Moosonee passengers have equal ticket rights

Following several complaints, a change in ticket policy will be enacted for the Polar Bear Express train from Cochrane to Moosonee.
Under the former policy, passengers could receive a refund of their ticket price only up to 90 minutes before their scheduled departure. Under the new policy, which will come into effect Nov. 15, if a passenger cannot cancel their unused ticket prior to departure, it will remain valid for one year from the date of purchase from the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).
The new policy will be posted at ONTC train stations and online shortly.
Timmins-James Bay MP Gilles Bisson had approached the legislature about the issue, which he called discrimination against the Polar Bear Express train users.
“If I’m a passenger leaving Moosonee and I buy a rail ticket to leave Moosonee to come down to Toronto and I miss the train, I don’t get my money back and I can’t even reschedule that train ride,” Bisson said.
He appealed to Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle to change the policy. The minister granted the change, to make the train tickets use similar to Greyhound bus service and the ONTC’s own Northlander bus service.