According to the Outaouais Tourism Board, the train used to bring 50,000 to 60,000 tourists into Wakefield each year, generating close to $10 million in revenues. (CBC)

A popular century-old tourist train that stopped chugging up to Wakefield, Que., last spring will get funding from the province to help get it running again.

The Quebec government will provide $200,000 for an assessment of railroad repairs needed to get the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield steam train back on track, announced Benoît Pelletier, the Quebec minister responsible for the Outaouais.

Once that is complete, the Quebec and federal governments could cover up to two-thirds of the cost of the next step — the repairs themselves, confirmed Pelletier and Pontiac MP Lawrence Cannon. Another third would be expected to come from within the region.

Private and municipal funding of $3 million had been committed earlier to help with the project.

If all goes according to plan, elected officials hope the train could be running again in 2009.

The steam train ceased operations in May after a landslide near its tracks, which are owned by La compagnie de chemin de fer de l'Outaouais (CCFO) run by local municipalities. The train's owner, who was responsible for repairs to the tracks under an agreement with the CCFO, subsequently put the train up for sale.

Train no longer up for sale

André Groulx, the manager of the steam train company, said he was "very, very happy" with the government announcement Monday and made it known that he no longer plans to part with the train, at least in the short term.

The CCFO estimated in August that the track needs $4 million in infrastructure work before the century-old locomotive could safely run again.

According to the Outaouais Tourism Board, the train used to bring 50,000 to 60,000 tourists into Wakefield each year, generating close to $10 million in revenues.