GO Transit feeder bus services;
  • A second phase that will improve the interim Cochrane-Toronto service in 2020;
  • A third phase that will add a second North Bay-Toronto rail frequency in 2021;
  • Opportunities to take advantage of economies of scale, should certain aspects of the SouthwestLynx plan be adopted and implemented by the Government of Ontario;
  • Strict adherence to the financial limits placed on ONTC rail service restoration by the new provincial government in the policy statements issued during this year’s election campaign;
  • Benefits for the freight service provided on the entire line by both the ONTC and the Canadian National Railway;
  • Longer-range improvements that can be undertaken on an incremental basis on the Cochrane-Temiskaming-North Bay-Toronto corridor, including a westward extension to Kapuskasing, and on the Toronto-Parry Sound-Sudbury rail corridor
  • Scalability based on the actual ridership generation and financial performance of each phase of the NortheastLynx plan.

The public launch of the plan is expected after the October 22nd municipal election.

 

Meantime, the Northeastern Ontario Rail Network says they’re looking forward to the Ford Government implementing their promise involving passenger rail.

In a release, NEORN says they’ve busy over the past five years encouraging Northern Ontario municipal councils, First Nation councils and organizations, the Canadian Federation of Students, economic development organizations as well as several federal and provincial politicians to pass resolutions of support for the return of passenger rail to northern Ontario.

Last week NEORN provided to Premier Ford and Northern Ontario MPPs copies of these resolutions from virtually every community on the Toronto-Cochrane rail line from Washago north as well as the Algoma Central Rail line from the Sault to Hearst.

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