The $17 million investment into Ontario Northland’s Polar Bear Express is continuing, as the first refurbished passenger coaches have been unveiled. The project is expected to be finished by 2019. Some of the upgrades to the rail cars include new seats, USB charging stations, accessible washrooms, enhanced luggage space, and comfortable dinning cars.
Communications Manager for Ontario Northland, Renee Baker, says they gutted old passenger cars to do the renovations. She says they took the old cars right down to the frames, and re-engineered and re-designed them in their entirety. Baker says if you were to put a refurbished coach beside a brand new one, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
You can check out the new cars at the ONR station in Cochrane from 6:00pm to 8:00pm tonight or in Moosonee tomorrow from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
The Polar Bear Express is the only ground transportation connecting Cochrane to Moosonee and the James Bay Coast that runs all year round. More information is on the ONTC website.
(With files from: Rudy Kadlec)