Train 82 soon to be back on track

The early morning train from London to Toronto is returning.

Via Rail is bringing back its daily 6:25 am rail service from London to Toronto, a popular ride with business people that was focused during the COVID-19 pandemic. The service returns on Oct. 24.

Train 82 will arrive in Brantford at 7:28 am and arrive in Toronto at 8:35 am Train 83, the return trip, will depart Toronto at 4:15 pm and arrive in Brantford at 5:19 pm, a VIA spokesperson confirmed to The Expositor.

“As we continue to strike a balance between meeting our passengers’ evolving travel needs and deploying our limited resources, we remain committed to offering the most convenient, accessible and sustainable service to the highest number of Canadians,” Mario Péloquin, VIA chief executive, said in a media release.

He credited new trains as the reason the service is returning.

“The ongoing progressive introduction of VIA Rail’s 32 new trainsets is already yielding positive results, as recent increases in equipment availability, coupled with intense recruitment and training efforts, are now allowing us to reintroduce these high-demand frequencies,” he said.

Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis, Brantford-Brant MP Larry Brock and Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma have been lobbying for the return of Train 82 for the past year.

“This simple gesture of goodwill on the part of VIA Rail and the federal government sends a clear message to the people of this community that Brantford matters and that the voices of the hard-working residents of Brantford who commute long hours matter,” Davis said in a statement sent to The Expositor. “This decision didn’t involve breaking new ground, of laying new tracks.

“This is about putting trains back on the track for daily commuters.”

Davis said he’s pleased that people were able to work together to take some cars off the road and get local commuters to work and back.

In June, local leaders held a rally at the Brantford train station calling for the return of Train 82. The rally attracted approximately 75 people including some who said they had to endure a two-and-a-half hour commute to work after the train was cancelled.

Speaking at that rally, Davis said the city has been approached by many builders interested in developing Market Street for housing.

But for those developments to be viable, train service needs to be available.

The return of Train 82 creates all kinds of possibilities, Davis said.

“This is only the beginning,” Davis said. “It’s no secret that future development and long overdue improvements along the entire length of Market Street North begins on the steps of Brantford’s historic Via Rail Station,” Davis said. “For decades this was the beating heart, the epicenter, of mass transit in and out of Brantford. Generations of visitors were welcomed to this great city at the Via Rail Station.

“It’s exciting to imagine one day soon visitors from across south western Ontario taking advantage of expanded access on the VIA or GO Train to visit Brantford to take in a Bulldogs game or a show at the Sanderson Centre.”

Brock called the announcement “tremendous and long-awaited” news.

“I think it’s a reflection of what a grassroots movement can generate,” Brock said. “You can really advance a cause when you get a number of people rallying and getting behind something that is near and dear to the hearts of many.”

Brock said that within a week of the June rally it became known to some that Train 82 would be returning. However, at that point, no specific date for it’s return had been set.

The importance of the train to the community can’t be understated, Brock said.

Pre-pandemic a lot of Brantford and Brant county residents relied on Train 82 to get them to Toronto and Train 83 to get them home after work. A lot of people chose to live in Brantford for the simple reason that we had access to reliable transportation.

It really caused a hit to those people and some had to leave because they didn’t have transportation, Brock said.

(With files from the London Free Press)

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