What does the NOMTS (Northern Ontario Multimodal Transportation Strategy) report mean to Muskoka residents, businesses and visitors? The answer can be found at the end of this article!
I live in Muskoka, but do I live in the ‘north’? Ask Muskokans if they live in the ‘north’ and I’ll bet the majority would answer yes. And to understand how we need to move forward to reinstate passenger rail in Muskoka, we need to understand what the ‘north’ is.
Are we in the ‘north’? Good question. Regardless of what we in Muskoka think — the government of Ontario isn’t sure — Parry Sound is in the North — Norm Miller’s riding is Parry Sound–Muskoka as is Tony Clement’s. But Tony’s riding includes Muskoka when it comes to funding from FEDNOR (the Federal EDC for Northern Ontario) and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). The Ontario Tourism District RTO 12 includes Muskoka, Parry Sound and the Algonquin Park region. The park is actually in the unorganized south part of Nipissing District and not part of RTO 13AB&C which includes Northern Ontario. The Growth Plan for Northern Ontario and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation define Northern Ontario as all areas north of, and including, the districts of Parry Sound and Nipissing for political purposes, while the federal government, but not the provincial, also includes the District of Muskoka. Are you confused yet?
The provincial electoral district includes Parry Sound–Muskoka. Does Norm split his vote for Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) projects when half of his district is not included in Northern Ontario? Ten per cent of MPPs in Ontario are responsible for 90 per cent of the geography (NORTH) and 90 per cent of MPPs manage 10 per cent of the geography (SOUTH). Interesting? Everything north of Severn Bridge (where the Canadian Shield begins) faces unique challenges (think rocks, trees and water and no grid roads), which require a different approach from the rest of the province. That also means that those 90 per cent of MPPs are quite possibly unaware of the unique challenges requiring a different approach from their small jurisdictions.
Soon the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines will release the $2.2 million multimodal transportation strategy (NOMTS) report. This report, a 25-year study/plan for transportation modes, includes Parry Sound but not Muskoka as part of Northern Ontario’s study area. So where does that leave Muskoka, especially when discussing passenger rail service? Both Tony and Norm should be helping their constituents get connected by rail to Southern Ontario. Remember that the majority of the old Northlander’s passengers got on or off between Toronto and North Bay, so basically Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville stations. The GO line through Richmond Hill is the old ‘Northlander’ line.
What would it take to make commuting by rail to Muskoka a reality? It requires POLITICAL WILL – both provincially and federally. The Government of Ontario would need to mandate the service and the Government of Canada would need to reinstate their financial support (was $2.5 M in 2011) to rent the CN track from Toronto to North Bay as ONTC (Ontario Northland Transportation Commission) owns only the track north of North Bay.
The NOMTS report, following direction of the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario (March 3, 2011), is to develop a long-term strategy to create a more integrated transportation infrastructure system for air, rail, road and water. And part of that plan was to create a (5.3) A Multimodal Transportation system – “The transportation system within Northern Ontario will be planned and managed with an emphasis on opportunities to a) optimize the capacity, efficiency and safety of the existing transportation system.” Well, well. The existing system in 2011 was the old ‘Northlander’ train and the NOMTS study did not really discuss passenger rail in Northern Ontario! So much for what is written in reports!
All rail lines in Ontario connecting east, north, south and west come through Muskoka so the outcome of the NOMTS report will impact Muskoka, whether we were included in the discussions or not!
If Northern Ontario is mandated to provide passenger rail service, Muskoka will benefit.
If not, Muskoka will be on their own to approach another carrier (Metrolinx, VIA or private provider) with a solid business plan for passenger rail service, showcasing the same opportunities southern Ontario already enjoys in government invested public transportation (think Metrolinx, GO, VIA).
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Lucille Frith is a Huntsville resident and a spokesperson for the Northeastern Ontario Rail Network (neornpassengertrains.ca) and the Committee Promoting Muskoka Rail Travel (gorailnorth.ca).
Doug Austin says
Thanks Lucille…
Let’s not forget that GO (Government of Ontario) and Metrolinx are financially supported by EVERY Ontario Taxpayer … What was it… about $160.00 per year. Financial support for the Northlander was about $0.86 per year.
What benefit is GO to Muskoka…hmmm… about zero.
Rail can’t pay for it’s self… I’ve heard. Neither can the Road network without massive public funding.
— If we’re serious about climate change / reducing GHG’s we need to move to better public transportation of which passenger rail is the spine.
Brian Tapley says
The part in the previous post about climate change and rail transport is dead on. It is pretty obvious with just a glance that a rail line can carry vastly more product (or people) than a roadway and it is vastly less intrusive to the environment. Generally it is safer and weather does not bother it much.
The true cost of our paved roads is quite astronomical when you look at the effort required to keep them smooth and bare all year long and the way drivers tend to ignore the rules of the road definitely calls safety into question. If roads paid their own true costs, a lot like railways have to, it would be very very expensive to drive a car or truck.
A very rough rule of thumb I have heard is that trains are about an order of magnitude more efficient per ton mile to move things over trucks and boats are an order of magnitude better than trains. I’m not sure where aircraft fit in this picture but probably not near the peak of efficiency.
What is a well proven fact is that customers will pay for two things when it comes to shipping or personal travel.
One is speed, the faster you can get me or my product where I want to go the better I will like it.
Two is convenience, if you pick up at my door and drop me at my destination this is much better than anything else.
I’ll pay for both these features.
If you can’t provide either of these attributes then you can compete on price and offer a very cheap price.
Sadly the Northlander, despite its subsidies, offered none of these attributes. It was slow, inconvenient, and not as cheap as driving my own car so it has vanished for the time being. This is sad as I loved riding a train and did use it quite a bit at one time. Maybe a way can be found to make the train a viable transportation alternative again soon… let’s hope so.
John Rivière-Anderson says
Taxpayer-subsidised, energy-economic public train transportation is a recognised right for all Ontarians. Double tracked, and properly marketed, with bike and transport hubs and docks at the stations, it will be viable: faster, safer, enjoyable, attractive to business people, students, merchants and tourists.
Emmersun Austin says
Canada Ontario & Municipalities continue snoozing @ the helm…efficiency & safety in present system is not optimizing capacity @ present or future levels…