Ontario Premier Doug Ford makes an announcement about building transit and highways, during an election campaign event in Bowmanville, Ont., on May 6.Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press
Ontario Progressive Conservatives are pledging to improve road and rail transportation in Northern Ontario, including investing $75-million to restore the Northlander passenger rail service between Toronto and Timmins.
Party leader Doug Ford says the Tories will also expand the formerly shuttered rail service by extending the Northlander to Cochrane, Ont., and adding a connection point to Polar Bear Express service to Moosonee, Ont.
The Northlander rail service was cancelled in 2012 by the then-Liberal government, who said at the time it was too costly to subsidize.
The Progressive Conservatives announced a few weeks ago that they had earmarked $75-million for the restoration of the rail, targeting the middle of this decade for service to restart.
During Sunday’s campaign stop in Timmins, Mr. Ford also pledged the Tories would invest $74-million to rebuild Highway 101 through the city, describing it as a key traffic artery for the region’s mining and forestry sectors.
Mr. Ford was the only party leader with a formal campaign stop scheduled for the day.
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