Passenger rail advocacy groups in the Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma district are taking another stab at restoring service north of the city that was discontinued almost a decade ago.
The Mask-wa Transportation Association and the Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains will be pitching their latest business case to the public on Dec. 12 at the Agawa Canyon tour train passenger depot on Huron Street. The event begins at 12:30 p.m.
Dubbed the Bear Train, the groups are proposing weekend-only service between Sault Ste. Marie and the south end of Oba Lake on the north-south rail line now owned by Watco, a Kansas-based short-line operator.
Watco acquired the 402 kilometres (250 miles) of track between the Sault and Oba in a 2021 deal with CN that included branch lines in Wisconsin and Michigan.
A news release, distributed by Mask-wa Transportation Association, a non-profit vehicle of the Missanabie Cree First Nation, said this latest business case was put together by CPCS, a rail transportation consulting firm. The report will include updated financial projections, “which will strengthen the feasibility and viability of this initiative.”
Making the dream become a reality will require substantial public funding. The plan, the groups say in the release, is to approach the federal and provincial governments for operating funds.
Passenger service was discontinued in 2015 by CN Rail, then the track’s owner, after a third-party Michigan operator, Railmark, was dropped by CN. The two advocacy groups have made repeated efforts to restore service ever since.
The popular Agawa Canyon Tour Train, a major international tourism draw, continues operating to this day.
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