Ontario Northland 'pausing' Christmas Train this year

A holiday train that travels throughout northeastern Ontario won't be hitting the tracks this year.

Ontario Northland says it is pushing pause this year on its Christmas Train. The annual train travels from North Bay to Moosonee and then over to Hearst. It's similar to the CP Holiday Train, but smaller.

Ontario Northland spokesperson Rebecca McGlynn says a lot of workers in the company's rail division are retiring.

"The Christmas Train itself requires a lot of skilled labour to operate from decorating to organizing to operating the train," she said. "It really is a resource-heavy operation and because of that we're pausing it this year."

McGlynn says the break will also give the company a chance to reassess how the holiday train program is working and determine if any changes need to be made.

She adds the company is looking to see if it can do outreach in communities that are not on its train line.

"For instance, we don't have an event in Sudbury, but it is a really big market for Ontario Northland," McGlynn said.

"We serve 150 communities in total. We're looking for ideas on how we can do different community engagement events throughout the north."

McGlynn says there may be opportunities for Ontario Northland to partner with communities in events, such as a public skating session or a food drive for the holidays.