Ontario Northland is moving ahead with plans to restore passenger rail service between Toronto and northeastern Ontario, with the Northlander train expected to return sometime in 2026.
Ontario Northland has released a tentative service schedule for passenger service between Toronto and Timmins.
The proposed service would operate along a 740-kilometre corridor between Toronto’s Union Station and Timmins, with 16 planned stops along the route. Communities identified in the tentative schedule include Langstaff, Gormley, Washago, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville, South River, North Bay, Temagami, Temiskaming Shores, Englehart, Kirkland Lake (Swastika), Matheson, Timmins and Cochrane.
The service will also offer rail connections to Cochrane, where passengers can transfer to the Polar Bear Express for travel to Moosonee on the James Bay coast.
Ontario Northland has not yet released ticket prices, noting fares will be determined closer to the official launch. While no exact start date has been confirmed, the agency says passenger operations are expected to resume in 2026 following the completion of infrastructure upgrades and successful train testing.
Ontario Northland Chief Executive Officer Chad Evans said the return of the Northlander will improve transportation access across the province and strengthen connections between northern and southern Ontario.
“The Northlander will fundamentally shift how people move across the province, creating more connections to the province’s integrated transportation network,” Evans said in a statement released July 14. “The Northlander will provide improved access to essential services, such as health care and education, while supporting economic prosperity and tourism in the region.”
Passenger service on the Northlander was discontinued in 2012, a decision that left many northern communities without rail access.
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
I am also happy to hear that the Northlander Train will be operating again. I enjoy riding a train. It’s a less stressful way to get to your destination.
Good luck to new development.
Sandra Austin.
Where is the new station in Huntsville located? When will it be ready?
The draw back to riding the train will be time it takes to get to your destination. The good part of riding the train will be not fighting traffic and being able to relax while getting to your destination. Ultimately if we don’t use it we will lose it……again!
Looking forward to having this service resume. Seems a very ambitious number of stops. Hoping the Langstaff one hooks up with the Toronto Subway line. Did I miss something? is this a daily schedule? If there could be a dedicated track for this service, then it will become super useful, and busy. Delays to allow freight to pass are untenable. I see folks commenting that they want it to go to their back door or their personal destination. Not happening. This route has multiple places to catch alternative east/west existing transit to the airport, etc. Let’s get this going and show that if one line/train a day, or more than one? and the rest will take care of itself, eventually. The old ‘use it or lose it’ strategy. Looking forward to a transit hub in Huntsville, an accessible, multi-use station with washrooms, parking, bus connections, etc. As beautiful as the historic site is, mult-use isn’t an option there as it stands because buses can’t access it. I believe there was a proposal for one on Howland somewhere near Hanes would work.
A connection to towns in Haliburton would be welcome as we have no transportation services of any kind at present.
It is beyond wonderful that the train is returning.
However it is bitter sweet because we do not have our beautiful train station available.
For over 16 years the Huntsville Train Station Society and hundreds of volunteers and countless supporters brought the station to beyond its former beauty. The HTSS added a washroom and lockers.
And then the Town sold the station for $2.00. It’s a tragedy
I’m hearing that the town is now talking about building a new train station
It breaks my heart that the station is now a restaurant.
However I’m excited to take a trip on the Northlander..
**Lucille Frith, former HTSS president, deserves a great deal of credit for helping to bring back the train!
Her passion and dedication have been incredible.
Sincerely
Martina Schroer
Secretary, (former)
Huntsville Train Station Society
I’m thrilled that the Northlander will be running again, I just wish it would extend beyond Toronto to Hamilton and London.