Cobourg commuters demand Via Rail reinstate 'essential' train service as they head back to the office

Before COVID-19 emerged, Cobourg residents Doug Henson and Lance McIntosh'sdaily commutewas simple. They'd hop on the 7 a.m. Via train at the local stationand arrive in downtown Torontojust over an hour later.

But with plummeting ridership at the start of the pandemic, ViaRail suspended that service andhasyet to reinstate it, even as some commuters return to work.

Now, Henson and McIntosh say their journey, which they often take together, has turned into a stressful grind, includinga 45-minute drive on agood day on the busy Highway 401to catch the GO Train in Oshawa. It then takes an hour to get to Toronto. All-in-all, their traveltime hasnearly doubled.

They're among a group of Cobourg commutersdemanding ViaRail reinstate their "essential" morning trainservice immediately. They estimate before the pandemic, about 140 people got on the 7 a.m. train each day.

"We're a little bit frustrated, a little bit angry, but mostly I'm worried about the next three to four months driving from Cobourg to Oshawaand back in the winter weather," said McIntosh, an accountant who's in the office about twice a week.

"In fact, driving home the other day, a big panel flew off a truckdirectly in front of us. A major accidentjust missed us. So, you know, of course, we're worried about that," added Henson, who's back toworkevery day running a downtown firm's printing equipment.

Carey Marsdenwho lives near Alderville First Nation, where she grew up,said she saved both time and money driving the 20 minutes to Cobourg to take the Via traincompared to driving an hour into Oshawa to catch the GO Train. But since the summer,she'salso been enduring that"terrible"two-and-a-half hour commute.

"The first few times when I went into work, when I got home I was completely exhausted," Marsden said.

Full service to return by June 2022

The Canadian Crown corporation is mandated to run trains between cities across the country andcurrently runsseven along its Quebec-Windsor corridor, stoppingin Cobourg daily, with the first train of the day arriving at Union Station after 1 p.m.

Via Rail told CBC News in a statement that it's gradually bringing back service, balancing increasing demand with financial impacts. The Quebec-WindsorCorridorwill return to85 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels by April and full service by June.

Meanwhile, Cobourg Mayor John Henderson said he and other mayors in the area are pushing Via for answers and immediate action.

"We have the stationand commuters, and you have the train, so explain to me again why you can't reinstate that morning service that's socritical to our needs," Henderson said.

He noted the town isn't serviced by the provincial transit agency Metrolinx and nolonger has Greyhound buses. That leaves residents who work in the GTA with no other option than to drive on the highway for a good chunk oftheir commute.

"We are all working on climate change and trying to reduce our carbon footprint," he said."It doesn't make sense."

A 'short-sighted' strategy,researcher says

WillemKlumpenhouwer, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto's Transit Analytics Lab, agrees.

"I think it's a little short-sighted and unfortunate that there's not a push to restore service," said Klumpenhouwer. "And it runs completely counter to the narrative we need to get people onto public transit and shift away from using the 401 for these kinds of trips."

Other transit agencies, including the provincial Crown corporation Metrolinx and the Toronto Transit Commission, have offered "fairly frequent" servicethroughout the pandemic, he said, adding Via should be doing the same.

"Transit agencies have sort of generally realized that yes, their ridership goes down," said Klumpenhouwer."But the answer is not always to just cut service because it becomes a negative feedback loop."

He saidwhile there may be an initial lag in ridership when Via resumes its morning train,its only a matter of time before the commuters return.