Media Advisory - Earth Day launch of the Bike Train to showcase green travel
in Ontario

TORONTO, April 21 /CNW/ - The award-winning Bike Train Initiative will celebrate its fourth season on Earth Day with a media event at Union Station in Toronto. First launched between Toronto and Niagara in 2007, the service is being expanded to Windsor/Essex & Point Pelee, North Bay and Eastern Ontario in 2010. The featured Bike Train destinations and self-guided itineraries offer environmentally-friendly travel options for everyone. The initiative is a project of Transportation Options, a non-profit organization dedicated to stimulating sustainable systems of transportation.

    
    Date:     Thursday, April 22, 2010 (Earth Day)

    Time:     7:00 a.m.   Bike Train Travel Expo Begins
                          (featuring cycle tourism destinations including
                          Niagara, Windsor/Essex, North Bay, Eastern Ontario
                          and Toronto)
              9:00 a.m.   Media Event Begins, Welcome from Co-Hosts
              9:10 a.m.   Special Guests' Remarks
              9:20 a.m.   Photo Op
              9:30 a.m.   Media Event Ends
              11:30 a.m.  Bike Train Travel Expo Ends

    Place:    Union Station (Great Hall), 65 Front Street West, Toronto, ON

    Special Guests:
              The Honourable Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Tourism and
              Culture
              Helen Burstyn, Chair, The Ontario Trillium Foundation
              Burkhard Mausberg, President, Friends of the Greenbelt
              Foundation
              Cheryl Sutton, Vice-President Passenger Services, Ontario
              Northland

    Media Event Co-Hosts:
              Beth Jones, Chair, Transportation Options
              Darrell Schuurman, Market Development Manager, VIA Rail Canada
    

Visit www.biketrain.ca for schedules, tickets and updates. Media tours, photo ops and interviews can be arranged. Photos and cycle tourism stats are also available.

For further information: Media Contact: Justin Lafontaine, Project Director, Bike Train Initiative, [phone] (office), [phone] (cell), [email protected]