This article is about a Canadian passenger train. For the children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, please see The Polar Express

The Polar Express

The Polar Express is a 1985 children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, a former professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was adapted as an Oscar-nominated motion-capture film in 2004....

.

The Polar Bear Express is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway

Ontario Northland Railway

The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario....

 in Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...

. Service was introduced in 1964. While designated as a passenger train, the Polar Bear Express also carries specialized equipment including a canoe car (in the summer), boxcars for snowmobiles and all terrain vehicles, chain cars (flat cars with tie downs) for carrying cars and light trucks (there are no roads to Moosonee so vehicles come in and out by train) and baggage and express cars.

It operates 5 days per week year-round and connects Cochrane

Cochrane, Ontario

Cochrane is a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a one-hour drive from Timmins, the major city of the region. It is the seat of Cochrane District...

 with Moosonee

Moosonee, Ontario

Moosonee is a town in northern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered as "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port...

. During the summer months there is an additional train on Sundays and the train often includes dining cars and a full length dome car.

↓↓↓↓		CITY / TOWN		↑↑↑↑	NOTES
06:30	DP	Timmins Timmins Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...	AR	23:30	Shuttle service to & from Cochrane
08:00	AR	Cochrane Cochrane railway station The Cochrane Railway Station is located in the town of Cochrane in Ontario.It is northernmost stop for Northlander trains of Ontario Northland and southernmost stop for Polar Bear Express trains.-External links:*...	DP	22:20	Connections to the Northlander Northlander The Northlander is a Canadian passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Ontario.It operates 6 days per week year-round in both directions and connects Cochrane with Toronto...
09:00	DP	Cochrane Cochrane railway station The Cochrane Railway Station is located in the town of Cochrane in Ontario.It is northernmost stop for Northlander trains of Ontario Northland and southernmost stop for Polar Bear Express trains.-External links:*...	AR	22:20
09:20		Clute Clute railway station Clute Railway Station is a railway station in Clute, Ontario, on the Ontario Northland's Polar Bear Express.-External links:*...		22:00	Flagged Stop
09:45		Wurtele		21:35	Flagged Stop
10:10		Island Falls		21:10	Flagged Stop
10:30		Brownrigg		20:50	Flagged Stop
10:50		Fraserdale Fraserdale railway station Fraserdale Railway Station is a railway station in Fraserdale, Ontario, on the Ontario Northland's Polar Bear Express.-External links:*...		20:25	Flagged Stop
11:35		Otter Rapids		19:45	Flagged Stop
11:40		Coral Rapids Coral Rapids railway station Coral Rapids Railway Station is a railway station in Coral Rapids, Ontario, on the Ontario Northland's Polar Bear Express.-External links:*...		19:35	Flagged Stop
12:10		Ranoke		19:10	Flagged Stop
12:35		Onakawana		18:45	Flagged Stop
13:00		Moose River Moose River railway station Moose River Railway Station is a railway station on the Ontario Northland's Polar Bear Express. The station also provides freight service.-External links:*...		18:20	Flagged Stop
13:30		Renison		17:50	Flagged Stop
13:55		Galeton		17:25	Flagged Stop
14:20	AR	Moosonee Moosonee railway station Moosonee Railway Station is a railway station in Moosonee, Ontario. It is the northern terminus of the Ontario Northland's Polar Bear Express.The station was built in the 1960s and renovated with new sidings in 2009...	DP	17:00

The Polar Bear Express service was expanded on June 5, 2007 after increased funding from the Government of Ontario to ONR was announced in March 2007. It resulted in the discontinuation of the Little Bear

Little Bear (train)

The Little Bear was the name for a Canadian mixed freight-passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Northern Ontario.It operated 3 days per week year-round and connected Cochrane with Moosonee....

mixed freight-passenger service which had operated 3 days per week, year-round, resulting in dedicated separate freight and passenger rail service to Moosonee.

In summer 2008, track conditions resulted the train running very late much of the time (2.5 hours by railway announcement). By late 2008, running times had improved somewhat and timings of five and a half to six hours for the 186 mile (300 kilometre - all distances are shown in miles along the tracks) trip were becoming typical. Service deteriorated significantly in 2009 mainly due to bad track conditions and mechanical failures -- on one occasion the train, scheduled to arrive in Cochrane at 9:42 in the evening did not arrive until 4:00 in the morning.

Before the 2007 service expansion, the Polar Bear Express operated 6 days per week during the summer months. It left Cochrane in the morning, stayed for a few hours in Moosonee, and returned to Cochrane in the evening. It was primarily used by tourists, although it was used by an increasing number of local residents.

The name of the train is misleading -- polar bears are rarely seen anywhere near Moosonee. The Polar Bear Express today mostly services the residents of Moosonee and Moose Factory

Moose Factory, Ontario

Moose Factory is a community in the Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. It is on Moose Factory Island, near the mouth of the Moose River, which is at the southern end of James Bay. It was the first English-speaking settlement in Ontario and the second Hudson's Bay Company post to be set up in North...

 when they travel south from their communities that lack road connections to the rest of Ontario. During the winter, many passengers are from communities further north who travel to Moosonee by winter road

Winter road

Winter roads are temporary highways carved out of snow and ice. They facilitate transportation to and from communities without permanent roads, and are commonly seen in isolated regions in Canada's north....

before taking the train.

The song that is sung for the children on the train is as follows: "Ride, ride the polar bear express!"

External links

• Official Website