COBALT - Assuming that the province will follow through with its plan to return the passenger rail service to the region, David Brydges of Cobalt wants the town to lobby to have the train stop there.
At this time, the provincial government is suggesting that a passenger rail service could be carrying Northerners up and down the tracks of northeastern Ontario as early as 2026.
Brydges sent a letter to Cobalt council outlining his suggestion. The letter was read at the town's committee-of-the-whole meeting on February 7 and Brydges attended to speak about his suggestion.
In his letter to council, Brydges said the Ontario Northland Railway’s (ONR) website has a document called Northeastern Passenger Rail Service Updated Initial Business Case.
He said it contains an option “to begin the train in Timmins at midnight, and its arrival in Temiskaming Shores would be at 3:15 a.m., eliminating any possibility of using public transit to access the station," he wrote.
"If I and any other potential passengers must travel to New Liskeard to board the train and, upon our return, get off in New Liskeard and then find our way back to Cobalt, it will add another 40 miles onto the trip and numerous hours of travel. Ten miles to New Liskeard, then 10 miles back to Cobalt on the train. Returning northward, we would pass Cobalt another 10 miles arriving in New Liskeard and returning to Cobalt another 10 miles. If we have anyone driving us to the New Liskeard station for a drop-off and pickup, they will travel the same distance."
He continued that "the new Northlander service is expected to run four to seven days a week, depending on the season,” with multiple stops from Toronto to North Bay and then in Northeastern Ontario at Temagami, Temiskaming Shores, Englehart, Kirkland Lake/Swastika, Matheson, Timmins and Cochrane.
Cobalt is missing from that list, he said.
"The historic town that built the (Temiskaming and Northern Ontario) Railway into the Ontario Northland Railway. With its most historic and beautiful train station at one time. History is not mentioned in the business plan. Still, it means something to us in Cobalt, for we would have the option to bring tourists to our area if one of the goals is to promote Northern tourism through train travel. At present, we are not in a solid position to benefit."
He asked the council to "create a more robust strategy to emphasize to the ONR the need for a passenger stop in Cobalt."
He noted that the town's logo shows a train coming down the tracks in Cobalt.
When he addressed the council in person Tuesday evening, he noted that South River has lobbied the ONR for a train station in that community.
See: South River thinks it would make a great stop for proposed passenger train
South River, Kirkland Lake and Swastika are all being labelled as "sensitivity stops" along the route of the passenger rail service when it begins to run.
Brydges recommended that council reach out to Metrolinx, which is overseeing the plans.
"The way it stands right now, Cobalt is out of the picture," he said.
Darlene Wroe is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with the Temiskaming Speaker. LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
