Final Northlander train leaves Toronto for Cochrane, Ont.
Posted September 28, 2012 7:09 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An era in transportation came to a close Friday when the last Northlander train departed from Union station Friday for its final trip to Cochrane, Ont.
The Ontario Northland train route, which has been running since 1909, has been cancelled in a cost-cutting move by the province. Buses will replace the train, which made several stops along the 700-kilometre route.
“I actually wasn’t going to come [on the last trip] because I thought it would be too sad,” Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay, said outside Union station Friday.
“This train has been vital in our community. It’s not just public transportation and our link to the rest of the province, to us, it’s been the whole symbol of who we are for the last hundred years.
“This is a devastating and a very bitter day, I think, for people in the north.”
The final train to Cochrane left Union station at 8:40 a.m. The Polar Bear Express train will continue to run between Cochrane and Moosonee.
The provincial government announced last March that it was divesting the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).
Cochrane mayor Peter Politis and the great-grandson of the town’s namesake, Frank Cochrane, are on board the final Northlander train. Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow was at Union station Friday morning to show her support for northern Ontarians fighting to keep the train.
Northern Ontario residents are angry about the move to scrub the train because it will result in job losses. Many used the train to attend medical appointments or visit relatives in the southern part of the province, particularly in the GTA. Some say buses won’t provide a ride as comfortable as the train.
With files from the Canadian Press
