THUNDER BAY – “Its no way to run a railroad,” comments Independent MP Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay Superior North). The MP was at the Train Station at Prince Arthurs Landing this morning to outline his plan to restore passenger rail service to the southern line in Northwestern Ontario.
Passenger rail service in Thunder Bay ended in 1990 and Hyer, an ardent rail travel fan states that he cried real tears as the service ended.
Most major countries have a strong policy to encourage passenger rail. Hyer finds it ironic that in a country that was founded by ‘Wedding Bands of Steel’ and that opened western Canada no longer has a strong program to encourage passenger rail.
Hyer states that “There is growing support for passenger rail, bo in the riding where thousands of residents have signed his online petition. In addition growing numbers of MPs in Ottawa are expressing quiet support for the effort,” according to Hyer.
Speaking to media at a press conference at Prince Arthurs Landing earlier today, Hyer asked concerned supporters to take time to read the report Restoring Rail Passenger Service to Ontario’s North Shore and Across Canada.
Hyer and Greg Gormick, Project Facilitator for Transport Action’s National Dream Renewed campaign, released Hyer’s Independent Members’ report today chronicling the decline of passenger rail along the North Shore of Lake Superior. The report, A Wedding Band of Confederation: Restoring Rail Passenger Service to Ontario’s North Shore and Across Canada, encourages engagement by citizens and town governments to get the region back on track.
“Lake Superior’s North Shore lost its last train in 1990 when the Conservative government cut VIA’s Canadian route through Thunder Bay,” Hyer said. “It was VIA’s most popular and most profitable route, and with good reason: the spectacular journey along the beautiful North Shore was a tourist draw in and of itself. But after years of reckless government cuts, Superior North has been left without rail transport and residents are forced to bear the economic consequences.”
The report is online at Hyer’s website www.brucehyer.ca.
Bruce Hyer MP – Passenger Rail Report
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