Northlander train still being repaired months after crash during testing

One of the new Northlander trains ordered by the Ford government to restart rail service to northern Ontario has been out of commission for two months, since it crashed into a tow truck near Bracebridge, Ont.

In early July, during a testing and commissioning run, one of the Northlander trains ploughed into a vehicle at the rail crossing on High Falls Road when the lights were active to stop cars entering the track.

Although nobody was injured in the collision, the train has been out of service and under repair for the two-and-a-half months that followed the crash.

“Repairs to the trainset will be completed soon and testing and commissioning activities are advancing as we prepare the service for launch,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation told Global News.

Reopening the Northlander train was a 2018 election promise by Ontario Premier Doug Ford. It is set to run from Toronto’s Union Station to Timmins and Cochrane.

The train route was originally decommissioned by the Ontario Liberals in 2012.

Although the Ministry of Transportation did not confirm if, or how much, the July crash had delayed testing and therefore the date for the line, Ontario NDP MPP Guy Bourgouin said locals were growing frustrated.

“The people of the north, we want the Northlander back, of course,” he told Global News.

“This is a service that we need in northern Ontario. We’ve been asking questions to the government, to the appropriate people; we can’t get an answer. We heard it was supposed to start at the end of August, then the end of September.”

The government has not set a specific opening date for the train line, but has said it will be operational in 2026.