A regional group wants Premier Doug Ford to make good on his election promise to restore passenger rail services in Northern Ontario.

And Sault Ste. Marie’s HCR task force is putting the Ontario government’s feet to the fire to save Huron Central Railway.

NEORN, Northeastern Ontario Rail Network, has provided Ford and Northern Ontario MPPs with copies of resolutions passed by virtually every community on the Toronto-Cochrane rail line from Washago north as well as the Algoma Central Rail Line from Sault Ste. Marie to Hearst.

“The ball is in your court,” NEORN tells the provincial government.

“It’s time to act and make good on your promise of restoring rail passenger services in the North,” state co-chairs Lucille Frith and Howie Wilcox in a press release.

Sault Ste. Marie’s HCR task force also hopes for a decision soon that could see infrastructure funding committed to restore the rail line between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. If a decision isn’t made by Nov. 1, HCR has said it will start to wind down its operations and complete that by year end.

NEORN, during the past five years, has collected resolutions of supports from municipal councils, First Nations councils, the Canadian Federation of Students, economic development organizations and some federal and provincial politicians, to urge the government to return passenger rail to Northern Ontario.

It promotes rail as a reliable, safe, accessible and environmentally conscious way to travel between destinations and advocates for the restoration of passenger routes in Northern Ontario.

During the spring provincial municipal campaign, Ford had said he heard the pleas from individuals across the North wanting to see the return of affordable and convenient passenger rail service.

Finance Minister and MPP Vic Fedeli had said the PC budget included $30 million for the purchase of new rail cars and $15 million in an annual subsidy.

Ford also promised infrastructure funding to restore lines between the Sault and Sudbury, an important transportation method to ship materials and finished products between the two cities.

Sault MPP Ross Romano said rail service is important to the provincial government and an item that is on the front burner.

Romano said he’s been meeting with the Huron Central Rail task force regularly and has a team in his office dedicated to that file.

Rail lines – whether for freight or passenger service – are a vital piece of infrastructure needed in Northern Ontario, he said.

“The HCR line becomes important for the passenger rail loop, so I see the two as going hand-in-hand,” he said in a telephone interview.

Romano said that the government is continuing its due diligence with the HCR issue and remains “cautiously optimistic” that a decision will be made prior to the Nov. 1 deadline.

That deadline is imperative to Huron Central Railway because it is the date that the company will need to start preparing for a wind down of its operations for year end.

“The province finds itself in a very difficult situation right now,” Romano said. “We were under the impression that our deficit stood at $6.7 billion when it is really $15 billion. That’s a difference of $8 billion, which is substantially different. We’re not just talking about a couple of dollars here.”

Romano said nothing can be taken for granted at this time, but insisted the rail issue remains a top priority for the provincial government.

“This is a hugely important piece of infrastructure for Northern Ontario which I do not want to see lost,” he said.

Meanwhile, city councillor Steve Butland, a co-chair of the task force charged with lobbying the provincial government to save HCR, said meetings have taken place regularly with Romano and is confident a decision will be made before the end of the month.

“I believe there is a recommendation in hand and that has to go to cabinet, but we do not know what that recommendation is,” Butland said. “We were told that the recommendation cannot be divulged until it is presented to cabinet.”

Butland said he is getting concerned that the decision is getting close to the eleventh hour, but not surprised.

“We often see this happen. There are certain things that need to happen and we need to trust that they will unfold in good time,” he said.

If the province does provide funding to save to upgrade the rail line, then attention will turn to the Sault MP and the Canadian government.

“This won’t give them much time,” Butland said.

Sault MP Terry Sheehan has continuously said the federal government is prepared to help with its share of the rail infrastructure if HCR and/or the province come up with its share.

In May, Genesee & Wyoming Canada announced it will suspend operations of the Huron Central Railway between the Sault and Sudbury by year end if it does not receive necessary funding to improve the rail line infrastructure.

The line is important to industries across the region, including Algoma, to get their supplies in and their products out to market.

If HCR shuts down, jobs would be lost and industries would suffer, affecting the North’s regional economy.

HCR leases the line from CP Railway.

CP Railway got out of the short-line rail business across Canada some time ago, abandoning maintenance on tracks and leaving short line operators to ensure their own viability.

During the election campaign, Ford also promised to help with that infrastructure by using the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp., money to fund the needed infrastructure improvements.

While some critics don’t believe that fund is appropriate to use for the project, no decisions have been made either way.

sud.editorial@sunmedia.ca