History
Project founder Justin Lafontaine conceptualized the idea for the Toronto-Niagara Bike Train Initiative during a trip to the Niagara Region in April 2006. On that trip, he accompanied the Waterfront Regeneration Trust and several others from the region on their annual Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail cycle tour from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario to Grimsby, Ontario. Impressed with the many trails, diverse landscapes, towns, cities and attractions, he was quick to begin planning another trip to the region.
When discussing the opportunities for cycle tourism with a fellow rider, Justin discovered that there was no convenient transportation option for cyclists between Toronto and the Niagara Region; the existing train service did not provide baggage capacity, and buses usually require bikes to be boxed prior to loading. This led him to Via Rail Canada and other partners to discuss the potential to introduce a Bike Train service – a concept that quickly garnered support from government contacts, tourism organizations, small businesses, media and the public.
A project proposal was subsequently developed for the Ontario Ministry of Tourism - Investment Development Office and funding for the Pilot Year of the Toronto-Niagara Bike Train Initiative was announced in January 2007.
In 2008, The Bike Train received further funding support from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.
In 2009, with the support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism the Bike Train successfully expanded to two new routes. The Ontario North route took passengers from Toronto to North Bay using the Ontario Northland's passenger rail service for a pilot weekend in August. The new Montreal - Toronto route provided daily service between Canada's two biggest cities.
Read more about this topic: Toronto-Niagara Bike Train
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