VIA Rail Canada’s morning train service through Northumberland County is back on the rails and while it’s welcome news, warden Brian Ostrander hopes there’s more to come to improve transportation options for residents here and beyond the county’s borders.
Starting May 27, VIA Rail Canada will reinstate morning commuter rail service between Ottawa and Toronto. The new VIA Rail Train 641 is scheduled to leave Ottawa at 4:19 a.m. and arrive in Toronto at 8:48 a.m. Monday through Thursday, with stops in with stops in Kingston, Belleville, Cobourg, and Port Hope.
“VIA Rail Canada’s introduction of Train 641 gets morning rail service back on track for Northumberland and Eastern Ontario,” Ostrander said in a press release.
“For the past 18 months, Northumberland County and our municipal partners have been calling for the reinstatement of morning rail service — depended on by thousands and suspended during the pandemic,” Onstrander added. “In announcing the new train, VIA president and CEO Mario Peloquin acknowledged this advocacy, noting that VIA had taken care to listen and act on this feedback. This action, although delayed, is good news for Northumberland residents.”
Prior to the pandemic, VIA Rail Train 651 provided early-morning community service, starting in Kingston and servicing Quinte, Cobourg, and Port Hope before arriving in Toronto around 8:10 a.m. By the end of June 2022, almost all of VIA’s previous train routes had resumed across the country — except for Train 651.
Northumberland County was involved in advocacy efforts around having the service reinstated. The county conducted a survey that netted more than 2,500 responses from residents about the need for the return of the early morning commuter service to Toronto.
“Northumberland commuters need access to affordable and convenient transportation options rather than making the choice between unemployment or a costly and time-consuming commute,” Ostrander continued.
“We are encouraged that VIA recognizes this need and is reintroducing morning train service. We urge VIA and the federal government to continue working on infrastructure solutions that will enable sustained, effective commuter train service for our communities.”
Ostrander told kawarthaNOW he’d like to see additional infrastructure investments.
“We’ve heard that once the dedicated, higher-speed Montreal-Ottawa-Peterborough-Toronto line is up and running, it will free up opportunities on the lakeshore line,” Ostrander said, referring to the proposed high-frequency rail network that will extend over nearly 1,000 kilometres of dedicated and electrified tracks.
“The dedicated, higher-speed line needs infrastructure commitments to become a reality.”
In late 2022, the counties of Northumberland and Hastings, and the cities of Quinte West, Belleville and Kingston released The Case for Getting VIA Train 651 Back on Track, a report “on the critical importance of commuter train services for a growing Eastern Ontario.”
The report detailed both the need and demand for fast, reliable, and sustainable transportation options to get a thriving labour force to work, while also supporting access to education, retraining opportunities, and medical appointments.
