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Desjardins-Siciliano said the potential investors could also come from outside Canada and that the final decision for partnerships in the project would be left to the government.

“Our task is to bring our shareholder options as to ways to do this. If our shareholder wishes to do it and who ultimately bids and wins the competition is left to the market and the government procurement rules,” he said.

“We’re not taking anything for granted and we’re not setting the table for anything other than what is the best solution at the cheapest cost to the Canadian taxpayer.”

Desjardins-Siciliano expects the return on investment for the project to be in the “mid-teens” and that construction would be completed within five years of establishing a partnership.

He said that Via sharing the tracks with several companies transporting merchandise is slowing down the potential frequency of the faster passenger trains because of increased traffic.

Between 2010 and 2014, the number of people using Via Rail’s services dropped from 4.1 million to 3.8 million. The company’s deficit reached $317 million.

“Via Rail is an increasing burden on Canada’s taxpayers due to deteriorating on-time performance and the lack of frequencies to be relevant,” said Desjardins-Siciliano.

He said that in a second phase, the tracks could be extended east from Montreal towards Quebec City, and west from Toronto to London.