Town of Greater Napanee council is joining other communities who have already raised their voices for the return of VIA train 651.
Councillor Ellen Johnson says initially in January 2020, council and staff worked on adding stops to our current train schedule, but then the pandemic hit.
Letters about the return of this train have already been sent from the public to the Minister of Transportation, our MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman, MPP Ric Bresee, and Minister David Piccini.
Greater Napanee was at first left out of the conversation. Included were the County of Northumberland, Hastings County, the City of Kingston, Belleville, and Quinte West.
At their last meeting Johnson said we also need additional stops, but believes we need to start one step at a time, and that first step would be to get this morning train back on track.
Napanee Mayor Marg Isbester noted the importance of this train, saying she knows people who utilized it. She says this case did come before the upper tier.
Council voted to endorse staff to keep working with our regional municipalities to advocate for this rail service and to send letters to the president of VIA Rail and our MPP.
Written by Emily Chatwood
