Sending Ottawa a 'wake-up call': Chambers call for dedicated funding to sustain Huron Central Railway.

• Date: 01 January 2019

Stop-gap funding from Queen's Park is keeping the Huron Central Railway (HCR) chugging for another year between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. But northeastern Ontario chambers of commerce want Ottawa to pitch in to support shortline railways.

Chambers from Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury wrote a Nov. 19 letter to federal transport minister Marc Garneau asking Ottawa to "reduce regulatory and administrative barriers" to funding for the Huron Central.

Queen's Park recently delivered $980,000 in interim funding to the rail carrier to extend operations for another year.

However, the chambers want a long-term solution to keep shortline railways, like Huron Central, running for years to come.

"We believe that more can be done to improve the competitiveness of short-line railways in Canada," read the Nov. 19 letter to Garneau, co-signed by Sault Chamber president Don Mitchell, Sudbury Chamber president Debbi Nicholson...