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Lobby group to hold meetings to make case for reviving passenger rail service

The newly formed group that is trying to resurrect the Northlander will be holding town hall meetings along the train’s former route.  At those meetings All Aboard Northern Ontario will release a report it’s putting together that makes the case for passenger train service in the north.   Group founder and spokesman Eric Boutilier says the report will show the cost to revive the service as well as the benefits.  Boutilier says it’s time the federal and provincial governments treat Northern Ontario fairly.   Boutilier says billions are being put into rail in the Greater Toronto – Hamilton Area and he wants to know why rail is a solution for the south but not the north.

The lobby group put its report together using data it accessed through freedom of information requests.  In addition to the cost and benefits of resurrecting passenger rail service, the report will suggest time lines.   One bit of information Boutilier says the group obtained was a 2009 study that shows the government’s own consultants found there was support for the Northlander.  The study found that from a population base of 200,000 people, the Northlander registered 35,000 passenger trips annually.  The consultants indicated this was an acceptable performance in terms of usage.

Boutilier adds two years after that study, annual ridership increased to 39,579 and yet the Liberals killed the service.   In addition to the report being made public at the town hall meetings, it will also be available online at www.allaboradnorthernontario.com for the public to read.

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