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CN once again looking for somebody to run the tour train

CN Rail will take over operation of the Agawa Canyon Tour Train for the foreseeable future, says a representative of the company. The operation of the tour train was supposed to have been taken over by Wixom, Michigan-based Railmark Holdings, Inc.

CN Rail will take over operation of the Agawa Canyon Tour Train for the foreseeable future, says a representative of the company.

The operation of the tour train was supposed to have been taken over by Wixom, Michigan-based Railmark Holdings, Inc., which was named earlier this year as successful bidder for both the tour train and the ACR passenger service to Hearst.

Railmark concluded the transaction to operate the ACR passenger service - now known as the Algoma Spirit - but Mark Hallman, CN’s corporate spokesperson, said today the company will operate the tour train until such a time as a third party operator is in place.

“We’re still interested in a third party operating it but we don’t have such a party with financing in place at the moment to do that,”said Hallman.

He added CN will consider all qualified operators with suitable committed financing.

The continued operation of the tour train comes as a relief to Ian McMillan, executive director of Tourism Sault Ste. Marie.

“The concern remains we are very late. We have not gone to marketplace with our ad campaign. We really need to get that in place,” McMillan said.

CN is taking over all aspects in operation of the tour train, including booking and marketing.

“While the passenger service certainly got a lot of the publicity in the last number of months and weeks, from the tourism industry’s perspective it is the Agawa Canyon Tour Train that foots the bill. It’s the number one attraction for Sault Ste. Marie and one of the most iconic attractions in the province,” said McMillan.

Hallman said the tour train should begin operation late June or early July, “until such a time as a third party operator comes together with appropriate financing to take over the tour train.”

B. Allen Brown, president and CEO of Railamrk, did not immediately answer calls for comment.

Previous SooToday coverage of this story:

Train deal not coming to council. Yet

Tom and Christian tell us where the deal's at

'He understands how to run trains'

(FILE PHOTO)


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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