Off track: CN cuts deep on passenger rail.

• Author: Ross, Ian

Remote lodge operators and tourism officials in northeastern Ontario are blindsided by a decision by Canadian National Railway (CN) to cancel passenger rail service on the Algoma Central line.

North America's largest rail carrier notified the mayors of Hearst and Sault Ste. Marie on Jan. 24 that service between the two communities will be terminated on April 1.

The railway blames Ottawa and Transport Canada for ruling that the Algoma Central is ineligible for a $2.2-million passenger rail subsidy on the 476-kilometre line.

The news sent a cold chill among many lodge owners who've based their livelihood for decades on having reliable rail service.

"It puts us in a real bind," said Linda Lebrun of Tatnall Camp on isolated Oba Lake, north of Wawa. The business has been in her family for 39 years.

She had returned in late January from a Michigan outdoors show and was preparing for another in London, Ont. "Are we going to book another show with this news? We don't know what to do."

After spending thousands on magazine ads, refurbished cabins, a hot tub and Wi-Fl, Lebrun said their plans to buy new boats and motors are on hold.

With most of her visitors arriving by train year-round, Lebrun accuses CN of "poor planning."

"We have tons of hunters (booked) for the fall. May and June look really good this year, and they take it right out from under 1.1.F."

The Algoma Central line has provided passenger service frem the Sault to Hearst since 1914, offering year-round access to cottagers, tourist lodges, small towns, lakes and rivers. But the service has been a chronic money-loser for its operators for years. Subsidies have propped it up since 1977 when the now-defunct Algoma Central Railway ran it. CN inherited the service and the popular Agawa Canyon tour when it acquired the line in 2001.

Camp operators along the line have complained about the railroad's slow service, scheduling issues and lack of promotion.

Lebrun said CN's disinterest was evident.

"I ride the train and I look at the empty seats. It is a tourism train with so much potential."

If the service stops this spring, Lebrun anticipates her business will grind to a halt.

"Where do I go now?"

In last year's federal budget, the Conservative government changed the funding criteria for the Remote Passenger Rail Program and redefined what's considered 'remote.' Transport Canada said communities like the Sault, Hearst and Hawk Junction all have national highway access.

However, Ottawa still plans...