From the Sault Star:

Three companies who have expressed interest in operating the passenger train between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst have been provided with the numbers they need to complete full business case proposals.

The proposals are due Oct. 30, 2015.

Tom Dodds, chair of the stakeholder committee tasked with making a recommendation to city council, said the parties who submitted request for proposals are all different than those companies who provided bids the first time around.

The companies, a mix of Canadian and American companies, have a range of experience varying from commuter rail service to tour trains.

The original submissions all had different approaches and styles and none of the proponents had the detailed information by CN Railway required to develop a complete business case, Dodds said.

That information has now been provided to the proponents and criteria of evaluation has been clearly articulated so that the proposals can be compared evenly and fairly, he said.

“We have to compare apples to apples and we need certain measurables to do that and we think we’ll get this in the full business case proposals,” he said.

Dodds said the three proponents, whom he cannot name at this time, have also expressed some possible interest I running the tour train as well.

It’s not known if CN Railway has had discussions with other companies interested in the tour train but it has been made clear that anyone interested in the passenger train service must submit documents to Dodds and participate in the RFP process, he said.

All the submissions will be evaluated on a number of criteria that include the need to satisfy CN Railway on asset requirements, federal legislative and regulatory requirements, business plans acceptable to Transport Canada for funding requirements, requirements by the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

“These potential proponents may have a different framework going forward that what has been presented to use in the past,” Dodds said.

Stakeholders along the line have also provided ideas that may see a different type of service, more in tune with seasonal needs.

Minimum requirements during CN Railway’s operation of the train was to provide 104 trips per year; they operated 156 trips per year. Railmark’s proposal was initially for 156 trips per year.

“A new proponent may change those numbers or redistribute those numbers to accommodate the busier tourist season,” he said. Operators will be required to pay CN Railway a line user fee.

Earlier this year it was announced that a Michigan company, Railmark Ltd., was the successful proponent of the first RFP to run both the passenger rail service and the tour train.

However the deal was never signed because Railmark was unable to meet all the pre-conditions required in the contract. Railmark had not received any financial compensation for running the train. CN Railway resumed operation of the tour train and the passenger service was halted mid July.

The entire issue began more than a year ago after it was announced that the federal government was withdrawing its $2.2 million annual subsidy for the passenger train service and CN Railway said it would discontinue operations.

The local stakeholder group was formed, a business case completed and the passenger train service was reinstated in a remote access funding program, with a guarantee of $5.3 million of funding over three years. The funding was granted to provide the operator time to grow the service into a self sustaining operation.

A business case study showed the passenger train service injects more than $38 million annually into the region’s economy through property investment and tourism.

Source: http://www.saultstar.com/2015/10/22/passenger-train-applications-due-month-end

From The Mount Pleasant Morning Sun:

What started as a brainstorming conversation on how to transport people from one end of Mt. Pleasant to another has morphed into the possibility of a shuttle train that would operate within the city.

The shuttle, which is only a concept now but could come to fruition within two years, would run on existing train tracks from Pickard on the north end of town to the SmartZone on Central Michigan University’s campus.

Which is where the idea has it’s beginning.

“We had community forums last year, asking what sort of development should happen in the SmartZone,” said Erin Strang, CEO of Central Michigan University Research Corporation, which anchors the SmartZone. “The conversation, whether it was residential, retail, business, always came back to this: what does transportation look like?”

During months of discussion, Strang said that the consensus seemed to be that a mixed-use development on the property should have less traffic, less parking lots, and more walkability.

With working train tracks running along the east end of the SmartZone a train made sense, so CMURC started researching what it would take for a shuttle to run the length of the city.

They contacted Great Lakes Central Railroad, which operates the tracks that run through Mt. Pleasant.

President Chris Bagwell told CMURC he’d been waiting for a call like that for years.

“This concept works in a college environment,” Bagwell said. “It’s a great fit.”

And, as it turned out, the logistics of implementing and running a shuttle service isn’t too far out of reach.

GLCR is already capable of handling all operation of the shuttle trains including providing engineers and the cars themselves, and the majority of the infrastructure exists.

With the exception of two switches that would need to be installed, the tracks are ready and classified for shuttle passenger travel.

GLCR owns 23 shuttle cars that are refurbished, waiting on other larger, more expensive projects in the state to be ready to go, some of which are years down the road.

Michigan Department of Transportation, which owns the tracks, knows about the project and is in support of the concept, Strang said.

As the concept stands, the shuttle would run the just-over three miles from the north to south ends of town, with four or five stops along the way, between 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.

Stops would be Pickard Street, downtown Mt. Pleasant, either one or two stops on CMU’s campus, and the SmartZone.

The stops would be “subway style” meaning quick 15-20 second passenger boarding times, Bagwell said, with a trip from one end of town to the other taking around 15 minutes.

In addition to the funds needed to be paid to GLCR to operate the shuttle ––about $1 million per year–– stations or platforms would have to be built at each stop.

First though, Bagwell said an authority or governing board would need to be created to oversee the operation. Then, a feasibility and ridership study would be conducted.

“It’s going to take community support,” Bagwell said.

Both Bagwell and Strang tout the economic impact a shuttle train can have on a community.

“That connectivity increases marketability,” Strang said. “If someone is waiting on a platform, and there’s a little shop there, of course they’ll poke their head in; we’ve met with developers who, when they learn about the possibility of the shuttle ask why we didn’t lead with that information. There are so many possibilities.”

Strang also says there are larger implications that can be explored, like tying the shuttle into existing public transportation options.

If funding existed and an authority was created, Bagwell said it would be about a two-year process to make the shuttle a reality.

The conceptualizing has created a buzz in the passenger train world as well; the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers is holding their member meeting at CMURC’s office Saturday. Both Bagwell and Strang are on the agenda, with Strang set to speak about the possibility of a Mt. Pleasant shuttle.

That meeting, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., is open to the public.

“It’s exciting because this enables our ability to develop the SmartZone, and beyond the SmartZone,” Strang said. “Anytime business is growing, it’s a win for us.”

Source: http://www.themorningsun.com/general-news/20151008/mt-pleasant-could-get-shuttle-train?source

From the Southwestern Ontario Transportation Alliance:

VIA Rail Canada is reinstating the early morning train from Windsor and Chatham to Toronto on Saturdays starting on Oct. 31, 2015. The early evening service from Toronto to Windsor on Fridays will also be reinstated, providing extra capacity at this peak travel time.

Both services had been suspended since 2012 as part of a series of austerity measures to cope with a cut to VIA Rail’s operating budget made by the previous federal government, with the train idling in London on Friday nights instead of continuing to Windsor. The restoration of these services was one of the low-cost measures to improve mobility options for local communities proposed in the Network Southwest report.

The restoration of the early morning train on a Saturday once again makes it possible for local families to visit Toronto for the day, without spending hours in highway traffic or staying overnight, to visit the Ontario Science Center, the Royal Ontario Museum, the new aquarium, or to attend major league sporting events.

Train #70 will leave Windsor at 05:30 and Chatham at 06:18, arriving in Toronto just after 10am, and the last train back from Toronto to Windsor leaves just after 7pm.

VIA Rail has also recently refreshed its onboard catering menu to include breakfast wraps and improved dinner options, and has been refurbishing coaches to improve the on-board experience. VIA Rail is also working on three crossing safety improvement projects in the Bothwell area that will reduce speed restrictions on the route, making journeys to London and Toronto faster.

Once fully implemented, the recommendations of the Network Southwest report would reduce journey times by thirty minutes, allowing train #70 to leave Windsor after 6am.

A train ticket to Toronto and back costs around $90 for adults and $50 for children. VIA Rail posts discounts to its website and Facebook page every Tuesday, and has offered deep discounts for families travelling in the summer holidays.

Source: http://www.swota.ca/the-ghost-train-returns/