Bear Train project seeks public input on Sault-Hearst passenger rail service

Missanabie Cree First Nation and Mask-wa Transportation Association Inc. (MTA Inc.) are looking to gauge public interest in the Mask-wa Oo-ta-ban (Bear Train) with the help of an online market research survey. 

Project stakeholders received $50,000 from the federal government earlier this year in order to fund a market survey and marketing plan for the proposed passenger rail service between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst. The survey and the marketing plan would in turn be used to update the existing business plan for the Bear Train, according to MTA Inc. board of directors member Dorothy Macnaughton, who spoke with SooToday in March. 

“The reason we went for a market survey and plan is that the current Bear Train business plan doesn’t have a lot of specifics about marketing, and in order to go to funders to help get the train operating, you really need definitive sense of what your marketing is – who is going to be traveling on the train, both local and tourists,” Macnaughton told SooToday last month.

Missanabie Cree First Nation, SIS Group and N1 Strategy Inc. announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last week, designed to maximize the possibilities presented by development of the Mask-wa Oo-ta-ban passenger train and the Agawa Canyon Tour Train. 

The move followed the signing of a MOU between Missanabie Cree First Nation and Watco regarding partnership opportunities for the Algoma Central Railway. 

The online market research survey for the Bear Train closes May 9.