Despite an announcement by Ontario Northland Rail that it plans to put a glass shelter up for a Huntsville train stop, Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock said the Town is still firming up ideas surrounding the implementation of a transportation hub. “Let’s put it this way, I think there are some of us who very much would like to see a transportation hub there,” she said, referring to the Huntsville Train Station.
She referenced discussions to that effect coming from the Town’s transportation committee calling the return of passenger rail as an ideal opportunity for creating a hub. “We don’t own the train station so it means that we have to sit down and figure out what our objectives are… We have to find out if the owners of the train station are at all interested in being part of a transportation hub.”
Discussions between the Town, Northland bus service, and the station owners took place to see if the bus could stop at the station. Scott Richardson, one of three partners who purchased the station from a previous council under then-Mayor Scott Aitchison for the sum of $2, said they couldn’t make it work. He said they have invested more than $100,000 to bring the station up to standards, and to make a bus depot at that location work, an existing business would need to already be there and take on the depot and the parcel service as an addition. As it stands, to accommodate the bus service, the station owners would have to hire staff, additional insurance and pay additional plowing costs in order to provide a turnaround for the bus, which would have made no financial sense despite being a not-for-profit entity— a requirement by the Town when ownership of the station was transferred to the three owners, said Richardson.
Alcock said bus shelter discussions urgently took place because the Town had to move the shelter from its previous location. She said the Town is aware that the stop is not ideal and is in the process of investigating other options, options she could not discuss further at this time.
She said in terms of the train, Ontario Northland Railway is providing shelters at other stops as well. “They need to proceed, and that’s what they do.” She said the glass shelter planned for Huntsville will not preclude the Town from coming up with a plan for a transportation hub. “Our negotiations around the hub are much larger than the train… the hub is more than just a shelter,” she noted.
Alcock said the idea of a transportation hub has not been firmed up and discussed at council have not taken place. “So I think we have a number of pieces of this project that we have to sort of come to grips with… [and then] let’s sit down and see if we can make it work,” she said of incorporating Huntsville’s former train station and its owners. She reiterated that the installation of a glass shelter for the train does not preclude anything else from happening.
Alcock noted there are two entrances to the station and said, “We definitely need to figure out what our overall objectives are here.”
Councillor Bob Stone, who chairs the Town’s transportation committee said the plan is still on the table. “We still hope to have a transportation hub at the train station and hope to work with the owners of the train station.” He said more precise plans for the hub “will probably come when we acquire two new buses and rearrange all of the extended routes.” He said funds for the acquisition of the two buses will come from a transportation grant. He also echoed Alcock and said staff are investigating a better Ontario Northland bus stop.
Speaking on behalf of the current owners of the former train station, Richardson said the owners are amenable to making a plan work. “We’re open to anything. If there is a plan, we’d love to be part of it. We really want to be part of the return of passenger rail,” he said. “We want to be part of the transportation hub but we couldn’t lose money on the bus for a while and hope something comes along,” he added.
Related
Negotiations for a bus shelter and train stop location continue: Stone
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
Now the chickens come home to roost… The station should never have been sold, so now we will be beholden to a, For Profit, arrangement.
I believe when the Train Station Society was looking after the station, Ontario Northland did a test and they confirmed their busses could negotiate the station property. So, I’m not sure what the issue is.?
Others may be able to confirm that.
Lets not be to hard on O.N. for the current bus location, it beats when it was out beside the OPP. No lights, bench, shelter, isolated.
Will just be happy to see a plan come together… :-))
So happy to hear the town are working on a better bus station and hub for the train eventually since the Northland Bus don’t seem to care about their customers in that concern. It’s okay to save money on the fares and make a profit, but standing outside during our long cold winters ?? (and buses can often be late). Long gone are the days when the bus station was at the (long gone Empire Hotel) where you get a coffee and sandwich, etc. while waiting or arriving on the bus. Thank you all so much for your precious time you spend discussing and improving the situation for bus riders.